How accurate is the heart rate monitor

julie78787 wrote:

It is far more likely that this is a software bug, just like people who work at standing desks who don't get "Stand" hour credits.

To clarify:

Progress towards the daily Stand goal is credited when you stand up and move around for at least one minute within any given hour.

Apple Watch uses an accelerometer to identify movement, so a minute's walk around with your arms swinging naturally will achieve this.

More information:

http://www.apple.com/watch/health-and-fitness/

Jonathan -

Respectfully, that's not correct.

I've found that I can get up from my "Sitting Desk" and do several minutes of house cleaning - moving coffee mugs to the sink, emptying trash baskets, etc. - and if I don't "drop" my left arm so it's hanging by my side, I can clean for all 10 minutes and it simply won't give me that credit. However, if I get up, carry the coffee mugs and glasses to the sink with my hand down by my thigh, I get my "Stand" credit almost immediately. That was the huge "Ah ha!" moment this morning - I knew if I walked to the back yard and then back inside to my office I got credit, but if I did far more standing and moving and didn't drop my arm to my side I got squat.

Apple may say it works as you've described, but the empirical evidence says that it doesn't work that way at all. You are welcome to try an experiment - grasp a glass or mug (or something else), and with your Watch forearm parallel to the ground, stand up and move about. You are free to swing your free arm however you may like, and you're free to walk or whatever else you might like to do while standing. Time how many seconds it takes for you to get your "Stand" credit. Do this several times. Now, repeat the process, this time with the glass or mug (or whatever else) in your other hand, allowing your Watch arm to swing freely by your side as you move about. Time how many seconds it takes for you to get your "Stand" credit.

If there is a significant time different - and my experience indicates that there is a HUGE time difference, including "Never" - it means that the "Stand" detection software is BROKEN.

As I said, please feel free to conduct this experiment for yourself and report your results back to the forum.

I now have a nice repeatable experiment which shows that "Stand" is broken -

Starting with an hour in which you've not yet reached your "Stand" goal --

Cross your Watch arm across your chest so that it is parallel to the ground, similar to being in a sling. I found that holding the opposite side of my chest made this easier. Walk about vigorously for five minutes. Observe that you have not yet been credited for a "Stand" interval. Stare at the blue ring and curse for a minute it two - that way you know what you're getting ready to do next isn't the Watch suddenly deciding to give you credit.

Grasp your upper thigh with your Watch hand. Doing so will prevent you from swinging your arm as you walk. It may be a little weird, but most definitely do NOT just put your hand in your pocket. You want the Watch band to be parallel to the ground. Walk about for about 90 seconds - you don't want to do less than a minute, but you also don't want to walk around for much more than a minute. Look at the blue ring and/or bars. It will only take a few seconds (if it hasn't updated already) for it to add the "Stand" interval to your daily total.

SCIENCE FOR THE WIN!

I'm going to wait another hour before I try my NEXT experiment - I'm going to use a hair scrunchy to attach my Watch to my arm as in the first trial, but ensuring that the Watch band is in a horizontal orientation, parallel the ground.

The suggestion to allow your arm to swing naturally as you move around is not intended to describe the only circumstances under which Stand progress will be credited. It is, however, suggested as a generally reliable method for helping to ensure that your watch accurately recognises movement.

Under normal operation, such reliability can be further improved by calibrating your watch, as suggested in your own thread:

Using gross instead of net calories

In respect of your observations, you have repeatedly indicated (both here and elsewhere) that you believe your watch is not tracking your activity accurately. In response, it has been suggested that you contact Apple Support with a view to having your watch checked under warranty.

Jonathan -

Respectfully, you didn't carefully read the description of what I did to get the Watch to credit my "Stand" hour. The amount of "swinging" motion at the upper thigh is about as minimal as possible. So, it isn't that I "swung" my arm and it worked, because I most certainly didn't "swing" my arm.

To reiterate: the suggestion was not that swinging your arm is necessary in order for Stand progress to be credited. It can, however, be very helpful for that purpose.

To clarify: I had hoped to convey that, if your watch is not tracking certain data correctly (eg heart rate, calories), it may also not be behaving as expected in other respects (eg when tracking Stand progress).

Your most expedient solution remains to contact Apple Support or make a Genius Bar reservation with a view to having your watch checked under warranty.