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tomegun

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 29, 2007
350
49
Las Vegas
I am writing this slightly frustrated, but not pissed off.

I like the activity rings. I don’t like that only the AW changes them. There are situations where I cannot have the watch on during daily activities and exercise. That means that data does not make it to the activity rings. Additionally, the health app seems substantially different from the activity rings. The health app could have less steps, but more flights of stairs or it could be the exact opposite of that. Is this a case where all of this is realistically in beta?

My AW S3 also doesn’t work right when I run. I have the data plan through T-Mobile and we have spent a lot of time on the phone trying to provision it. Things seem right when I am on the phone with them except calls do not go to the phone when the phone is off. Then I run the next day and it disconnects. I have an appointment at Apple tomorrow to possibly get the watch replaced.

Any thoughts?
 
This isn't true, though. If you have a device that syncs with the Health app, like a Garmin Edge for your bike, calories burned there will count for your Activities and Exercise rings.

I have a Withings Go and use it often when I can’t wear the watch. The activity does not impact the rings. I would appreciate it if you would tell me what I am doing wrong. That would solve a huge issue I have.
 
I think tomegun is correct on this one.

3rd party apps can sync to Health, but they don't impact the Move or Exercise rings *. Syncing to Health allow for getting data to the Health app categories, but Move is not the same as Active Calories and Exercise is not the same as Workout Minutes.

Every one of my 3rd party app behaves in this manner. The only thing that adds to the Move/Exercise/Stand rings is the Apple Watch.

For those who have 3rd party apps that contribute to the rings, can you indicate which apps do this? I'd like to do some testing/experimenting.

Added - * 3rd party apps can contribute to Move/Exercise rings if you're wearing the AW.

Explanation - I don't think that using an iPhone app without the AW will update the Move/Exercise rings. Which is what the OP is talking about. He would wear his Withings Go and it updates the iPhone app, but that doesn't make it to the AW rings.

tobefirst is indicating that the Garmin Edge can do this. But I wonder if it works if the AW isn't also worn ... although I'm guess that's what he's saying as it would be quite silly to wear two devices while exercising.
 
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For those who have 3rd party apps that contribute to the rings, can you indicate which apps do this? I'd like to do some testing/experimenting.

Before Series 1&2 I used to have iPhone app called SwimIO to put in my swims. I added it to Health source & my swim minutes & calories got added to the rings. All I need to do is permit the app to write to Active Energy & Workout.
Both Nike Run Club & Training got added to the ring but I guess Nike could be the exception.
 
Before Series 1&2 I used to have iPhone app called SwimIO to put in my swims. I added it to Health source & my swim minutes & calories got added to the rings. All I need to do is permit the app to write to Active Energy & Workout.
Both Nike Run Club & Training got added to the ring but I guess Nike could be the exception.
But you would be wearing the AW and using the swimIO app on the watch, right? The 3rd party apps I use work this way too.

If you're saying that you can use an app to add to the rings just by typing in a workout duration (on the iPhone), and that app writes to the Health data and contributes to the rings, then that's a new one on me.
 
But you would be wearing the AW and using the swimIO app on the watch, right? The 3rd party apps I use work this way too.

No, I was using it when I had my original watch. Didn’t dare to swim with it.
Maybe old watchOS/Health allow it?
 
No, I was using it when I had my original watch. Didn’t dare to swim with it.
Maybe old watchOS/Health allow it?
I tried a little experiment last night using NRC on the iPhone. I manually inputted a run of 1 mile in 8:30 minutes. The health app was able to get the exercise credit to show up and it also showed up in the activity ring. However, the active calories did not update in either the health app or the move ring.

Not really sure what happened anymore because it was different a few versions ago.
 
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OK, I did another experiment using a different app. I used Endomondo to do a quick 1/2 mile walk outside using GPS while leaving the AW at home.

Endomondo recorded the walk with a calorie burn of 78 calories (a little high, but whatever). The move ring was at 150 when I started and the exercise ring was at 1 minute (slow morning, so sue me).

When I go back, I put on my AW and the rings did not update right way. The Health app showed 155 calories but did show 8 minutes of exercise. After about 5 minutes, the rings updated to 233 calories and 8 minutes. Curiously, the Health app still showed about 155 calories, but a deep dive into the data showed that the calories from Endomondo were there, just not used because Endomondo is lower on the priority list.

So I stand corrected, 3rd party apps can indeed update the Activity rings. But I guess it really depends on the app itself.
 
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