Activity - Move detection is a joke

[mailboxbetacoin]

Did some yard work for 2 hours, I am exhausted; I am not in shape and heart beat was pretty high. As a result, 20 calories added to my activity.

Been resting on the couch for 30 minutes, just added 50 calories to my activity...

Driving to work usually gets me about 30-50 calories; similar for sitting at desk.
Remember, we're not talking about resting calories, but moving ones.

Having two devices on me (iPhone+Watch), on wrist and in pocket, combining multiple accelerometers, heart monitor, barometers and a GPS, etc... you would expect those devices would work together to figure out if you're driving or if you're laying down in bed, more accurately than the $30 activity trackers out there, but that doesn't seem to be the case

I was really hoping the activity tracker alone would justify buying the watch, but it's not any better (if not worse) than the cheapest options out there.

 

[LiemTa]

The Watch's smart enough to know you don't care about your health anyway so it doesn't take samples at regular intervals in order to preserve its battery life so you can do more notification checking and talking to your Watch.

 

[mailboxbetacoin]

The Watch's smart enough to know you don't care about your health anyway so it doesn't take samples at regular intervals in order to preserve its battery life so you can do more notification checking and talking to your Watch.

You would think that after noticing that the only apps I use on the Watch are Activity/Workout/Lose It/My Fitness Pal; that it would maybe realize that I do care a bit

 

[Kent01]

Ya it seems kind of bust for some people. I don't care for the activity feature.

I didn't do much walking today and it claimed I walked like 3 miles. LOL.

 

[mailboxbetacoin]

Ya it seems kind of bust for some people. I don't care for the activity feature.

I didn't do much walking today and it claimed I walked like 3 miles. LOL.

that's really disappointing, it's supposed to be a core feature.
I have yet to find one thing the Watch is better at doing than the iPhone

 

[menace3]

I had teh same thing. I walked a client around and I barely registered anything. And I mean we are looking at various spaces within a convention center. Then I realize I should turn on indoor walk and it did a little more. However, it's based on heart rate and mine did not elevate.

 

[moxxham]

If you are just working as usual with the activity app, it won't be as accurate because it doesn't measure your heart rate constantly. But if you turn in the workout mode under 'other' then it will measure your heart rate. That will probably give out a more accurate measurement.

 

[Kent01]

If you are just working as usual with the activity app, it won't be as accurate because it doesn't measure your heart rate constantly. But if you turn in the workout mode under 'other' then it will measure your heart rate. That will probably give out a more accurate measurement.

THIS! If you turn on the workout sensor it does present the information much more accurately. Albeit it being a battery hog.

 

[Mlrollin91]

If you are just working as usual with the activity app, it won't be as accurate because it doesn't measure your heart rate constantly. But if you turn in the workout mode under 'other' then it will measure your heart rate. That will probably give out a more accurate measurement.

This - Additionally, I've noticed that there can be a delay in calorie and exercise minute reporting.

 

[Kavier]

Ya it seems kind of bust for some people. I don't care for the activity feature.

I didn't do much walking today and it claimed I walked like 3 miles. LOL.

That's interesting. I have continued to wear my pedometer and mine seems pretty accurate.

 

[Kent01]

That's interesting. I have continued to wear my pedometer and mine seems pretty accurate.

During my lunch break we'll occasionally go outside and kick a soccer ball around. I did not running but later in that day it claimed I ran close to 3 miles.

 

[digduggler]

Seems pretty accurate to me without turning on a workout app.

 

[Qrispy]

I think it's amazing because it helps me feel as if I'm working towards living a healthier life when I'm actually just sitting around.


It's the perfect app.

 

[cambookpro]

No idea how accurate calories are, but my distance seems fine. I walked for about one and a half hours today and it claimed I did just under six miles which seems to be about right. Steps also line up roughly with my phone, but not sure if the phone uses the watch's data or not.

I'm more interested in relative measurements (e.g. how active I am at weekdays vs weekends, holidays etc.) than absolute, but it's nice to know they're in the right ballpark.

 

[dandrewk]

The distance measured is 100% accurate, at least for me. And totally consistent, as I get the 1 mile tap at the exact same spot on my routes.

Exercise minutes only register if you are really exercising. Your heart rate needs to be a certain amount over your resting heart rate and you must be active. It's more than possible to start an outdoor walk workout and log zero exercise minutes if you walk at a leisurely pace.

Your resting calories are fixed and based on your BMI. The manual said this rate will change once the watch/iphone has determined your personal metrics based on your resting bpm.

Active calories very much depend on the intensity of the activity. Simply doing yard work doesn't mean huge bump if all you are doing is gently raking leaves.

From all the reports I've read from fitness experts, it seems like the Apple Watch is quite competent at fitness tracking, no matter how much of a "joke" some users imagine it to be. The reality is, the truth hurts, so perhaps the best course is to live a healthier lifestyle. This often means giving more than lip service to exercise.

 

[Exile714]

When you push a mower/stroller/grocery cart your wrist remains relatively stationary.

So, does yard work mean mowing?

 

[dandrewk]

The step counter doesn't correlate with the move calories. The watch knows if you are actually moving or not, and the intensity of the movement.

However, as anyone who has used the watch while lifting weights can attest, any constriction of blood flow through the wrist and hands will make the HRM do unpredictable things. I've noticed in the middle of weight lifting repetitions my HR on the Watch drops to below 60, and sometimes it doesn't register at all. There's a lot of weight pressing on my palms, so naturally blood flow will be bottlenecked.

I'd imagine the same thing happens when pushing a mower. This will be an issue with any HRM that measures via the wrist.

 

[Armen]

Ya it seems kind of bust for some people. I don't care for the activity feature.

I didn't do much walking today and it claimed I walked like 3 miles. LOL.

That's not all that outrageous. After 8 hours of being at work and walking around the office to talk to people and walking to get coffee in the morning and lunch I racked up 3 miles of walking myself. Both my iPhone and Watch indicate the same distance.

People don't realize what they consider "doing nothing" actually adds up during the day unless you sit and do not take a step for 8 hours.

 

[ihatephish]

No idea how accurate calories are, but my distance seems fine. I walked for about one and a half hours today and it claimed I did just under six miles which seems to be about right. Steps also line up roughly with my phone, but not sure if the phone uses the watch's data or not.

I'm more interested in relative measurements (e.g. how active I am at weekdays vs weekends, holidays etc.) than absolute, but it's nice to know they're in the right ballpark.

I don't know about that. I've never seen anybody able to WALK 6 miles in an hour and a half. Maybe a jog, but not walking.

 

[penajmz]

You have to do an activity within the workout app that was it measures your heart rate throughout and gives you an accurate reading.

I love taking mine to the gym, it's pretty accurate with my cardio.

 

[mailboxbetacoin]

The distance measured is 100% accurate, at least for me. And totally consistent, as I get the 1 mile tap at the exact same spot on my routes.

Exercise minutes only register if you are really exercising. Your heart rate needs to be a certain amount over your resting heart rate and you must be active. It's more than possible to start an outdoor walk workout and log zero exercise minutes if you walk at a leisurely pace.

Your resting calories are fixed and based on your BMI. The manual said this rate will change once the watch/iphone has determined your personal metrics based on your resting bpm.

Active calories very much depend on the intensity of the activity. Simply doing yard work doesn't mean huge bump if all you are doing is gently raking leaves.

From all the reports I've read from fitness experts, it seems like the Apple Watch is quite competent at fitness tracking, no matter how much of a "joke" some users imagine it to be. The reality is, the truth hurts, so perhaps the best course is to live a healthier lifestyle. This often means giving more than lip service to exercise.

Your message is quite insulting, and dishonest.

You think I came to post here because I was upset not to get activity credit for "gently raking leaves"?

If you're in age of driving, look at your move calories before/after your drive and explain how those move calories make sense.
I believe I clearly explained that I got more calories driving and sitting on the couch than doing some outdoor work ( which was hard work, but it doesn't matter, what matters is that it involved me walking around vs sitting still on the couch/car).

It's not a matter of perception of activity; it's not even a matter of accuracy, I would accept some level of inaccuracy; the main problem is for me to get 100 calories worth of activity when driving or sitting on the couch; leading me to think that at the end of the day, this doesn't really give me a good picture of my activity.

 

[dandrewk]

Nm

 

[cambookpro]

I don't know about that. I've never seen anybody able to WALK 6 miles in an hour and a half. Maybe a jog, but not walking.

That's only 4mph - it's a relatively fast walk, but definitely not a jog. I've tested how fast I walked with my phone before, and I vary between 14.5 min - 17 min miles, so I don't think it's impossible that I did 6 mi in one and a half hours yesterday.

It was split up into about two mile chunks throughout the day, so I didn't really get fatigued when waking.

 

[powerbook911]

Someone said they didn't walk much today and it recorded 3 miles. You don't have to walk much to log in 3 miles spread out over your entire waking hours.

 

[aschaeferusn]

Glad I didn't depend on the Apple Watch's fitness and activity trackers being anything more than a gimmick - plan on wearing my fitbit Charge HR on my other arm when I get my Apple Watch. Should have known this was a gimmick just like Apple's Health app that includes next to no actual practical fitness tracking functionality

----------

Someone said they didn't walk much today and it recorded 3 miles. You don't have to walk much to log in 3 miles spread out over your entire waking hours.

You'd notice if you walked 3 miles through the day, it's not like it's just a casual amount of walking.