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Apple Fitness+ Gains Dedicated Awards in iOS 16

wonderings said:
I would not say there is a lot of passion on the subject. It does not take a whole lot of effort to have an opinion and post it on a forum. I would think a lot of people also do this for all sorts of things all the time, trying to understand the mindset of why someone would like or not like something. I would say it is more weird to be motivated by digital icons. Some participation ribbons might just help push people over the top!
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You might be the reasonable exception of someone trying to figure out why this might work for someone. A lot of other comments are framed in a way to belittle people who like this.

As for why it works, I'd say it's something similar to a completionist mentality in video games. In some people, it just triggers a nice feeling to complete something on a check list. In actual terms, the Fitness awards algorithm tracks your progress and generally pushes you to do a little more than you did last month. So getting the award means you progressed without having to track and analyze every workout.
 
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years after garmin and strava introduced challenges … this apple is „insane“ /s

so, aw may be ok on the fitness & wealth side. never ever on sport 🤞🏽
 
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But why even track and monitor and whatnot? Are you training for the olympics? If not, why all the hassle? Just do the training you want at the amount you want. Omg, I would be all over turning this crap off if I ever bother getting a watch. I get enough ”motivation” from my wife (nagging, that is).
 
wonderings said:
I won't argue with whatever works for people, but I still would question the mental aspect though of what about a digital icon spurs someone on. I am sure someone has done a study on this somewhere, would be an interesting read for sure.
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It's also big business. Logos for brands attracts customers. All of the lights, sounds, animations, etc. get people hooked on slot machines. I'd like to think I'm above these things and for much of it, I am. But I'm only human and do fall prey to similar things every now and then.
 
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wonderings said:
I won't argue with whatever works for people, but I still would question the mental aspect though of what about a digital icon spurs someone on. I am sure someone has done a study on this somewhere, would be an interesting read for sure.
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People can be motivated by almost "everything" including digital icons (Billboards, advertising, lights / bells & whistles can all motivate people to push on or continue.) Folks are visual, lol.

For many people, I suspect it's what another poster mentioned, some people simply like to "complete" task (whether it's a video game, or work out, etc) & that digital icon is a reminder that they did (or didn't).

It's like a person who might be working out to fit into a certain pair of jeans (instead of just buying the next size up). The piece of denim will spur them on.

The digital icons are just notifications that you completed something...for many people, that's enough.
 
bollman said:
But why even track and monitor and whatnot? Are you training for the olympics? If not, why all the hassle? Just do the training you want at the amount you want. Omg, I would be all over turning this crap off if I ever bother getting a watch. I get enough ”motivation” from my wife (nagging, that is).
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I think for many, that training would be pretty small if left up to individuals, lol (It's why there are personal trainers & methods to push people to keep going)

Society (in a general sense) is programmed to monitor & keep track...or else it's easy fall off track.

People keep track of budget /spending, diets / food intake (I think it's Weight Watchers that has a point system?), kids times on digital devices, sleep, etc. Workouts aren't any different.
 
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I wish there was more of a specific metric that can actually measure more of an intensive weight lifting session. I understand that it’s not really that ‘simplified’ of a process and/or doable, but some of us aren’t into just counting steps/burning calories. It’s just a thought, but it is what it is.
 
lol the awards page is already so cluttered... now adding even MORE clutter? 🤣 at least make categories collapsible or organize it better. But before anything else they should fix the system itself. I'm still missing the Ring in the New Year award from 2021 when it appears on my Apple Watch but not my iPhone. (or it's associated stickers...)
 
How do I compete with friends in a useful way? What social features are incorporated? How I brag about my awards in the social chat? I really liked the Fitbit days where many many people were added to challenges and it was truly a competition to get to those 11k daily steps. My 11k goal had a purpose Health + Beating the Competition :)
 
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wonderings said:
I don't get it, not one bit. Seems like people are being trained to get awards for just about everything now. Playing games like GTA and Red Dead it constantly pops up with little awards for doing some inane thing. Zero value or worth and does nothing for me. [...] Videos are pre reordered but you are getting banter and motivational talk from a trained professional. Now I don't care what this trainer thinks, it makes me cringe when they say how they love doing this ride with me and they are so proud of me, but the rest is helpful and motivating. Of course there are awards as well, but like the Apple ones they get completely ignored.
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Nobody is forcing you to like it or use it. That's the thing about fitness - everyone has their own "thing". NOTHING ever worked for me - nothing 'stuck' - until I picked up running about 7 years ago at the age of 52.

For me, it was three things happening at once. My then-new iPhone had a new feature - motion sensor - and did it's best to track my steps. I knew something was changing about me when my wife asked me to help her get some Christmas decorations up from the basement and I said "Sure - just let me grab my phone as I want credit for the flights of stairs!".

Then I discovered that many races (and just about all of those 10K and up) had finisher medals. ...and Disney had races as well.

I was born crippled (long since fixed) and so while a finisher medal might not mean anything to someone else (what, just for finishing? Participation trophies - BAH!), it's means a LOT to a person who was told they'd never walk again.

Between signing up for Runkeeper and getting the Watch - seeing the stats accumulate and getting the Fitness awards IS a motivator for me. If it doesn't work for you - fine. But it DOES work for me and many others.

This combination took a person who was somewhat overweight and a couch potato to someone who's completed 15 half marathons (the last one being power walked on a broken leg - I paid for that race and dammit I was going to finish - I wanted my medals!) and even a Dopey Challenge (4 races, 4 days, 5K -> 10K -> Half Marathon -> Marathon).

It is the greatest of ironies that technology - which usually KEEPS us in a chair or "on the couch" - has been instrumental in getting me OFF the couch and losing 30 pounds!
 
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djplong said:
It is the greatest of ironies that technology - which usually KEEPS us in a chair or "on the couch" - has been instrumental in getting me OFF the couch and losing 30 pounds!
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Love to read this stuff, congrats and keep it up!
 
CapitalIdea said:
I don't think you're the target market for Apple's approach. One usually has to be active for more than a minute or two to have a workout register in the stats.
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You're not the target audience or active if you think those coital activities doesn't last more than a minute or two.
People can be very active in various coital positions with lots of movement. 😎
 
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So about the new awards for runners (5k, 10k, HM etc) - are those counted correctly for everyone?

The numbers seem to be all over the place for me - and keep changing unpredictably. I currently see 288x 10k (while I recorded only about 40-50 10k runs), 2023x 5k (realistically around 300), and one half marathon (actually recorded 3). I didn’t take notes of the previous values but I’m quite sure that the amount of 5k awards was around 1800 during the weekend - and I certainly haven’t made extra ~1000km since 😂

Is it just my data being messed up or is it a bug?
 
djplong said:
Nobody is forcing you to like it or use it. That's the thing about fitness - everyone has their own "thing". NOTHING ever worked for me - nothing 'stuck' - until I picked up running about 7 years ago at the age of 52.

For me, it was three things happening at once. My then-new iPhone had a new feature - motion sensor - and did it's best to track my steps. I knew something was changing about me when my wife asked me to help her get some Christmas decorations up from the basement and I said "Sure - just let me grab my phone as I want credit for the flights of stairs!".

Then I discovered that many races (and just about all of those 10K and up) had finisher medals. ...and Disney had races as well.

I was born crippled (long since fixed) and so while a finisher medal might not mean anything to someone else (what, just for finishing? Participation trophies - BAH!), it's means a LOT to a person who was told they'd never walk again.

Between signing up for Runkeeper and getting the Watch - seeing the stats accumulate and getting the Fitness awards IS a motivator for me. If it doesn't work for you - fine. But it DOES work for me and many others.

This combination took a person who was somewhat overweight and a couch potato to someone who's completed 15 half marathons (the last one being power walked on a broken leg - I paid for that race and dammit I was going to finish - I wanted my medals!) and even a Dopey Challenge (4 races, 4 days, 5K -> 10K -> Half Marathon -> Marathon).

It is the greatest of ironies that technology - which usually KEEPS us in a chair or "on the couch" - has been instrumental in getting me OFF the couch and losing 30 pounds!
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Right bro? It’s baffling why someone would be so bitter over something they don’t have to take part in and from the sounds of it doesn’t have an Apple Watch (so why is he even on this forum?) and seems resentful because of it. Probably play video games all day and never work out ever. Don’t be a downer for people that DO workout, especially everyday and actually care about motivating factors like the badges. I wont speak for everyone but these badges have encouraged me to push myself more and more to the point I’m the healthiest I’ve ever been in my life and I’m 37 now. I think they’re cool even if they are only an avatar on my phone and don’t mean anything to anyone else. It gives me pride to see that I’ve completed every workout and have records I constantly want to beat as well as streaks. The video game “trophies” you speak of are actually completely useless and only show two things 1. You have too much time on your hands 2. You’re lazy and would rather play video games than go outside and get fresh air/exercise. Not one video game trophy impressed me because there isn’t anything behind them to show “oh you’re really productive” it’s more sad that you have that much free time to spend getting them. As opposed to the badges on Apple Watch that show you actually accomplished something for your health.

I personally work out 3-4 hours a day every single day of the week and when I’m on vacation that doesn’t change as I use the local gym when I’m not at home. Vegas is perfect for that because every hotel has a nice gym covered with the resort fee. Anyways ya man chill about how “useless” these are especially if you’re going to bring up comparisons to the loser trophies in video games. True men care about their health and don’t spend hours a day staring at a screen. You don’t get the best girls by being a lazy F. You attract the best and most worthwhile woman by taking care of yourself and not being a loser.

This is obviously in response to the first person not you Djplong, you sound like you’re the same as me you found how to use technology to change your life for the better because we grew up without all this stuff. Obviously you’re a bit older than me, but I can understand where you’re coming from as the internet didn’t come out until I was 8 in the warly
90’s and I didn’t know anyone else with it til the later 90’s when I was in my teens. These kids now are such losers and actually feel it’s an accomplishment to spend over 100 hours on a video game, when in reality it’s totally pathetic. Real men do not sit on their asses and play video games because real men have jobs, significant others, and things they like doing that don’t involve sitting on their arse.
 
bollman said:
But why even track and monitor and whatnot? Are you training for the olympics? If not, why all the hassle? Just do the training you want at the amount you want. Omg, I would be all over turning this crap off if I ever bother getting a watch. I get enough ”motivation” from my wife (nagging, that is).
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I don’t have a wife so need a watch….which I have an option of upgrading every year.
 
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