Level 1

32 points

Apple watch green activity ring not working

I recently upgraded my iPhone to iPhone 7. I have an apple watch 2 paired. The green activity ring worked fine with the iPhone 6s but moves very little, if at all, with the iPhone 7. The ring records mowing the lawn (Automatically) as exercise, but it will not move on walks. My understanding is that there are 2 factors the watch uses to move the ring, one is the speed you are going according to the GPS, the other is heart rate.

The last recorded walk, I had a heart rate of 9% extreme (167), 2% high intensity(131), 14% build fitness(124), 10% fat burn(100), and 62% warmup/health(90) all with no movement to the green activity ring on the watch.

I use a companion app called "Heart Watch", and the strange thing here is the rings are listed in this app under "Dashboard" (see image below)and every activity lists correctly on the green ring in that app, but not on the watch.

As stated, the rings including the green activity ring worked great paired to the iPhone 6s, but has almost completed stopped working with the iPhone 7.

Does anyone else have this problem and if so have you fixed it?

iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, Late 2015), iOS 10.1

Posted on Jun 7, 2017 9:22 AM

Top-ranking reply

Jonathan UK

Level 10

164,015 points

Posted on Jun 7, 2017 9:26 AM

To credit progress towards your Exercise goal, the Activity app aims to identify activity that equals or exceeds the intensity of a brisk walk. This requirement applies both during general daily wear and when recording workouts via the Workout app.

Exercise credit is awarded for each minute during which this requirement is met. It is possible that, during your workouts, you either did not meet that requirement or only met it for part of the time.

The definition of a brisk walk varies from person to person and depends on your personal information. To check that this is accurate - and to update it over time:

On your iPhone, in the Watch app, go to: My Watch (tab) > Health > Edit - tap and adjust items, then tap on Done.

When recording fitness activities, be sure to use the Workout app (or a third-party app) and to select the relevant activity type. This enables your watch to use the most appropriate sensors and data sources when tracking results.

For example, with Apple Watch (first generation) and Series 1 models, the watch can access Location Services data from the paired iPhone if it is taken along during outdoor walking, running and cycling workouts. Series 2 has built-in GPS.

During general daily wear and when using the Workout app to record workouts when GPS data is either not relevant or not available (eg Indoor Walk), the Activity app and Workout app track your arm motion (measured by the accelerometer) when estimating results including pace and progress towards the Exercise goal.

For the best results, allow the arm on which you are wearing your watch to swing naturally as you move around during daily wear and to move as expected during workouts.

Calibrating your watch can improve the accuracy of estimations made by Activity app and Workout app. More information and instructions for calibrating your watch are available via the link below. The article also includes instructions for resetting existing calibration data and starting afresh. (Resetting your calibration data will not erase your Activity history).

If you would prefer to receive Exercise credit for the full duration of your workouts, regardless of their estimated 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. (Note that neither distance nor a route map are recorded under this workout activity type).

More information:

For assistance relating to use of HeartWatch, including in respect of any data syncing issues, I suggest that you consult the developer's support resources and/or contact the app developer:

More information:

HeartWatch. Heart & Activity Monitor for Watch on the App Store

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46 replies

kylie297

Level 1

4 points

Apr 21, 2018 1:26 AM in response to Chefmanykey

I have the same issue. Had my watch for over a year and it’s just started to fail on the exercise rings. I went for an hour brisk walk this morning. It recorded the steps and kms and yet I got like 4 minutes in the green ring. So annoying. If they’re going to stuff up th software with updates to try to make you upgrade watches like they do with phones I’m going to be so annoyed. Grrrrr.

Has anyone found a fix yet?

Apr 21, 2018 1:47 AM in response to Chefmanykey

Hi not a fix as such but being pretty grumpy with it’s response the day before I didn’t bother to select a workout when I went for a cycle the next day did exactly the same router same speed and got full credit of excercise time. So before you do anything you have to decide if you want to notch up credit for a workout OR exercise minutes.

Not good enough apple sort the software

Jun 27, 2018 11:16 PM in response to Chefmanykey

Same issue. It won’t record stairs either! I walked and gained 55 feet in elevation, but not stairs. It completed the ring while I was walking, but a half an hour later, it took ten minutes away!! So irritating. I thought it would be better than my Fitbit, but now it’s just a very expensive watch.

Jul 17, 2018 4:23 AM in response to Chefmanykey

I have the same problem. I had a series 1 and recently upgraded to series 3. I thought upgrading would correct the issue. The outdoor walk always gave me less in the green exercise circle than the actual exercise shows. I just completed a 33 minutes walk and I was credited with 2 minutes of exercise. I can see the walk details in the activity app on my phone. It clearly shows 33 minutes. I don’t understand why Apple can’t address this. This thread is a year old and the advice given by the “expert” isn’t even relevant to the actual issue. I’m truly disappointed and really unmotivated.

cherie0j

Level 1

4 points

Jul 17, 2018 8:26 AM in response to Branta_uk

I’ve had my Apple Watch for 2.5 years – My green ring stopped working properly a month ago – mid June 2018. Very annoying.

My husband and I began walking to work in May. He bought a refurbished 3 in February. His green ring didn’t stop working last month like mine did, neither did my daughter’s, who bought a 2 less than a year ago.

visonep

Level 1

20 points

Jul 19, 2018 2:45 PM in response to Chefmanykey

I’m starting to think this may be a hardware issue. Since my last post I have tried the following:

Un-paired Watch then restored it from a back up. That did nothing.
I wasn’t running the latest software so I updated, issue persists.
Finally I bit the bullet and unpaired and set it up as a new watch. This was a very long process. It still says I have only done 2 minutes of activity.

I don’t see what else I can try. Goinf to take it to the genius bar and hopefully they can help me.

Aug 15, 2018 7:14 AM in response to TXFunk

Okay, here’s another one. It changed by it self to othe,dis not move the ring or show calorie burn on the health app. I pushed my strollor with my right hand and instead of swinging my left arm this time I bent it and moved it back and forth like they show in weight watchers.

Tomorrow I am going to set it to run like someone suggested. What do y’all think?

Aug 24, 2018 6:39 AM in response to Chefmanykey

But this has nothing to do with excercises / workouts 😪 It’s an issue of activity that the watch is collecting in background - the 3 coloured rings, of which the green has stopped working for a vast amount of people including my girlfriend who has brand new S3.

It works fine on my S2.

Eirwin

Level 1

12 points

Sep 21, 2018 2:46 PM in response to Didona

I will add my frustration with the changes we all have experienced. But thanks for this tip. It has my rings responding far better than anything else I have tried!

I have a watch version 3 cell less than a year old and a bad case of tendonitus from tightening my watch band to try to help the watch read my skin. Updating to watch 5 has not helped. It used to work well with my 7+. I have small wrists and pale skin. You would think the watch could read well.

Eirwin

Level 1

12 points

Sep 26, 2018 6:27 AM in response to Eirwin

Unfortunately,my move ring is the one resistant to change but just waving my arm got me credit for 93 minutes exercise yesterday! Waiting for my max to arrive and get the watch linked to see if anything changes before taking my turn in the Apple store cue.

Nov 3, 2018 12:06 AM in response to Didona

same issue started a week ago.Didona, I have done what you have done but didn't work for me.My green ring (30min) just moved 2 percent.I have played table tennis all day today,and only moved little bit like 2 percent.It is a joke. I don't know how to get this issue fixed.Has anyone out there got it fix yet? please advise..thank you

Nov 6, 2018 9:56 PM in response to Jonathan UK

I just bought an Apple 4 and went on 2 walks. This helps me to understand why one walk generated more "exercise" minutes than the other one. It also helped me understand that with some walking partners, a stroll will not move the exercise ring. I find it motivating, actually.

Thanks for your post.

Chefmanykey Author

Level 1

32 points

Jun 7, 2017 9:40 AM in response to Jonathan UK

I have read those Jonathan, thanks!, no help there. As stated and shown the heart rate was elevated to more than a brisk walk yet the watch did not record activity. The app mentioned is not the problem, matter of fact it shows the rings better than the watches missing data. The second factor is the rings worked perfectly on the iPhone 6s only a week ago but not on the iPhone 7. .

Chefmanykey Author

Level 1

32 points

Jun 13, 2017 6:22 PM in response to Jonathan UK

The HeartWatch app works fine Jonathan! The problem is in the watch Metrics not reporting properly in the apple work out app. The metrics are there and readable by other apps (HeartWatch)but not the apple rings! ...not in the Heartwatch app. No need to contact the Heartwatch app makers...its reading and reporting just fine!

The more I study this the more I realize apple changed the metrics. Many old folks can no longer use the rings like they use too to chart their walks. Apple expects one to become an Olympic contender in the sport of "Speed walking" in order to get the activity ring to move in the "Walk" mode. Old folks are just looking to not be labeled "Sedentary" by moving their 30 minutes a day, walking the dog. They are NOT looking to enter or train for an Olympic "Speed Walking" competition! So, your PAT apple answers still do NOT answer the questions of why apple changed the metrics? Thus making the watch unusable by a certain generation.

So, your referrals to the apple watch users guide do not help with this problem!

Rdbadri

Level 1

4 points

Mar 5, 2018 8:28 PM in response to dtrotz

This is the 2nd time it's happening to me. It's also frustrating that Apple is silent and not answering to this thread.

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Apple watch green activity ring not working