Apple Watch only records a stand hour if I wildly wave my arms around while moving

That is incorrect, in my experience at least. My job requires me to move constantly and while walking non stop for 4 hours and swinging/waving my arm non stop, the watch only recorded one hour of standing. It only seems to work when it reminds you to move. Other than that, I can’t figure it out, one day it works fine, then it sleeps on all your movements. It’s really frustrating.

My watch tells me to stand several times a day while at work. I never sit for 50 minutes to an hour and I am definitely moving my arms. I had been standing up for about 10 minutes just now and moving my arms around, when I went to sit down the watch told me time to stand. I think it's time Apple acknowledges there is an actual issue. Not the end of the world if it doesn't work. I don't really need to be told to stand, but if the feature is there it might as well work.

Rcain333 wrote:

My watch tells me to stand several times a day while at work. I never sit for 50 minutes to an hour and I am definitely moving my arms. I had been standing up for about 10 minutes just now and moving my arms around, when I went to sit down the watch told me time to stand. I think it's time Apple acknowledges there is an actual issue. Not the end of the world if it doesn't work. I don't really need to be told to stand, but if the feature is there it might as well work.

Apple does not read this user-to-user technical support forum for feedback.

But you can send Apple feedback via:

Feedback - Watch - Apple

If enough users send feedback, it is more likely a decision maker will see it, and maybe take action.

alicja8 wrote:

That is incorrect, in my experience at least. My job requires me to move constantly and while walking non stop for 4 hours and swinging/waving my arm non stop, the watch only recorded one hour of standing. It only seems to work when it reminds you to move. Other than that, I can’t figure it out, one day it works fine, then it sleeps on all your movements. It’s really frustrating.

Standing is irrelevant. Walking is irrelevant.

Waving your arms only counts if it is a rhythmic 30-60 forward and back full cycles.

if you start, then interrupt rhythmic motion for a few minutes, it will start over. Interrupt enough, and it seems to penalize you, making you do even more forward and back cycles.

You have already figure out the secret to getting "Stand" credit.

Apple Watch only records a stand hour if I wildly wave my arms around while moving

Namely, moving your Apple Watch arm. And it does not need to be "wildly", just moving the Apple Watch arm for a long enough period of time is sufficient.

Just because you are on your feet, playing with the dog, etc... does not mean you are actually moving your Apple Watch arm to match your "Apple Watch only records a stand hour if I wildly wave my arms around while moving" discovery.

And knitters get credit BECAUSE they are actually moving their Apple Watch arm. They move both arms lots and lots for hours on end, so they get credit, because the Apple Watch accelerometer cannot tell the position of their body, just the motion of the Apple Watch.

Apple has not reproduced the Star Trek Tricorder. The technology is not there yet.

joanne p iom wrote:

It is nearing the end of May 2024 and my third Apple watch still fails to recognise my activity. This discussion page is classed as a user forum so Apple aren’t remotely interested in intervening.

Since you have not described your situation to us, it is difficult to guess what your activity is, that the Apple Watch is not seeing.

Also the existence of this thread does not imply anything about Apple’s intentions.

If you wish to communicate with Apple the discussions.apple.com forums are not the way you do that.

There is customer support, there is feedback, there are Apple Stores, there is even bug reporting via a free developer account.

See the "Make sure that you earn Move and Exercise credit" section in:

Get the most accurate measurements using your Apple Watch - Apple Support

You should also make sure your watch is calibrated:

Calibrating your Apple Watch for improved Workout and Activity accuracy - Apple Support

You should not have to look like a lunatic. Simply swing you hand as though you were casually walking for a continuous minute.

You're expecting stand to do not what it's not designed to do. If you find it annoying, turn it off. You are not going to get what you think you should get. No one gets it. It is EXACTLY as we've tried to explain to you.

This is a user to user only forum. No one from Apple is here and as users, we didn't design the health features on Apple Watch. Expressing your dissatisfaction with other users, none of whom have any way to give you what you want is not going to help you at all. Do feel free to give your thoughts on this to Apple via this link --> Feedback - Watch - Apple

Apple will not respond to you by providing feedback, but someone at Apple will read your comments.

lobsterghost1 wrote:

If you sit at your desk for the first 50 minutes of an hour, you'll get a Time to Stand notification, which is really an invitation to become active for at least 60 seconds.

That is the crux of the Stand requirements and it works for me.

Nothing needs fixing.

But if you can't manage it choose another smart watch make.

Walking the dog is not standing, it is non-workout activity and will show mostly in the red ring.

Are you using Stand Notifications? If you are, you can't actually record stand time in hours. A stand notification recognizes when you haven't moved once per hour at 50 minutes. To record a stand, you need to move for a full minute (like a one minute walk) and that's it. You'll then get a notification that you did it. It's designed to help you avoid being sedentary for extended periods of time. Like sitting at your work desk and not moving about. If you sit at your desk for the first 50 minutes of an hour, you'll get a Time to Stand notification, which is really an invitation to become active for at least 60 seconds.

In addition to lobsterghost1's excellent explanation, I would add that "Stand" is a bit misleading. What it really records is whether you've been active. Standing comparatively still in one place, as you could be when cooking might not register as active. You really need to move around. Generally, though you don't need to wave your arms wildly (though I've been known to do that just for fun). Walking from one from one room to the next once or twice should do it.