I Went for a 20 minute outdoor walk today using the Workout app, with my phone GPS on And I didn't get credit for even one minute. I had my hands in my pockets because it was cold but given I was using gps, shouldn't it have given me credit in the exercise ring?
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.
You may find it helpful to review my previous reply in this thread, which also explains (at the end) how workouts can be recorded via the built-in Workout app whilst receiving Exercise credit for every minute of the workout:
As I hoped to explain, the built-in Workout app can be used to earn Exercise credit for every minute of a workout, even when the intensity level does not meet the normal requirement for earning Exercise credit.
To do so, record your activity via the Workout app under "Other".
My previous post refers: Re: Re: Apple watch exercise not counting
Thanks , I did many times , I posted that for everyone to know the frustration Apple caused , it’s a shame Apple don’t care 😄
Out of 42 mins walk only 22 mins were recorded on watch , everyone tell Apple to wake up and fix this issue , there is no other smart watch has this problem !!!
I just tried this. We'll see how it goes!
If you do this doesn’t it delete all of your history ?
2018, and this issue still isn't really answered by apple. The exercise rings are pathetic - we need a third party solution to this, because the Apple Activity app is complete rubbish.
I don't understand this at all. I don't walk that fast and my rings close just fine. Please explain why this is.
Update: I did the recommended 20 minute walk outdoors. Clear skies, no tree cover, flat area, Location Services and Motion & Calibration ON. Exercise app tapped me on the wrist when I was done with 20 minutes; only 3 minutes registered on the Activity exercise ring. I'll do another one tonight if it's clear; so far, I appear to be having the same issues today with nothing registering on the ring.
I only got a total of 5 minutes of exercise in yesterday, doing the same routine that used to net me 30+.
Am having weirdness with recording and computing data in some reasonable range. I went on a hike today with lots of climbing. My heart rate averaged 126 bpm over 83 minutes, yet the watch says I had only 334 "active calories" — and the green exercise ring says I had only 49 minutes of exercise. And this is not the first hike on which this has happened. Hey, Apple, what's up?!
Hello, I also have the same problem and find it very frustrating. From the beginning, I learned that the green exercise ring in the Activity app will register if my activity equals at least the speed of a brisk walk. Sometimes, I walk-run and it won't register. Also, I'm just under 5 foot, so I can't walk as fast as a 6 foot person. My legs are not long enough. If I walk 60 minutes at a slower pace than a supposedly "fast pace", it should at least register as a 30 minutes activity, don't you think so? I would like to know why a 30 minutes brisk walk (at what speed is it considered a brisk walk?) is not equal to a slightly slower pace of a 60 minutes walk, for example. 😕
I will try to do the fix you mentioned (unpair the watch from my iPhone and pair it again as a new watch). Let's hope it works!
Hello Tahoe,
unfortunately, it did not work for me.
This morning, I walked 20 minutes outside (with my iPhone) using the dedicated exercice app and in the activity green circle, it registered as a 4 minute walk only. I did exactly what Apple support told you to do, I have the latest software on my iPhone (8.4) and on my watch (1.0.1), I unpaired my apple watch from my iPhone and paired it again as a new watch.
What I would like to do is to have the possibility of doing a 30 minute brisk walk or if I don't feel like walking very fast, I would like to walk at a slower speed but for a longer time. Everything that equals the same number of calories than a 30 minute brisk walk should count.
I am having the same problem with all activities. I have tried all of the "fixes" over the past week and it still doesn't work. For example to day I did an hour bike ride. Map my ride recorded the ride as 1:04:57 12.73 miles and avg speed of 11.7 mph. The watch recorded as 1:04:37 (time diffrence due to ending workout) 0 ft and 0.0 mph. So basically the watch thinks I sat on my bike in one spot for an hour. This really needs to be fixed since the phones gps is clearly working and recording the data its just not communicating it to the watch.
Update: After unpairing/repairing my phone, the watch worked again for precisely one day as normal again. After unpairing, it was recording my day as it used to: brisk walks registered with the exercise ring as expected. However, I did an outside run using the Workout app on the watch in the evening, and on day two I'm right back to the same problems of no exercise registering.
The only consistency I've been able to find so far is that things work fine until I use the Workout app on the Watch; things were fine for several weeks I owned the Watch until I used the Workout app in "Outdoor Walk" mode on the hike, and after the unpair/repair, things were fine until I used the Workout app in "Outdoor Run" for a run.
I am going to unpair/repair the watch again, and then try *not* using the Workout app at all, to see if it goes back to "normal". Will post back.
Apple watch exercise not counting
