Apple Watch and activity tracking: Everything you need to know!
- jul
- 16
The Apple Watch doesn't track activity like every other fitness tracker. Here's what you need to know.
The fitness tracking on Apple Watch goes beyond just counting steps or tracking calories, instead focusing more on your overall health, differentiating between movement and actual exercise, and encouraging you to stand more than you already might. Performing the activities suggested by your Apple Watch helps fill up those rings in the Activity app, but how does Apple measure all of that, anyway? Well not to worry, we've got you covered right here.
If you own an Apple Watch and are somewhat in the dark about what Apple tracks and how, here's what you need to know.
The Rings
The Stand, Exercise, and Move rings make up the central display for your overall activity as captured by your Apple Watch. Scrolling down in the Activity app on your watch will show you an hour-by-hour breakdown of your activity for each (when you've moved, when you've recorded exercise minute, and when you've stood).
Stand
This one seems pretty easy. You fill the stand ring by standing up for one minute an hour in 12 separate hours. But what this ring and the alert that comes with it are actually telling you is that you haven't moved in a little while. So when your Apple Watch notifies you that it's time to stand, don't just stand up and stay still, but walk around a little bit. Take a short stroll around your office, or if you're at home, go check the mail.
Exercise
This ring tracks a specific kind of activity. Apple defines exercise as anything equivalent to a brisk walk or more that raises your heart rate consistently. Apple monitors your heart rate and your movement data to make sure you're actually exercising, and you can track workouts using the Workout app on your Apple Watch. Additionally, you can feed workout data into the Activity app using third-party workout apps that support this feature, meaning you can use all of the features provided to you by your favorite workout app while still filling the Exercise ring.
One thing to note about the Apple Watch's exercise measurements is that, as you more, they will change over time. So the same activities that would potentially help you close your Exercise ring when you first got your Apple Watch may only get you part of the way there after months or even years of consistent activity. The Apple Watch learns your habits, and will consistently push you to go further.
Move
This ring shows how many calories you've burned throughout the day. It takes into account everything from motion to heart rate data, but it represents your total movement in a 24-hour period, not just exercise. You work towards a calorie goal that you set, and as you continue to wear your Apple Watch, it will be better able to measure how you burn those calories.
Health, Workout, and Activity
The Health app on iPhone, Workout app on Apple Watch, and Activity apps on both are separate and have distinct functions, but can work together to offer a detailed picture of your overall health.
Health
The central repository for all of the information your Apple devices have collected about your health. The data in the Health app includes the activity data collected by your Apple Watch, included Stand, Exercise, and Move data.
With your permission, the app can accept data from third-party apps, and you can also let those apps import your health data as well, to better help them tailor workouts to you. As long as you have granted access to read and write data to any third-party apps of your choice, the data they provide will become part of the overall picture of your health.
Workout app
This is the default app for tracking workouts, and comes built-in with every Apple Watch, and exists solely on the watch. The data from this app feeds into the Health app on your iPhone, and the app covers all sorts of activities, such as indoor and outdoor walks and runs, cycling, elliptical machines, rowing, hiking, and more. This is the data that will most likely go into your Exercise ring.
Activity app
Existing on both the Apple Watch and iPhone, the Activity app keeps detailed records (more on the iPhone than the watch, admittedly) of each day's activity. Using the iPhone app, you can explore your activity for each day that you've worn your Apple Watch, getting breakdowns of how and when you burned calories, looking at exact details of each workout, and exploring your past achievements and achievements still to come.
Third-party fitness apps
Whether you use Pedometer++ to track your steps of Runkeeper to track more intense workouts, third-party fitness apps on the Apple Watch have come a long way since the device debuted in 2015. These apps can contribute to your Exercise ring on your watch and send and read detailed workout data from the Health app on your iPhone.
Questions?
Hopefully, this helped you out. If you have any further questions about how the Apple Watch tracks activity, ask away in the comments.
