Apple watch exercise not counting

I know that the Watch uses the prior week's (or weeks') activity to fine tune recommendations to increase your Move goal and possibly change how you earn your Exercise minutes (the latter being my concern).

But I have to think that the Watch would make different recommendations for two people, side by side, with the same basic personal data with the exception of initial Activity Level.

If not, what is the point of telling them your current Activity level in the first place? And yes, something could happen to impair your ability to perform on that level, just as a touch of arthritis might cause you to dial back spinning significantly and permanently. (Note my optimism on achieving all the Power Ups and advancing to the next level of difficulty!) 😀

So I'd really appreciate Apple telling us exactly how they calculate Exercise minutes in a best case scenario (i.e. a perfectly functional Apple Watch and software). They don't have to explain the secret algorithm used, just the metrics involved and how they're used, assuming that's not the secret algorithm. 🙂

Every point you’ve mentioned in this post is accurate, that’s what’s been going on with me , on and off , outdoor walk might give me 18 minutes out of 20 or can give me 2 minutes out 30 mins of walk , couple days ago I did about 45 minutes outdoor walk 2.03 miles average Bpm was 97 and average pace was 22’25”/M , recorded ring was 0 ( very confusing) thanks to Runkeeper again ,it did record the whole 45 minutes , again today first 20 mins I recorded 12, 93bpm , average pace 20’51”/M , distance 0.96M , then I tried 24mins 49 “, 98bpm , average pce 20’44”/M distance 1.19M recorded on ring 7 minutes only !!!! Inconsistency , no logic whatsoever, I think Apple should look at this issue closer and mange work with calories burning based on the conditions of the exercise and the individual , no matter what is the time duration, this shouldn’t be touched , I liked your post because it’s exact analysis for the issue , I’m gonna bring my watch to Apple to make my point effective 😄

So I did end up going to the Genius Bar, and showed them all my data. They agreed it was odd, and sent it to The Depot to have the software reloaded and retested. They sent it back after doing so and said it tested fine. This time, they did tell me that it could take 7-10 days to "learn" my habits, so I should make sure to give it that much time. I gave it a full 14 days, but was having the same issue. I was about ready to bring it back and tell them I wanted a new watch, when I decided to try one more thing in desperation.

I blew up ALL the data. I had to kind of play around and figure out what order to do stuff in, but ultimately I think it's this: You unpair the watch from the phone first, then you restart the watch, and go to the watch settings and reset it so it gets reset as if it's new from the factory. It will say "are you sure you want to delete all of the data from the watch?" and I replied yes. I also deleted the watch app and the activity app from the phone, then shut down the phone and restarted it. After that I erased all content and settings on the phone...yep. Desperate! I did try to remove the watch from the phone without doing that, but it seemed like it kept the data in the phone and wouldn't accept the reset. What's really weird tho, is that I did a restore on the phone data from a back up, and it pulled the watch app back in, but not the data. Anyway after I FINALLY cleared out all the crap data, the watch has worked like a dream. My actual activity time has been spot on every single time from the very first day, down to the minute.

There may have been an easier way to do this, but at least it works. Too bad Apple couldn't get to this solution with me.

Congratulation on fixing your Watch!

I think the key to your success was getting corrupted data off your phone. The Watch stores data on the phone. If you could have removed the Activity app without nuking your phone, that might have been enough.

Apple does let us offload some factory apps. And now with iOS 11 you can off load them without losing data. That probably would not have helped you, so it's important to know that you've actually deleted potentially corrupt data.

With the way Apple, the latest iTune 12.7.x and iOS 11 treat apps now, it's not surprising we're reluctant to nuke and pave the phone, but sometimes that's the only answer.

Glad you got it all worked out though.

Thanks , unfortunately it did not continue as it suppose to work , sensor is inconsistent, I’ve bent in contact with Apple tech for that last 2 weeks , more than 6 hours already spent on that 4 hours in one day , issue was handled with Apple engineers , no soloution yet , we tried everything thing including wearing watch where is no hair on wrist and shaving hair on wrist 😂

KirkF, I agree with the problems of the rings. It doesn’t log outdoor walks on the rings, my wife is on her feet all day (a nurse) and constantly up and down but goes to bed at night with only 5 stands!!, and I, who do nothing all day start off with 4 stands when I wake in the morning (slept all night) and have 16 at days end!

I use the workout app for brisk evening walks, but a couple of days ago went for a 8+ km dog walk around a nature reserve which took over 1.5 hours (without using the workout app) and was only credited 9 minutes, even though I had 11k steps and it showed the correct distance! How can it get the distance and steps reasonably correct but think you’ve not the exercise?

How can it get the distance and steps reasonably correct but think you’ve not the exercise?

I don't know the answer but offer some possible explanations:

1) you're Watch is defective.

2) you're watchOS is corrupted

3) the watchOS is buggy

4) you're idea and Apple's idea of exercise differs.

Most people want to believe item 3, that Apple screwed up. Maybe. Maybe not. I think a lot of people don't understand item 4.

Apple, like all fitness device manufacturers, uses a proprietary algorithm to determine what level of activity is exercise. All these algorithms use a variety of metrics to determine that level, and likely none are the same. It's like have two, three, four, or more coaches, each telling you something different about how hard you have to work for exercise to be beneficial. One coach tells you the others are babying you and 'that's no workout!' Apple isn't telling.

These metrics are certainly heart rate, and almost certainly time and distance. Step? Personal physical data? Maybe. Temperature. Arm (with Watch) movement— absolutely. There may be more. Some or all of them need to reach a minimum level for Apple to call it 'exercise'. Failing to sustain the minimum for one or more of these metrics, means a loss of a minute of exercise.

User A averages 30min/mile while user B averages 15min/mile while. Each gets 60 exercise minutes for a 60mini walk. But if User B hangs with user A, even though the steps are the same, User B fails to earn a full 60 Exercise Minutes because he's below his typical level.

If, during your walk, you don't move fast enough to satisfy Apple's algorithm, you don't earn Exercise minutes. If you are moving fast enough, but slow down to smell the roses, you stop earning Exercise minutes.

At least that's how I think this works. My Outdoor Walks are definitely logged on my rings.

I have this same issue and it straight up ticks me off - actually makes me want to go back to my Fitbit for activity tracking but who wants to wear two devices? For example I walked 30 minutes this morning with my dog which was not any type of record setting activity but we consistently WALKED at about 3 mph for 30 minutes, i.e. did not stop for 💩 or anything, and my Apple Watch registers only 17 minutes of activity. I am irritated. Not every day is a run day for me and not every day is super intense activity but I would like an accurate record of my exercise (not as concerned with calories captured here). Pairing the watch again doesn’t seem to have fixed the issue. Help?!

Totally agree. I just want it to measure exercise, irrespective of how fast or slow I walk. I’m a reasonably fast walker so when I walk much slower, it gives, as you state, lower minutes of exercise than actually did.

Am glad I’m not the only one!

I missed this part of your earlier response:

If you would prefer to receive Exercise credit for workouts regardless of their intensity levels, track them via the Workout app using Other as the activity type. This will credit one minute of Exercise for each full minute of the workout. Active calories will be estimated at a rate equivalent to a brisk walk or based on data recorded by the heart rate sensor, whichever is higher.

My question now is— if the workout is not defined when using Other, what metrics to we observe to constitute an undefined workout? I'll give it a try to find out (maybe) what's what.

To me, that feels somewhat like cheating, but realize it's a personal decision. Ultimately, I only care about what's good for me and my heart and that helps me let go of the 'cheating' consideration.

Wow. Not the type of helpful response I was expecting from the Apple community. Thanks for judging my lifestyle which you know zero about. Perhaps I can coming back from a serious illness and ALL activity is an accomplishment and should be recorded and celebrated. Perhaps a lot of things . . . I am truly shocked by your critical reply.

If you thinking judging you or being critical of your lifestyle and are truly shocked, then your reading comprehension needs much work. You believe you should get credit for everything you deem exercise; Apple believes their standard of a brisk walk must be met for an Outdoor Walk to count as exercise.

Jonathan gave you an option. I don't agree with such an option. You have a decision to make. You chose to take offense. Oh, well. Your choice.

I wouldn't know based on very little information. Many things could be in play. The recurring theme here is Apple the Watch is defective somehow.

Let's assume for your situation your Watch and software are working properly. Your data entered in the Health app is used in measuring your workouts. Given that, Apple may posit an easy workout for you is difficult for me, based on my Health data. Your goals set in any given workout compared to how you complete them will also affect workouts.

In the link I posted previously, you can see that you can close a Move ring outside of a workout or without a specific workout at all. Stands are a little more than just standing, though. There needs to be some movement for about a minute to get Stand credit.

The Watch records all your activity using the common metrics most fitness devices use— average speed, distance, time, steps, temperature, average heart rate, and peak heart rate, I believe. All these are recorded for you to review.

Apple is clearly trying to make us healthier and is focusing on cardio-vascular activity to do so. Closing Move and Stand ring shouldn't be difficult once it's understood what's required. You seem to have no difficulty with closing not only those, but the Exercise ring as well. You might consider increasing your goal(s) and challenging yourself more.

My workouts for the Watch are solely Outdoor Walks. I've found that over three months, it's become a little more difficult to earn Exercise points. At the very beginning I attributed this to slowing down at various times even though my average speed was 20min/mi. When I slow, Exercise credit isn't given. So I made sure I kept my pace up and all was well for over two months. Then I found I wasn't getting minute-for-minute credit. Reviewing my Workout stats I saw that my average heart rate had dropped noticeably from my first workouts. I believe heart rate is one of the metrics used in calculating progress. My improved conditioning made it harder to close that ring, so now I have to push myself a little more.

If you use the Other method, your green ring will close pretty much no matter what you do or don't do. If you have no trouble meeting your current goals within a specific Workout, your green ring will close fairly easily. The other two are fairly easily closed, the red ring also based on whatever goal you set.

Apple has monthly challenges that are based on your data and previous performance to challenge you to increase your level of activity. These will change as your level of conditioning changes.

Check out the information at the above link and consider increasing your goals. That should help you figure out what's what.

BPM is not pace.

See my previous reply:

Re: Re: Apple watch exercise not counting