What Speediance's Honesty Taught Me About Fitness Tech (And Why Tonal's Silence Matters)

There's a moment in every product relationship where you test the waters. You reach out with feedback, a feature request, a question about the roadmap. And how a company responds—or doesn't—tells you everything.

Recently, I had that moment with Speediance, and the response was so refreshingly honest that it made me reflect on years of silence from another major player in the smart home gym space: Tonal.

The Apple Health Question

I'd noticed something frustrating about the Speediance ecosystem: Apple Health integration only worked if you had an Apple Watch. If you were trying to connect other Apple Health data, it simply wasn't there.

So I did what any engaged user would do. I reached out to Speediance with feedback.

Their response? "Hey, we haven't started working on this. We plan it for Q3."

Now, as a developer, I know what "Q3" really means. It means "it's probably not coming by the end of the year, but it's on the radar." That's industry speak for "we acknowledge this, we have a plan, but it's not our highest priority right now."

And you know what? I was thrilled.

Why Transparency Matters More Than Features

What made this interaction valuable wasn't the feature itself. It was the communication around it.

Speediance told me:

• They acknowledged the gap
• They had a timeline, even if vague
• It was on their roadmap
• It was simply not a high-priority item yet

That's it. That's the whole thing. No spin. No deflection. Just honest assessment.

The Tonal Contrast

This is where things get interesting. Because I've been asking Tonal similar questions for years, and the response has been... nothing.

Dead silence.

Let's look at the feature requests I've made to Tonal:

1. Adjustable Bench Support

The Tonal has been on the market for five-plus years. Five years. And still no adjustable bench support. Not in the software. Not in the hardware design. Not even a statement explaining why.

The user community has to theorize. We speculate. We wonder if it's a liability issue, a mechanical limitation, or simply a feature they don't value.

But Tonal won't tell us.

2. Back Squats

This one hurts even more. Back squats are foundational. They're one of the big three lifts. And Tonal has never clearly explained their position on them.

The community believes back squats are too dangerous for the platform. But again—the company won't confirm or deny.

We're left guessing. We're left feeling like our feedback disappears into a void.

What Silence Says

Here's what I've learned: silence is a message.

When a company refuses to communicate about feature requests, it says one of two things:

1. They don't value the feedback. Your input doesn't matter enough to warrant a response.
2. They're hiding something. The real reason they can't or won't build a feature is uncomfortable to share.

Neither interpretation is flattering.

What Speediance Got Right

Speediance, on the other hand, showed me what it looks like to treat users like partners.

"Yep, we've got this slated. Not the top of our roadmap. It's already in our to-do list."

That's it. That's the conversation. And it's awesome.

Because here's the thing: I don't need features to be built tomorrow. I need to know they're being considered. I need to feel heard. I need to trust that my feedback is going somewhere.

The Bigger Picture

This isn't just about Apple Health integration or adjustable benches. This is about the relationship between users and the companies we trust with our fitness journeys.

We invest thousands of dollars in these platforms. We invest hours of our time. We invest our bodies.

We deserve more than silence.

We deserve honest roadmaps, even when they're disappointing. We deserve acknowledgment, even when features aren't priorities. We deserve communication, even when the answer is "not yet."

A Developer's Take

As someone who builds products for a living, I know how hard roadmap decisions are. Resources are finite. Priorities shift. Some features get delayed indefinitely.

But communicating that reality? That's not hard.

It's actually easy. It just requires honesty.

And Speediance showed me that honesty is possible in this industry.

The Verdict

So here's what I took away from this exchange:

When you're evaluating fitness tech, don't just look at the features. Look at the communication. Reach out with feedback. Ask questions. See how they respond.

Because a company that's transparent with you about what they can't do yet is often more trustworthy than a company that's silent about what they won't do.

Speediance earned my respect with a simple conversation. Tonal has been eroding mine for five years with silence.

Sometimes the smallest interactions tell you the most.