Walking distance doesn't match... Watch, Activity, Health App

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Level 1

49 points

Walking distance doesn't match... Watch, Activity, Health App

I haven't seen anyone else mention this, but I can't believe I am the only one. I walk 7-10 miles each day and a substantial part of that is captured in workouts on my Apple Watch. The issue is, if I look at the miles and steps on the Watch, the Activity app and the Health app, they do not match. They are sometimes a couple of miles different. When this happens, the Watch always shows the most, the Activity app less, and the Health app less still. This happens every day, but it seems (but I’m not sure) that the discrepancy is larger when I walk without my iPhone, with only the arch. I really don’t understand why it would do this. If I walked X miles according to the Watch, why do the iPhone apps show less? Has anyone else noticed this, or does anyone know if there is anything I can do that would resolve the discrepancy?

Apple Watch Series 3, watchOS 4

Posted on Oct 22, 2017 5:24 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Jonathan UK

Level 10

163,799 points

Oct 23, 2017 3:25 AM in response to Sellador

Hi

If it is not already listed as the primary source, then it may help to move your Apple Watch above your iPhone in the data sources list for Walking + Running Distance:

On your iPhone, in the Health app, go to: Health Data > Activity > Walking + Running Distance > Data Sources & Access > Edit.

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Answer 2

Jonathan UK

Level 10

163,799 points

Oct 23, 2017 7:58 AM in response to Sellador

I suggest that you also submit feedback to Apple, as it should not be necessary to manually change the priority order of Apple devices in the data sources list for any given metric in order for data for that metric to be reflected correctly across Apple Watch and the Health and Activity apps on your iPhone:

Feedback - Apple Watch - Apple

This issue seems to have arisen for a number of users under iOS 11.x and watchOS 4.x

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Answer 3

Sellador Author

Level 1

49 points

Oct 23, 2017 7:47 AM in response to Jonathan UK

Yes, that did it. I had looked in the main data sources list and there was no way to reorder things, but when I went in specifically under walking distance and under steps, it does allow me to reorder things. The order was 1) my old watch, 2) my iPhone and 3) my new watch. Moving my new watch above the iPhone in both places resolved the problem. Thanks!

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Answer 4

Sellador Author

Level 1

49 points

Oct 23, 2017 12:49 PM in response to Jonathan UK

I agree. I very much appreciate your helping me find a solution — it's great to have knowledgeable users helping each other out — but I shouldn’t have needed to. A new watch should drop seamlessly into my Apple ecosystem without needing to make obscure manual adjustments. I just left feedback on it.

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