Fitness games without a console: what you can play on a phone
Fitness games without a console do exist. Here is what Just Dance, Ring Fit Adventure and phone apps each need, checked on official pages, and when a phone is enough.
Most of the best-known fitness games were built for a console. If you do not own one, or do not want one in the living room, the question is what you can still play. The short answer is that fitness games without a console exist, but they are not all the same kind of thing, and some famous names need more hardware than you might expect.
The requirements below were checked against each company's own pages on 7 October 2026. Products change, so follow the links before you buy anything.
What each kind of fitness game needs
| Game | What you need to play | Console needed |
|---|---|---|
| Just Dance, the yearly editions | A games console and the game. A phone can serve as the controller | Yes |
| Just Dance Now | An internet-connected screen and a phone used as the controller | No |
| Ring Fit Adventure | A Nintendo Switch and the game's Ring-Con and Leg Strap accessories | Yes |
| Fitness Boxing 3 | A Nintendo Switch and Joy-Con controllers | Yes |
| ShakeFit | A phone and somewhere to stand it | No |
Can you play Just Dance without a console
Partly. It depends which Just Dance you mean.
The yearly editions are console games. Ubisoft's free Just Dance Controller app turns a phone into the controller, but its App Store listing is plain about the limit: "You will need a compatible video game console to use this app." The 2026 Edition, itself a console game, adds a Camera Controller feature that follows your whole body through the phone's camera.
Just Dance Now is the console-free version. Ubisoft describes it as a way to play "without a videogame console", and says what it takes is "an internet-connected screen and a smartphone to use as a controller". So there is no console, but you still need a second screen, and the phone stays in your hand.
That is why people searching for a Just Dance alternative without a console often end up looking at a different kind of game altogether.
Games like Ring Fit Adventure on a phone
Ring Fit Adventure is built around its own hardware. Nintendo's page describes two accessories, the Ring-Con and the Leg Strap, that "measure your real-world actions and help turn them into in-game movements". It is sold for the Nintendo Switch, not for phones.
Fitness Boxing works the same way. Fitness Boxing 3 is a Nintendo Switch game played with Joy-Con controllers.
What a phone can offer instead is a different kind of game. A phone has no resistance ring to squeeze, but it does have a camera, and a growing number of apps use it to follow your movement. That is the closest thing to a console fitness game that needs no extra hardware.
What a fitness game app that uses the camera needs
- A phone with a front camera
- A place to stand it, such as a shelf or a stack of books
- Enough floor to step back until your whole body is in view
- Decent light in front of you
That is the whole list. No console, no TV and no controller in your hand. Where to put the phone walks through the setup.
What you give up and what you get
Consoles are very good at some things a phone is not, and it is fair to say so.
| What differs | Console fitness games | Phone camera games |
|---|---|---|
| Screen | A TV | The phone, seen from a few steps back |
| Extra hardware | A console, plus accessories for some games | None |
| Where you can play | Wherever the console is | Anywhere you can stand the phone |
| Getting started | Turn on the TV and the console | Stand the phone up and step back |
The small screen is the real trade. A workout game app on a phone has to rely on big, simple feedback you can read from across the room.
Where ShakeFit fits
ShakeFit is our entry in that last category. It is a rhythm workout game that runs on an iPhone or an Android phone, with no console, no TV and no equipment. You stand the phone up, the front camera follows your movement, and each rep that counts gets a grade word: PERFECT, GREAT, GOOD and COACH.
Here is what it is and what it is not, so you can tell whether it suits you.
- It has 35 tracks across five genres: Aerobics, Power, Dance Pop, Boxing and Qigong
- Each track runs 1.5 to 4.5 minutes
- The music is original, across 23 music beds. There are no chart songs
- The moves are fitness moves done to the beat, such as squats, punches, step touches and grapevines. It is not dance choreography to follow
- It is a one-player game on one phone. It is not a party game for the TV
- ShakeFit Plus adds the nine hardest tracks. Everything else is free
So if what you love about Just Dance is dancing to songs you know, with friends, in front of a TV, ShakeFit is not a replacement for that. If what you want is a short workout that feels like a game and needs nothing but your phone, that is what it was built for. Workouts that feel like a game looks at why that format helps people keep going.
On the camera: frames are read on the phone and discarded, and no video is stored or sent. The camera does not keep the video lists what is and is not uploaded.
ShakeFit is not affiliated with Ubisoft, Nintendo or any other company named here, and product names belong to their owners. ShakeFit is entertainment and general fitness software, not a medical device. If you have a health condition or are new to exercise, talk to a doctor first, and stop if you feel pain or dizziness.
Questions people ask
Can you play Just Dance without a console?
Only Just Dance Now. Ubisoft says it needs an internet-connected screen and a smartphone used as a controller, and no console. The yearly Just Dance editions are console games, and the Just Dance Controller app states that a compatible console is required.
Is there a Just Dance alternative without a console?
Just Dance Now is Ubisoft's own console-free option, though it needs a second screen. Phone-only alternatives are a different kind of game. ShakeFit, for example, is a rhythm workout game with original music and fitness moves, not choreography to chart songs.
Are there games like Ring Fit Adventure on a phone?
Not with the same hardware. Ring Fit Adventure relies on its Ring-Con and Leg Strap accessories and is sold for the Nintendo Switch. Phone fitness games use the camera or motion sensors instead, so they can follow how your body moves but not how hard you squeeze or pull.
What is a fitness game app that uses the camera?
It is a phone app that watches you through the camera and scores or counts your movement. You stand the phone up and step back until your body is in view. In ShakeFit the camera frames are read on the phone and discarded, and no video is stored or sent.
Do you need a TV for a workout game app?
Not for phone-only games. You watch the phone from a few steps away, which is why they use large, simple feedback. ShakeFit has an Auto zoom at distance setting that enlarges the on-screen feedback when you stand far from the phone.
Sources
- Ubisoft, Just Dance 2026 Edition
- Ubisoft, Just Dance Now
- Apple App Store, Just Dance Controller
- Nintendo, Ring Fit Adventure
- Nintendo, Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Trainer
Try it
ShakeFit Plus adds the 9 hardest tracks. Everything else is free