Exercise ring isn't updating.

I've had my watch for two weeks now, and I also got around to reading through the manual (it's in the support section). The watch is intended to learn over time, and I've found this to be true. The readings are improving. Most of the time it records my standing (though not always) without having to bug me, and I'm getting credit for movement and sometimes exercise even when I'm not specifically using the Workout App. Last week I was at the mall and it logged about 15 minutes of me briskly walking from one store to the next. I've been using "Other" to record my workouts b/c I do yoga and HIIT training. I get full time credit for all of those, and it seems to use the heart rate monitor to calculate calories. I get exercise credit throughout the day b/c I'm often running up and down stairs (at home and at work). I went to the climbing gym with my husband the other day, and logged an "Other" workout. The exercise ring did adjust when I finished the workout.

Today was the first time I did an outdoor walk with the workout app, and I had my phone with me so I could calibrate it. The instructions are in the manual, but basically you just need your phone with you and location services turned on. I logged a 10 minute walk in the workout app, and my exercise ring adjusted accordingly. The distance was about right as well.

I'm still fairly disappointed that workouts that are logged from other apps and recorded in HealthKit aren't read into the Activity monitor. I swim as my primary form of exercise and use the Speedo app to log my workouts. I could easily bump up my calorie goals if it would record those. I work at a software company that develops apps. It would not be a big deal for the Activity app on the phone to check in with HealthKit and send that data to the watch. I logged a feature request for this, but am not holding my breath.

OK, this is real "theater of the absurd" if you ask me. While I am getting better results overall--particularly for outdoor exercise, but even with indoor walking-- after having calibrated my watch, the inaccuracy is still outrageous.

Today I walked a total of 5 miles (12,000+ steps) over a total of 100+ minutes inside--pacing up and down the hall, not on a treadmill--using the Indoor Walk workout setting and got exercise "credit" for only 20 of these minutes. And YES my arms swing when I walk inside, probably not as much as outside, but they still DO swing. So maybe the deficit in "credit" is due to my not exercising briskly enough to raise my HR sufficiently. Fine but here comes the really outrageous part.

Then, in accordance with Jennifer Carr's tip, I set up an OTHER workout, walked for a few minutes and got credit for only one, then sat down in front of my computer for just under 20 minutes. When I quit this "Other" workout, I got credit for the full 20 minutes OF SITTING. Really?

Right now, the Exercise ring appears to be somewhat useful for outside exercise, but almost totally random for the exercise I do inside--sometimes I get credit for exercising and sometimes I don't and, frankly, I can not tell when/why I do and when/why I don't. Like someone above said, BROKEN. Fortunately, this appears to simply be a software issue, but Apple really needs to address it.

You don't see a problem here? This is the Apple Watch not some Android Wear or Pebble junk. We should not have to jump through these hoops. We should not be confused. If the Watch doesn't register treadmill activity then its exercise functions are nothing short of a gimmick.

I think there is an issue with it not crediting exercise in the activity app when the wrist is still (with the exception of 'other') that does need addressing, but once you understand that's how it is mpetrides experience is entirely explainable.

5 miles in 100+ minutes isn't exactly a brisk walk, hence only 20 minutes (only other gives credit for time), I don't want to be rude but up and down a hall is going to include an awful lot of speeding up slowing down and turning round time. In contrast I walked 2 miles today in 32 minutes and was credited 30 minutes. Don't forget there are 2 different things being recorded here Workout and Activity, what I'm being told is that my workout was 32 minutes, but it only considered 30 minutes of that to be energetic enough to count as exercise in the activity app.

A few minutes of other and being credited for one, is too small a sample to comment on, it's hard to say if there were minutes that weren't full minutes or whether they'd actually credited when they looked. Then sitting doing nothing for less than 20 minutes in other mode and getting 20 minutes sounds perfectly reasonable - a few minutes plus less than twenty minutes equals 21 minutes is round about correct IMO.

You are correct, we shouldn't be confused, I've sort of got it worked out (I think), I'm just trying to help others understand it too.

I'm curious if anyone has checked how their workouts are being recorded in the Health app on the phone. If you tap on Workouts, you can get a list of all the inputs (watch and 3rd party devices and apps as long as you've agreed to let them share the data with the Health app) and for the specific duration. All of that data is accurate to what I've been doing. It seems that the Exercise ring is not just carrying over raw workout data, but is parsing it out in someway. But for those who aren't getting any readings for indoor treadmill and so forth, is it getting logged in the Health app?

I just did another 10 minute walk with my phone (the suggestion is to calibrate for at least 20 minutes) using the Outdoor Walk option. I walked the same route I did before. I didn't have to wait for a light this time, so I got a couple additional minutes of time logged in the Exercise Ring, which makes sense. So I've had success with "Other" and "Outdoor Walking."

@Winston,

I agree that 5 miles over 100 minutes is not optimal, but when it's pouring down rain, that's the only option I have. And I do credit the Exercise ring for pushing me to increase my pace inside. The problem is I still can't tell which minutes were brisk enough and which weren't. It felt like pretty much the same pace to me. And, indeed the objective data seems to say the same thing. Yesterday when I exercised outside I did 1:31 (91 minutes) to walk 3.88 miles [23'26" MI avg pace] and got credit for (I think) 70 of those minutes. Today I did 1:46 (106 minutes) for 5 miles [21'19" MI avg pace] and got credit for 20 minutes.

However, the main problem I was highlighting is the fact that 20 minutes _sitting_ in Other workout gave me more "credit" than 5 miles of walking. That makes NO logical sense.

And it also makes no logical sense to be sitting down after being active for most of an hour and to still get the "time to stand" exhortation.

I think it would really help if Apple were to spell out exactly how this is supposed to work. Do we have to be at or above the low end of target heart range for a full minute to get a minute of exercise credit? How are partial minutes at or above low end of target range handled? And what the blazes is going on in "other" workouts.

An aside: what does the MI mean in average pace--is it 21 feet 19 inches per minute average stride or what

That is not true Winston. The last two times I did a stationary bike in the gym (both times without my iPhone in my pocket), both same amount of 45 minutes, same settings on the bike both times checking my heart rate occasionally and NEVER swinging my arms. Both times selected INDOOR CYCLE (not OTHER).

May 9th - 344 CAL, Total Time 00:45:17, Avg Heart Rate 125, Exercise Ring at end of day shows 50/30 minutes.

Today - 169 CAL, Total Times 0:45:39, Avg Heart Rate 115, Exercise Ring now shows 17/30 minutes.

So based on this, I don't think that the movement of one's arms - at least when selecting an indoor activity, certainly not cycling - has any effect. Seems to be based totally on how high you get your heart rate and possibly how consistent you keep that heart rate up.

This could be further proof of what I had said over a week ago. I noticed that when I started riding the indoor bike that it took me about 10 minutes to start sweating and for my heart rate to get above 80%. This was also the time when the app started recording activity minutes. The next day when I used the indoor bike, I started with a sprint as fast as I could on the bike and it started recording my activity minutes within about 30 seconds (so first minute was logged at 1 minute, 30 seconds).

If you look at the tv special Apple did inside their secret lab. It showed employees wearing something on their wrist (hidden apple watch) and a device over their mouth and nose to measure the amount of oxygen they were using. I suspect that the amount of oxygen intake was used to see how bright the blood in the veins are when the sensor measures your heart rate. I further suspect it also helped Apple calibrate what excercise is to an individual and it could very well be different for every age (ie, your target heart rate). They were using stationary bikes, rowing machines and treadmills. It obviously does work, we just have to figure out the trick and why some of us get great results now and some get little or no results.

I am going to try my treadmill tomorrow. I do not swing my arms when on it, I just hold the front bar. Will see if it records anything. I might even put my iPhone in my pocket to see what it does as I have not done the treadmill before with the watch.

Here's another set of data: 2.08 miles walked outside in 45 minutes credited with 25 minutes of "exercise"

If we tabulate the data and calculate a pace based on miles per minute we get

Yesterday outside in driveway: 3.88 miles in 91 minutes = 0.0426 miles per minute Credit (not sure but I think 50-60 minutes of exercise)

Today

Inside 5 miles in 106 minutes = 0.047 miles per minute Credit: 21 minutes of exercise

Outside 2.08 miles in 45 minutes = 0.04622 miles per min Credit: 26 minutes of exercise

So, my pace inside and out is really quite similar but the amount of time credited as "exercise" varies widely.

I have been having similar problems to everyone else on this thread (inaccurate / low HR and calories during "workouts," yet high "resting" calories at the end of the day in the Activity App). I made an appointment with the Genius Bar and walked through the issues and did diagnostics on my watch. No solutions, but going through the process provides a different avenue to let Apple know that this stuff isn't working. I know it's a hassle, but consider meeting with a Genius at a store to do a troubleshooting ticket.

It seems like these issues are software / algorithm issues more so than a hardware issue. Hopefully if more people complain in official avenues (these forums are not monitored by Apple), we can see a software update.

I still think that if you look at your heart rate during your walk, you are not getting into what Apple (and Mayo Clinic) is considering to be excercise. Some have said you have to be in your heart rate target range and others think you have to walk 3mph or faster. There is still excercise but at a much lower rate than real excercising that is geared to benefiting your heart.

When I walk outside, I am doing 2 miles in 30 minutes and it records almost all of the walk. I lose a minute or two at the beginning while it figures what I am doing.

I just rode my stationary bike and this time I kept my arms folded in front of me, no movement other than the little side to side motion. I got my heart rate up quickly to 85% of my max and in a 6 minute ride, it recorded 5 minutes of excercise. Thus arm movement was not necessary.

It is very possible that when you calibrate outside walking, the watch figures out your arm swing and averages it to how far you go. It also knows what your heart rate was to do that walk. Then when you walk without your iPhone or inside on a treadmill, it looks at the arm swing and also looks at your heart rate and says if you did this outside with this heart rate and movement, then you are doing the same thing inside when you hit those heart rates or arm movement.

I'm having the same issue I've gone through calibration steps and have tracked outdoor walks for the past two weeks. When I exercise I'm getting 70 to 80% (of max heat rate yet the exercise ring does not update.

I've done both outdoor walking and outdoor cycling. When I select "other" I get the best results. I've used hr monitors for a while and outdoor walking and cycling don't seem to work Compared to polar or Fitbit. Today's stats: to work 22 cal burned for 30 minutes cycling. From work 314 calories burned using "other" option for 30 minutes cycling.

Same problem here, indoor cycling just isn't updating the exercise ring at all or only slightly. Suspect that the watch is somehow needing some movement of the arm to record exercise but that of course doesn't happen with an exercise bike at home. Maybe we're supposed to strap the watch to our ankle when exercising?

Come on Apple, please give us some sort of response on this?

I'm also having problems with the exercise ring. My Fitbit recorded more exercise than my Apple Watch. Tonight, moving my arms and using indoor walk on the Treadmill, I walked 2.105 miles (distance recorded on the treadmill) in 45 minutes. My treadmill tells me I burned 303 calories. I got NO credit for exercise, (workout in the health app did show 43.85 minutes) and credit for 1.86 miles, and 123.36 calories burned. This stinks. APPLE I'm a huge fan, but I am greatly disappointed. I also calibrated my watch---nothing changed. I went to the genius bar and they really didn't help either. They reset my watch---no change. They weren't sure why this was happening. Next step is to have diagnostics run on my watch and it needs to be sent out to do this. Since I'm seeing others reporting the same issue, I think it's a major bug. APPLE, PLEASE FIX THIS. On my Fitbit I would have gotten the full time in exercise minutes. They go by the Mayo guidelines for working out 10 minutes at a time. My average heart rate was 119.

Well I have been in contact with apple and had a case open for this since 29th April. I am one call away fro returning this watch. Apple have not yet provided any solution for this and indeed seem lost as to what to do. The watch is not working as advertised so Apple have until the end of the week otherwise I and returning it for refund