Uvalde High School senior Jett Flores shows off one of the guardian cap covers the University Interscholastic League has approved for use in games in 2025. Guardian caps give extra head protect. (Photo by Wade Miller|Uvalde High School)

Two big things are coming to Texas high school football in 2025.

The University Interscholastic League has approved the use of wearable technology for the purpose of play-calling.

According to the UIL, coach-to-player communication will be allowed through one-way wearable technologies for games beginning in 2025.

Unlike the National Collegiate Athletic Association-approved helmet communication technology, the UIL will allow wristband-like technology to communicate play calls from coaches to athletes.

Teams will be allowed to use watches, wristbands, and belt packs to communicate in-game calls only.

There will be no limit on the number of athletes who can wear a device during the game.

The UIL continues to ban technology such as tablets and electronic devices on the sidelines.

Play calling goes from the coaches booth or the pressbox, where technology is permitted.

“I would like to see the UIL allow us to do like they allow colleges to do. To have a direct connection to the helmet, like they have in the professional football,” said Uvalde High School head coach Wade Miller.

“The way things are now, I would have to send a play to a coach in the pressbox and then have them relay the information to our quarterback wearing a wrist device,” said Miller. “I think it is quicker to either signal in a play by hand signals, to have someone take in a play, or just to have the quarterback come to the sideline to get the play.”

Since 2024, the NCAA has allowed in-helmet communication technology.

“I think the UIL will eventually go to what college football uses now. It may be a few years,” said Miller.

The other major rule change for UIL football for 2025 will be to allow the use of guardian caps on helmets as long as the caps are the primary shell color of the helmet.

A guardian cap is a padded, soft-shell helmet cover designed to reduce impact during collisions in football.

“Using guardian caps is a good way to further reduce concussions,” said Coach Miller. “It’s a good new addition.”

The UIL has some other rules changes set for the coming season, but the guardian cap and the wristband technology devices are the two biggest changes.

Texas is the lone state in the union that uses the NCAA rule book. But there are exceptions to NCAA rules noted in the UIL rules.

All other states in the United States use high school football rules set forth by the National Federation of High Schools.

JVOLZ@ULNNOW.COM, 830-278-3335

Taiwan has placed Chinese tech giants Huawei Technologies and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) on a trade blacklist, stepping up restrictions on the firms amid intensifying technological competition between China and the United States.

The island’s Ministry of Economic Affairs updated its Strategic High-Tech Commodities Entity List over the weekend to include Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries. The move effectively bars the companies from acquiring critical semiconductor technologies from Taiwanese suppliers.

The decision deals another setback to Beijing’s efforts to expand its domestic chipmaking capabilities and compete with US firms such as Nvidia. Huawei and SMIC have already been sanctioned by the United States.

Ray Wang, a Washington-based semiconductor and tech analyst, said the restrictions would close existing loopholes and limit collaboration between blacklisted Chinese firms and Taiwan’s tech industry. “The new rule from Taipei is more of an effort to further tighten the screws on control measures led by Washington,”
South China Morning Post quoted Wang as saying.

Beijing claims Taiwan as its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve unification. The US remains opposed to any forced reunification and continues to provide military support to the island.

Huawei and SMIC have emerged as central players in China’s drive for self-reliance in chipmaking. The companies introduced a 7-nanometer chip in 2023 that powered Huawei’s high-end Mate 60 smartphone, prompting US officials to review the effectiveness of existing sanctions.

The United States has imposed export bans on various Chinese technology firms and scrutinised the role of Taiwan-based companies in aiding China’s semiconductor development. In 2023, the US Commerce Department ordered Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) to restrict advanced processing services for mainland clients, Reuters reported.

TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, has since tightened shipments to China. That followed a TechInsights investigation revealing a TSMC-manufactured AI chip in a Huawei training card. The company may face a US$1 billion fine in connection with a US probe into that chip, according to Reuters.

Despite the new measures, Wang said the impact on Huawei and SMIC would likely be limited. “These companies were already facing significant constraints under previous curbs and had struggled with scaling up production,” he said.

When you’re spending long days walking miles through Disney World, wearable tech can go from a nice-to-have to an absolute game-changer.

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The Whoop 5.0 isn’t your typical smartwatch or step counter. It’s a sleek, screenless fitness tracker designed to be worn 24/7, gathering detailed insights about your body’s performance, recovery, and sleep. Instead of focusing on flashy notifications or apps, the Whoop is all about collecting biometric data and delivering it through the companion app, so you can truly understand what’s going on with your health and wellness. It’s worn like a fabric wristband, making it comfortable enough to forget it’s even there, which is kind of the point.

What makes the Whoop 5.0 stand out from other trackers is the sheer depth of information it collects. It monitors your heart rate, skin temperature, blood oxygen levels, and HRV (heart rate variability) to deliver a personalized daily “strain” score. It’s basically telling you how hard your body’s working. The sleep tracking is top-tier, too, offering detailed feedback on your sleep stages, sleep debt, and recovery level so you know whether you’re good to go for the day or need to take it easy. There’s also haptic feedback, a Smart Alarm, and Bluetooth compatibility, so it pairs seamlessly with other devices.

Now, imagine having this kind of intel on your body while walking 20,000 steps across Disney World. Disney World trips are no joke on your stamina — you’re constantly on your feet, sometimes in extreme heat, juggling ride times, show schedules, and mobile orders like a pro. The Whoop can help you keep tabs on how your body’s really handling all of it. Are you recovering well overnight? Are you pushing too hard in the heat? Are you getting enough rest between those rope drops and fireworks shows? The data helps you make smarter decisions so you don’t hit a wall mid-vacation.

These SuperKnit bands are designed to keep up with your busy schedule—from your high-intensity workouts to your evening plans. With a WHOOP Life membership, choose a SuperKnit band to take on-demand ECG readings.

In the meantime, we’ll be keeping an eye out for the latest Disney deals, so make sure you stay tuned to AllEars for more!

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Garmin seems as though it’s in the midst of a major course correction, and 2025 is a pivotal year. As someone who’s been reviewing fitness technology, including the best Garmin watches, for many years, there’s certainly been an increase in dramatic shifts in direction for the company in the past few months.

That’s not to say ‘change’ means ‘bad’: the recently announced Garmin Venu X1 looks like a great watch, but it’s a pivot from the way Garmin has been designing watches up until this point.

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If you’re looking for the best fitness app to download onto your Android phone, you’re probably sick of having people recommend to you Strava. The social run app is ubiquitous, but if you’re not keen to overshare your workouts or don’t base your personality around your weekly 5k jog, you’ll want something different.

Different is what you’ll find in this app. I’ve listed seven apps for runners, gym goers and general health buffs that will help you transform your workout or your fitness. Not all of these are by definition fitness apps, but I wanted to look outside the box to find you more interesting options.

None of these options have been plucked from the ether; they’re either ones I’ve used myself or ones originally recommended to me by other fitness users. So they’re tried and tested.

So let’s find you the next fitness app you’ll want to download onto your Android phone.

1. Google Fit / Health Connect

The most obvious entry for this list is Google Fit, or Google Health Connect as it’ll be called from July 2025.

This is a simple app for Android users that can do things like count your steps and calories burned, chart the exercises you’ve done and monitor your vitals. It’s best used alongside a fitness tracker but you don’t actually need one for it to work.

Lots of Google Fit’s workouts are done automatically, so it’ll track walks or runs you’ve done based solely on the bounce of your phone (though you can manually track a workout if you like).

Health Connect also lets you decide which of your apps can see parts of your fitness data so you can keep track of your health privacy if you’d like.

Google Fit is an app that’s more designed for casual step-counters than hardcore gym buffs, but it’s nice to have either way since it works in the background.

2. AllTrails

I’ve heard more people talk about AllTrails in a holiday context than a fitness one, but the app is useful for people who like the outdoors instead of dingy basement gyms and repetitive treadmill runs.

AllTrails is an outdoors app for hiking, running and cycling, with a large repository of routes.

Using a map, you can browse trails near you by distance, intensity, intended exercise (walk, run etc) and type of track, in order to find something for you. It even tells you conditions on the track based on weather.

And the app has plenty of options, largely because its annals are full of user-suggested routes. I’ve used it in some pretty remote places and never struggled to find somewhere to go, and if you’ll be away from internet you can download trails onto your phone.

AllTrails is really useful as a way to encourage you to get out into nature, and inspire you to go on a run or hike somewhere appealing.

3. Strong

The Google Play store is rife with running apps, but there are options for gym fans too. One of these is the Strong app.

Strong bills itself as being a digital version of a workout notebook, somewhere that you can log everything you did at the gym (or at home). Then, you can see stat overviews and breakdowns over time to see increases in reps, weights and iteration.

You can create workout templates if you want to try a new workout, or follow one you’ve made before to stick to formula.

Unlike some other gym apps, Strong doesn’t try and plan your workout for you, bombarding you with suggestions for weights your gym doesn’t have or has a long queue for. Instead it’s nice and simple as a way to stick to basics.

There is a monthly subscription to use Strong, but it’s a lot cheaper than the aforementioned planning apps. Its $4.99 per month or equivalent.

4. Map My Run

A really handy app for runners who get bored of doing the same route over and over again is Map My Run, owned by Under Armour.

Some readers may have used the Map My Run website, and the key function of this is it lets you plot new running routes. You can drop pins on a map to create a track, work out the distance, adjust legs and so on; it’s really useful for long-distance running and creating new running routes.

The app lets you access these routes on the fly, and also track your runs along them to see how well you did. Like most good running apps it can break down your journey into splits and measure time, elevation, cadence and more in each.

There’s also a social function which lets you browse routes nearby you, so if you don’t want to plan your own 10k you can use someone else’s. The app also has certain running drills, improvement programs and goal tracking functions.

5. Yuka

If you really care about your fitness, it’s not just about how you train your body but what you put into it, and that’s where Yuka comes in.

Yuka is a free health app that you might have already seen people use at grocery stores. You use it to scan barcodes of food and health products to see a breakdown of what’s actually in it.

This doesn’t just echo the health warnings on a box, though, but gives you a rigorous breakdown of what nasty additives are in a product. It also tells you of health benefits of the ingredients if you scan something healthy and can recommend you alternatives if it thinks something better is nearby.

The app has overall ratings of the health benefits of various products, and rankings for the best-rated ones per category.

Using this app you can do a grocery shop and make sure you’re buying the healthiest, or at least not the most unhealthy, version of a product — great for fitness-minded people who don’t want to pollute their body.

6. Runna

There have been a few running apps already on this list, and the final and most hardcore one is Runna. While it’s free to try, you’ll then have to pay a subscription at $19.99 / £15.99 after the initial week-long trial runs out.

Runna is an app that creates running plans for you — you simply tell it what kind of race or distance you’re aiming for (or another kind of fitness goal, like injury recovery or simple maintenance) and it’ll do the rest.

Then, every day, Runna will draft you a schedule of what kind of workout you need to do. Maybe it’ll schedule you in for a short speedy run, or a longer slower run, or a rest day, depending on what your schedule requires.

Like any good running app it’ll also measure your workouts to record them in one place. It also works alongside certain brands of smartwatch with built-in integration.

The pricing may put some people off but Runna is second-to-none for people who seriously want to improve their running.

7. Meetup

While it’s not by definition a fitness app, and may seem an unexpected pick for this list, Meetup is arguably one of best downloads for a specific sector of fitness fans.

If you haven’t heard of it, Meetup is a free social app that lets people host events for hobbies or tasks; think local book clubs, beer tasting groups or social hikers.

This list naturally includes lots of fitness-based activities like run clubs, badminton teams and yoga groups.

So if you’re interested in social fitness or want to find a community to work out, run or cycle with, it’s a great option and well worth a download.

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Once hailed as the future of home workouts, connected fitness equipment is facing a serious identity crisis, and in some cases, a full-blown shutdown.

The latest casualty? JaxJox, the smart home fitness brand that promised a revolution in strength training with its adjustable dumbbells, kettlebells, and sleek app interface. But that slick promise now rings hollow: the company appears to have gone dark, its servers offline, its customer support non-existent.

Owners report their expensive smart weights have lost nearly all functionality, a costly reminder of what happens when your fitness hardware relies on an app that simply stops working.

This isn’t an isolated case. Just days ago, Johnson Health Tech issued a massive (voluntary) recall of 3.84 million Bowflex adjustable dumbbells, citing a serious risk of injury. Over 100 users have already reported being hurt, some with broken bones and concussions.

The recall spans nearly two decades of products sold under Bowflex’s former owner, Nautilus Inc., which itself filed for bankruptcy in 2024 and sold off the brand. Now under new ownership, Bowflex is trying to win back consumer trust, but the damage, much like the dumbbells, might already be done.

So, what’s going on? Why are so many smart fitness brands falling apart just a few years after their pandemic-era peak?

The great connected fitness unravelling

The pandemic created the perfect storm for connected fitness. Gyms were closed, people were stuck at home, and suddenly that pricey piece of smart equipment seemed not just justifiable, but essential. Peloton soared to a $50 billion valuation. Tonal raised hundreds of millions. JaxJox, Hydrow, and others raced to keep up.

Fast forward to 2025, and the landscape has shifted dramatically. Gyms are open, supply chains are back to normal, and consumers are no longer willing to commit to expensive hardware plus subscription combos.

Even Peloton, once the poster child of the movement, is shedding staff, outsourcing manufacturing, and repositioning itself as a content company, not a bike brand.

Tonal nearly ran out of cash in 2023 before a last-minute funding round saved it, but only after multiple layoffs and store closures. Hydrow, one of the best rowing machine brands, is still afloat and doing well, but increasingly squeezed by more affordable, more entertaining competitors like Aviron.

Meanwhile, the elephant in the weight room is trust. JaxJox users have learned the hard way that if a company goes under, their “connected” gear quickly becomes disconnected for good.

Not all doom and dumbbells

Still, it’s not all bad news. Some companies are adapting – even thriving.

Apple and Garmin are perfect examples. Fitness is just one part of their larger ecosystems, and their devices work with or without a subscription.

The Apple Watch remains one of the most popular smartwatches globally (although trends aren’t rosy), bolstered by regular feature updates and Fitness+ content.

Garmin watches, meanwhile, cater to endurance athletes and outdoor users with long battery life, offline maps, and metrics that don’t vanish if you cancel your membership. Again, the company did burn itself with the Connect+ launch, but it might turn out to be useful for upcoming wearables.

Lululemon, after a rocky stint with the Mirror smart gym, is now teaming up with Peloton to offer content across platforms, a sign that the future might lie in partnerships and portability, not proprietary gear.

Even WHOOP, known for its wearable health band and performance coaching, has pivoted wisely. Its app and coaching tools remain its main draw, and the company has made progress in offline use, health integrations, and even insurance partnerships.

Not to mention, the latest Whoop MG and Whoop 5.0, as well as the new features announced at the same time as the latest hardware, have been generally well-received.

What happens next?

The golden era of “Netflix for fitness equipment” is over. In its place, we’re seeing a shift back to fundamentals: reliable equipment that works offline, open ecosystems, and apps that enhance the experience without being the experience.

Consumers are savvier now. They want gear that lasts, workouts that don’t disappear if a server goes offline, and fitness tech that doesn’t turn into a paperweight when the funding dries up.

Smart fitness isn’t dead, but it is maturing. The brands that survive this transition will be the ones that respect that truth.