Frustrated

[red41]

I really want to like my Apple Watch but it's getting less and less accurate as time goes on. I would probably give up on it but it's part of my company's insurance plan and used to track my health and effects how much I pay for insurance. A few things that have happened in the past week:

1. I was at a tailgate for a baseball game and was walking around talking with people when I got an alert on my watch that told me "Time to stand up and move around". I hadn't sat down or stopped moving since I had put my watch on that morning.

2. I work on the 4th floor of my building and have taken the stairs up and down twice today, yet my watch shows that I have climbed 1 floor today.

3. Whenever I try to control music through my watch it doesn't work. I've had the watch restart, I've had the buttons not work and I've had it just spin when trying to change the song.

4. I went on a 30 minute run yesterday and my health app today shows I've exercised for 10 minutes this week, but it also shows that I've exercised for 18 minutes today. What kind of sense does that make?

5. I don't baby my watch but it is scratched up way more than it should be. I've never had a watch that took this much damage in less than a year of wearing it.

I'm mostly venting, but the Apple Watch is the most disappointing thing I've bought from Apple. I've owned 5-6 ipods, 7 different iphones, 3 different Macs, 3 different appletv, two apple time capsules and 3 different ipads. I haven't been disappointed with any of them like I am with the Apple Watch.

 

[dallison13]

I really want to like my Apple Watch but it's getting less and less accurate as time goes on. I would probably give up on it but it's part of my company's insurance plan and used to track my health and effects how much I pay for insurance. A few things that have happened in the past week:

1. I was at a tailgate for a baseball game and was walking around talking with people when I got an alert on my watch that told me "Time to stand up and move around". I hadn't sat down or stopped moving since I had put my watch on that morning.

2. I work on the 4th floor of my building and have taken the stairs up and down twice today, yet my watch shows that I have climbed 1 floor today.

3. Whenever I try to control music through my watch it doesn't work. I've had the watch restart, I've had the buttons not work and I've had it just spin when trying to change the song.

4. I went on a 30 minute run yesterday and my health app today shows I've exercised for 10 minutes this week, but it also shows that I've exercised for 18 minutes today. What kind of sense does that make?

5. I don't baby my watch but it is scratched up way more than it should be. I've never had a watch that took this much damage in less than a year of wearing it.

I'm mostly venting, but the Apple Watch is the most disappointing thing I've bought from Apple. I've owned 5-6 ipods, 7 different iphones, 3 different Macs, 3 different appletv, two apple time capsules and 3 different ipads. I haven't been disappointed with any of them like I am with the Apple Watch.

This sucks and I bet you're frustrated. I think many of us experience some of these every once in a while. They are computers after all!
I will say, that the AW does not measure floors at all. Your phone will. If you look in health app, you'll see floors measured... when your phone is with you.
You may need to do a serious reset on your watch, or reset the calibration data.

Good luck with the other issues.

 

[Fantasigraphic]

Well for #2 the watch doesn’t keep track of elevation; no altimeter!

Only reason it’ll show something is because of your iPhone.

 

[BarracksSi]

For your first point, tailgating at a ballgame -- were you carrying things in your watch hand?

It doesn't know whether your legs are standing up or sitting down. It can only sense whether your wrist is horizontal or vertical.

I've been able to fool mine while sitting (even in the car) by dangling my hand downward.

Also, for #4: did you Save the run workout?

 

[red41]

For your first point, tailgating at a ballgame -- were you carrying things in your watch hand?

It doesn't know whether your legs are standing up or sitting down. It can only sense whether your wrist is horizontal or vertical.

I've been able to fool mine while sitting (even in the car) by dangling my hand downward.

Also, for #4: did you Save the run workout?

Tailgating - I had been walking around. I probably carried something in my hand for a little while but not for a full hour.

#4 - Yes I always save my runs and I used to save my workouts but since most of the time I just lift weights I have stopped recording my workouts because the watch can't really tell me much about weight lifting.

 

[pika2000]

I read about insurance companies using the AW, but didn't realize it is for real.
Can you cheat by shaking your AW once in a while?
Remember the Nintendo Wii? People ended up sitting on their couches while shaking the Wii mote to fool it on movement.

 

[ftaok]

1. I was at a tailgate for a baseball game and was walking around talking with people when I got an alert on my watch that told me "Time to stand up and move around". I hadn't sat down or stopped moving since I had put my watch on that morning.

4. I went on a 30 minute run yesterday and my health app today shows I've exercised for 10 minutes this week, but it also shows that I've exercised for 18 minutes today. What kind of sense does that make?

For #1, the reminder for standing up happens at 50 minutes past the hour for me. I think that's the default and I'm not sure if you can change the reminder time. Being as you were at a tailgate, walking around, it's unlikely that you would have been holding something for 50 minutes continuously. It was probably a glitch, especially if it hasn't happened again.

For #4, you might already know, but there's a difference between workout and exercise minutes. Workout counts every minute that you have an actual workout running, either on the AW Workout app or a third party app that writes to Health. Exercise minutes only count when the AW records movement equivalent to a "brisk walk". Folks have surmised that a brisk walk is around 3.5 mph. In theory, if you do a Walking Exercise for 30 minutes, but walk at a 2.5 mph pace, you would end up with 30 minutes of Workout, but 0 minutes of Exercise.

Not saying that's what's going on in your situation, but it's worth a look.

 

[BarracksSi]

Go ahead and use Other for your weightlifting workouts, naming them as needed before saving them.

Whether you think you get useful info or not is moot. The point is to log them as workouts so they count towards your weekly goals. I haven't gone for a walk in several days (and haven't jogged in months), but I still log my indoor workouts whether I do cardio or weights.

 

[sean000]

1. Ask yourself if you really need to have the stand reminder enabled. Some people do (especially those who spend hours at a time working at a desk), but others will hit the Stand goal every day without thinking about it. I have certainly encountered the "Time to Stand" message while I'm standing, but it was rare enough that it didn't bother me. The reminders are there to help you remember to get up and move around. If you're already doing it, then just dismiss and don't worry about it!

2. As others have said, you need your iPhone with you. I've had the same problem, because I sometimes leave my iPhone at my desk. My old Fitbit could track stairs climbed independently. Maybe the Series 2 can do this? If not, then perhaps the next watch will?

3. That's a strange one. This feature has always worked well for me. I mostly use it to control the Google Play app, NPR One, and Overcast (podcasts). I do keep my "Now Playing" controls docked, so they are easy to get to. Maybe keeping it docked helps keep it connected to the app on the phone? This feature will be updated in iOS 11, so perhaps that upgrade will resolve your issues.

4. Are you using the Workouts app? If you go for a run without starting a workout, it won't be as accurate. Carrying an iPhone will also help unless you have the Series 2 with GPS. Even if you don't start a workout, you may register some exercise if your heart rate is sufficiently elevated. I used at Fitbit for a year and a half and the Apple Watch is just as accurate for me was the Fitbit was. I wore them both for a long time to compare, and they were always within a few percentage points of each other.

• For your insurance billing is there a minimum requirement? What do you have to show to get credit? Do you get a bigger discount for more exercise?

5. My 2-year-old Apple Watch Sport (silver aluminum) basically looks new. The glass is flawless and you have to look very hard to see the tiny scratch I have on the Dock/Power button. I'm don't baby mine either. I work a desk job, so there's that. I wear it hiking and mountain biking, doing household chores, etc. About the only times I take it off are when working in the yard or swimming. I've whacked it into walls and other hard surfaces pretty hard a number of times. I've actually be quite surprised at the fact that my watch still looks new.

I will say that there have been rare times when I encounter some misbehaving watch apps: Complications won't update, or apps won't load. Holding both buttons until the watch powers off, and then powering it up again, usually resolves the issue. I need to do the same for my iPhone from time to time.

Sean