With online qualifiers becoming even more important in 2025, it is critical that these competitions are fair and free of cheating. But advances in technology are making it easier for those looking to cheat their competition.
The latest iPhone operating system release, iOS 18, has a new feature that could significantly impact competition fairness.
With the new iOS 18, Apple introduced a feature that allows users to pause and resume video recordings seamlessly while saving the footage as a single, continuous file. There is no indication in the saved video that it was paused or manipulated.
As detailed by Apple Magazine: “To use Pause Video Recording in iOS 18, users will find it intuitively integrated into the native camera app. A new ‘Pause’ button appears during recording, letting users stop momentarily and resume seamlessly, ensuring a single, uninterrupted video.”
Go ahead, if you haven’t already, open the Camera app on your iPhone and give it a try. You’ll see a pause button in the corner while recording.
As you can imagine this opens up the potential for cheating when recording a workout for an online qualifier. Athletes could pause to rest mid-workout and resume without detection, even if just for a few minutes to recover.
In learning about this new feature I spoke with WODProof founder, Adam Grinker. WODProof is leading workout recording app that is used by many athletes when competing online.
“We see this as a critical issue to address in order to ensure a more professional and integrity-driven competition,” shared Grinker. He added, “We have no doubt that, even though most participants won’t cheat, some scores on the leaderboard may be based on video manipulations.”
Grinker shared three features that WODProof has to prevent cheaters from cheating:
- Unmanipulatable Videos: WODProof’s platform does not allow video manipulation, such as pausing or trimming. Videos recorded in-app are continuous, from the workout introduction to the final equipment check post workout.
- Secure Cloud Storage: Videos can be uploaded directly to WODProof Cloud, ensuring no copyright issues like those associated with YouTube or other platforms. Uploading happens directly from the app, guaranteeing the video’s integrity (no editing is possible to a cloud video, not even one millisecond trimming).
- Timestamps for Validation: The cloud stores all relevant timestamps, making it easy to validate that videos were recorded within the approved timelines.
As the CrossFit Open and In-Affiliate Semifinals approach, it will be essential that all athletes are on a level playing field. Unfortunately, advances in technology, like the new iOS 18 pause feature, are making it easier for those who are looking to gain an unfair advantage by cheating.
While most athletes won’t try to use this feature to cheat, it is important to know this feature is out there when it comes to the video review process during an online qualifier or competition. If you are reviewing a video submission, be on the lookout for jump cuts or unusual transitions.
