The Apple Watch Activity Rings are pointless

[bluecoast]

I’d argue that the watch is primarily a lifestyle device - which is often marketed as a fitness device.

However, it’s still simply not accurate enough to live up to the fitness marketing.

For example the activity app doesn’t factor in strain. I might be walking back with heavy shopping for 20 minutes - a mini rucking session so to speak - but if I’m not walking at a brisk pace I get no activity credit for this. I guess I could try and find a workout that matches this, but it’s meant to be a smartwatch. And hey, a rucking mode would be good right?

…However it will trigger an elliptical workout for me when I pet my dog with my watch wearing arm and give me activity ring credits which is nice.

Stand yes, is kinda silly the way you can get credit for doing so little. But this is one where I’ll respectfully disagree with the OP.

As others have said here, it’s really aimed at people with a sedentary lifestyle.

I’ve always thought this ring is aimed at the type of person who lives in the suburbs and has to drive everywhere - this is lifestyle that our built environment encourages for so many, I’m not judging anyone.

To conclude, the watch almost needs a ‘beginner mode, just to get you standing and then about more & then a ‘I exercise frequently’ mode.

A more sophisticated way of doing this would be a UX and metrics that automatically morph into more sophisticated ones as your fitness improves.

The rumoured heath+/fitness+ coaching product hopefully should help here - and hopefully solve the OP’s issues with the watch too.

 

[CyberDavis]

I disagree the Apple Watch Activity Rings can be a great motivator for staying active and healthy.

Exactly, the rings are motivational and hopefully encourage some to be more active.
Certainly gives me a good prompt every now and then.

I’d argue that the watch is primarily a lifestyle device - which is often marketed as a fitness device.

However, it’s still simply not accurate enough to live up to the fitness marketing.

Personally I’ve found my AW subsequently AWU to be very good.
The tracking and fitness data for my runs is very good, and definitely as good if not better than the Garmin replaced.
In addition tracking of walks and workouts is good, and health data such as heart rate tracks with other sources very well.

What could be said is the AW is not a pure fitness device, it does a whole lot more.
But that does not make it a bad fitness device.

 

[Jonnod III]

Had a great Stand day last Thursday.

View attachment 2525086

They are great for motivation! I pay attention to the Red and Green rings each day and make sure I've done the required amount, or more.

In addition I have now set my Blue target to 26hrs per day.

 

[Jmausmuc]

Apple Watch is a horrible fitness tracker:
- The rings make no sense. And are almost impossible not to over archieve.
- Watch tracks walking heart rate both when just casually strolling and when doing a walking workout as the same metric.
- VO2 max is calculated in a strange way where it keeps fluctuating depending on if I do a zone 2 run for faster run.
- there is zero intelligence similar to what whoop and others offer where various health matrix’s are evaluated into a fitness score or similar.

Can’t believe watchOS26 fixes none of this.

 

[JapanApple]

Apple Watch is a horrible fitness tracker:
- The rings make no sense. And are almost impossible not to over archieve.
- Watch tracks walking heart rate both when just casually strolling and when doing a walking workout as the same metric.
- VO2 max is calculated in a strange way where it keeps fluctuating depending on if I do a zone 2 run for faster run.
- there is zero intelligence similar to what whoop and others offer where various health matrix’s are evaluated into a fitness score or similar.

Can’t believe watchOS26 fixes none of this.

ok, then please give an example of what a good fitness tracker that exists now that's better

 

[dannyyankou]

It seems like the issue isn’t so much that the rings are pointless, but the OP is just already physically active without the help of the watch. So it’s just pointless to him. The whole point of the rings is to motivate people who need a little extra help.

 

[Klae17]

Did I mention that I actually went to medical school? And served in the military as a combat medic? I do have some idea of what I’m talking about when it comes to physical fitness. Is it such a bad thing to try and bring this topic to light in the hopes that I might benefit others?

So what if you went to medical school and were in the military? That doesn't change the fact that the rings are just there to motivate people. They aren't perfect for every single person out there and just because they aren't doesn't mean they are useless.

 

[TokyoKiller]

So what if you went to medical school and were in the military? That doesn't change the fact that the rings are just there to motivate people. They aren't perfect for every single person out there and just because they aren't doesn't mean they are useless.

I've personally learned that anyone who leverages things like that to win a conversation or make a point instead of presenting valid information and evidence is not worth wasting much time engaging in a debate and discussion with.

 

[EM2013]

I’ll also add I don’t get “flights climbed” sometimes I’ll get 50 flights climbed when I haven’t taken any stairs whatsoever

 

[TechnoMonk]

I've personally learned that anyone who leverages things like that to win a conversation or make a point instead of presenting valid information and evidence is not worth wasting much time engaging in a debate and discussion with.

Couldn’t have said any better. When you have a weak sauce, throw around names or hype up the cred.

 

[macbookj0e]

15 miles a day?

You must be walking all day long. Are you forest gump?

 

[IJustWannaTalk]

- Watch tracks walking heart rate both when just casually strolling and when doing a walking workout as the same metric.

What is the difference between just walking and a walking workout, besides intention?

 

[IJustWannaTalk]

Some feel the Apple Watch Activity Rings are pointless because they oversimplify fitness and may not fit everyone is lifestyle or health goals.

Are you AI?

 

[Jumpthesnark]

Are you AI?

And the account is already suspended, after one post. A moderator closed their "find and cancel bot accounts" ring today, yay!

 

[Mackilroy]

The Watch, IMO, is only as useful as you make it. I was quite sedentary before I got one - now I walk/run six or seven miles per day, I play some sports, and I’ve lost weight while adding muscle. Does it have limitations? Absolutely. But that’s on the user, too, not just the device.

 

[Piplodocus]

Fun fact: beer is nowadays THE “HEALTHIEST” fizzy drink one can have.

Excellent. This is the motivational speech I needed. Cheers! 🍻🤣

 

[1rottenapple]

I submit to you that the Apple Watch Activity Rings are pointless. Let me explain.

I purchased an Apple Watch series 10, cellular version, for the purposes of determining if I could leave my iPhone at home and just wear my Apple Watch when I’m out and about. So far it is working out perfectly, except that I find the Activity Rings horribly misleading.

The Stand Ring

I typically walk 10 to 15 miles per day with a 20 mile hike once per week - I’m ex-military and enjoy walking/hiking. I’m 62 years old, 145 lbs. and can lift 150 lbs. with moderate effort. I usually close all of my rings in the first two hours of my day. I have a friend, I’ll call her “Jane”, who brags that she also “closes her rings daily”. Jane is overweight and sits in front of the television most days. I visit her often and she typically stands for 60 seconds each hour in order to close her Stand Ring. Sometimes Jane uses this time to walk to the fridge to grab a Dr. Pepper and then to the cabinet to grab a candy bar or potato chips and then plops back down in front of the television. I have invited Jane to walk around the block with me but she needs several breaks, complains of “sweating too much” and that it “takes too much effort”. Besides, she says, “I close all of my rings so I’m being healthy.” She is 22 years old.

I have to ask, why was the Stand Ring even created? There is no way for the Activity app to know what is happening during this “stand session”, as seen above, so it shouldn’t even be seen as a health benefit.

We both close all of our Apple Watch rings daily, but which of us do you think has a good chance of seeing their 75th birthday. Think about it; exactly how many obese 75 year old people have you ever seen?

The Exercise Ring

I intentionally walk uphill because it requires more effort than flat terrain. Many times I notice my Apple Watch reporting that I have walked 4 or so miles, most of it uphill, but the Exercise Ring only reports 19 minutes of exercise for the entire walk. Now, someone please explain to me how a person can walk for 4 miles, most of it uphill, and only show 19 minutes of exercise for it. Four miles of walking usually takes me over an hour.

Is it really a challenge?

I see lots of people responding to various Apple Watch Activity Challenges with “easy peasy”, or “make it harder next time”. A challenge is defined as something that test’s one’s abilities. Is it really a challenge if it is so easy to complete? I remember one of the badges in the Apple Watch Activity app stating “earn this badge after completing a 5-minute workout.” A 5-minute workout?! One cannot even complete a proper warmup in 5 minutes, let alone an entire workout.

The best workout log

I was told years ago by a weightlifting trainer: “you can write down whatever you want in your logbook. But your body will log your true workout activity.” And he was right.

Conclusion

I’m fully aware that I can disable all health tracking on the Apple Watch. I did that last month and the watch seemed to burn through the battery life much faster. So, I reenabled the fitness tracking so I could go back to charging the watch every evening. Don’t get me wrong, the Apple Watch series 10 is a wonderful device for what it does. But, what about the people who think Apple know what they’re doing and rely on the Activity Rings for physical fitness?


Dear Apple: I really feel that this “close your rings” BS needs to stop.. it’s clearly pointless from a physical health perspective. Go spend four weeks with military basic training and you’ll learn the true definition of “physical fitness”.

This is an entertaining rant haha good job

 

[mtbdudex]

I work at a standing desk and sit on a tall stool when needed, so I never close the stand ring on work days.

Total sidebar to the OP subject.
Standing desk in typical office setting .. do you by chance overlook others who are sitting while your standing?
If so does anyone have issues with you?

 

[mtbdudex]

I’m 62 , newly retired 3 months now.
Been Mtb riding since mid 1990’s.
Using an Apple Watch since AW5, now using a AWU2.
Tried the rings , the stand up thing became annoying really fast, off it went.
I ignore the rings, personally find them useless. I just do it the old fashioned way, I lift weights 3 times a week M-W-F, Mtb 3-4 times a week weather dependent.
Use my AWU2 and crank based power meter on my bikes, syncs nicely to Health , sadly Strava chooses to not read the power meter data thru AW feed, they have a contract with Garmin and Wahoo.

 

[CharlesShaw]

Standing desk in typical office setting ..

Among the benefits of WFH is setting up your workspace however you like, which helps offset some of the downsides, like forgetting how to engage in small talk or feeling disconnected from the world.

Funny, I checked my activity rings before writing my original post, and the only days I ever close my stand ring are lazy days watching TV/reading and getting up to grab snacks, etc.

 

[charlyham]

The stand ring doesn’t register sit-ups, pushups or planks, at least it doesn’t for me, but those exercises are much better at circulating the blood and working the muscles than simply standing. Standing, in and of itself, is a poor metric where fitness is concerned.

Maybe Apple just thought that "Stand" was more appropriate than the more correct "Get Off Your Ass", and it takes up less screen space.

 

[johnb300m]

Excellent. This is the motivational speech I needed. Cheers! 🍻🤣

I love me my Michelob Ultras.
They're less calories than a flavored seltzer, and far less of a headache the next day.

 

[johnb300m]

I wonder if this white paper from Apple will help our resident physician out?

https://www.apple.com/health/pdf/Heart_Rate_Calorimetry_Activity_on_Apple_Watch_November_2024.pdf

 

[Wieslawo]

I don't know if they're pointless, but they're definitely stupid. They should be adaptive. A good example is the Gentler App. If I do a super-tough workout today, I have a day off tomorrow. With Apple, there's no such thing as the day before, and the system behaves like a goldfish—maybe it was at 300% yesterday, but I don't remember that.

 

[johnb300m]

I don't know if they're pointless, but they're definitely stupid. They should be adaptive. A good example is the Gentler App. If I do a super-tough workout today, I have a day off tomorrow. With Apple, there's no such thing as the day before, and the system behaves like a goldfish—maybe it was at 300% yesterday, but I don't remember that.

Weird take, but that's fine.
I treat the rings as "minimums, or stretch goals."
I typically have my Move ring around 600cal/day.
On workout days I definitely beat that. But on rest days, I try to at least meet that by living normal, a little rest, walking or doing a little yoga. I will typically meet the Move goal or come short by maybe 5%.