A leading U.S.-based fitness company strengthened its member experience by expanding from a club-based model to a combined digital and in-person platform. Coherent Solutions partnered with the client’s internal teams to rebuild the existing mobile app, replace its outdated cross-platform framework, and add support for new digital memberships.
Together, the teams modernized the architecture, improved reliability, and created a single system to connect club and at-home users through one seamless experience.
At a glance
Industry: Fitness & wellness
Challenge: Outdated mobile framework, inconsistent platform reliability, and a rising need for remote access.
Solution: Migration from Xamarin to native iOS and Android, dynamic UI generation, and digital membership integration.
Outcome: Improved stability, simplified maintenance, and consistent member experience across access levels.
Coherent’s role: Mobile engineering partner supporting iOS and Android delivery, architecture modernization, and feature development with the client’s internal teams.
Client overview
The client operates a network of around 200 fitness centers and wellness services across the U.S. and Canada. Historically, the client’s mobile app connected members to a variety of workouts, classes, and other programs. However, during the pandemic, when in-person visits declined, the company expanded its digital offerings and introduced a new membership that gave users access to home workouts, livestreamed classes, and additional on-demand content.
This is the kind of work that showed us where the industry was headed, and why we built AKTIV, a specialized practice within Coherent Solutions focused solely on the fitness industry.
The challenge
The client’s app was built on Xamarin, a cross-platform framework that couldn’t meet the company’s changing performance and scalability requirements. The existing framework was slow, difficult to maintain, and could not easily support new membership models or dynamic content.
To move forward, the client needed a solution that would:
-
Deliver stable performance across mobile and wearable devices.
-
Support digital and in-person members within one platform.
-
Adjust layouts automatically based on user access.
Meeting these goals required a full rebuild of the mobile architecture while also preserving functionality for active members. Most technology providers in fitness pick a lane: operations, member experience, or equipment.
This project needed all three connected at once. The client partnered with Coherent Solutions to design a transition plan that balanced modernization with business continuity.
Our approach
Coherent Solutions worked closely with the client’s internal engineers to migrate the Xamarin-based app to native iOS and Android platforms. The team also updated UIKit to SwiftUI for faster interface development — modernizing the design and simplifying future development.
The migration needed to be done without disrupting active members. To accomplish this, the teams moved from Xamarin to native iOS and Android apps using a modular approach, rebuilding the platform feature by feature. Critical functionality was prioritized first, with feature flags enabling controlled rollouts to specific user segments and fast rollback when needed. Parallel analytics pipelines ensured continuity during cutover, while extensive unit and UI test coverage preserved stability as new capabilities were introduced.
None of that came from a requirements document. It came from knowing what it’s like to be a member mid-workout when an app hiccups, because our own team trains in gyms, uses the equipment, and lives inside the apps we build software for.
The joint team also created a backend-driven framework that generated layouts and content dynamically. This allowed each club to customize its interface while maintaining the brand’s shared visual identity.
Coherent Solutions has spent years embedded in the fitness and wellness industry’s shift toward digitization and connected ecosystems. In response, we created a specialized practice, AKTIV, to bring that experience together and put even more focus on our digital fitness capabilities. AKTIV comprises hundreds of engineers worldwide, hyper-focused on building intelligent digital platforms that power the world's leading fitness brands.
The engagements in this collection span mobile apps, e-commerce, DevOps, data platforms, and device integration, but the common thread is technology that had to work, at scale, for members, operators, and equipment manufacturers who demand world-class fitness experiences.
The solution
The rebuilt mobile platform brought flexibility and consistency to the member experience. Clubs could manage content and layout through configuration, while members interacted with a single, seamless app.
Members with club access continued to use the app for check-ins, class reservations, and in-club services, while digital members accessed livestreams, personalized workouts, and virtual programs from home. Both experiences were delivered through a single native platform built on modular architecture and backend-driven content. Interfaces and features could be enabled or adjusted by member type and club location using configuration and feature flags, without requiring full app releases. This approach simplified maintenance, supported incremental rollouts, and allowed the teams to scale new functionality while maintaining performance and reliability.
The impact
Modernizing the app and its platform enhanced the member experience and the team’s productivity.
Key results:
-
Lower crash rates as migration to native code improved reliability and responsiveness.
-
A unified architecture to help developers collaborate and resolve issues more efficiently.
-
Shorter release cycles for on-time feature delivery.
-
A consistent experience for members across digital and in-club features.
What’s next
Following the app’s relaunch, the teams continued refining design and usability based on analytics and user feedback. Future updates will include new personalization features and AI-assisted workout tools to help members stay engaged. It's the pattern behind AKTIV: connecting what off-the-shelf software leaves fragmented.
The collaboration between Coherent Solutions and the client created a foundation for ongoing innovation and a stronger connection between the brand and its members.
