How to use the Apple Watch activity rings

The Apple Watch doesn’t just take your step count — it has three activity rings that track different levels of energy you burn throughout the day.

New to watchOS 11, you have additional options for customization and for taking a break when you need it. You can have different goals for each ring for different days of the week, so it can fit your workout schedule. When you want a rest day or if you fall ill, you can take up to a month-long break without losing your streak.

If you’re all-in on the fitness tracking, you can add widgets that show your rings on your Apple Watch face and widgets on your iPhone. Or, on the other hand, if you find it a bit annoying, you can turn off all the notifications so they won’t bother you anymore.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Apple Watch activity rings.

Apple Watch rings

Table of Contents:

1. Meaning of the Apple Watch rings
2. Adjust your ring goals
3. Pause your rings and streak
4. Add a widget or complication
5. Turn off or change notifications

Meaning of the Apple Watch rings

There are three Apple Watch rings that represent different tiers of activity:

• Stand measures how many hours of the day you stand up for at least a minute.
• Move measures your active calories burned in the day.
• Exercise measures the number of minutes you spend being active.

You don’t have to work out every day; anything can contribute to your daily activity from jogging up a flight of stairs to running around with a dog outside. Apple defines your activity as anything “at or above a brisk walk.”

As you work towards your daily goal, the rings will complete a full circle. If you complete all three, you’ll get a special congratulations.

Adjust your activity ring goals

You can adjust the activity ring goals to match your activity level, whether you want something you can easily and realistically achieve in a day or a tough goal you’ll have to work hard to finish.

From your Apple Watch, click the Digital Crown and open the Activity app. Tap your rings and tap Change Goals. You can tap + or − to adjust the level, or spin the Digital Crown. It’ll let you adjust each goal separately.

If you want to have different goals for different days of the week, tap the Goal Type button in the upper right and tap Schedule. Each ring can have a different goal for each day of the week. This is handy if you work out on specific days of the week, or if want to push yourself to stand more on weekdays at the office. If you don’t see this option, make sure you’ve updated your Apple Watch to watchOS 11.

Pause your activity rings and streak

You can take a break from exercising if you fall ill, suffer an accident or simply want to take it easy for a spell. To pause your streak, just go to the Activity app on your Watch, tap on your rings and tap Pause Rings.

Scroll down and select how long of a break you want to take — today, a week, a whole month or a custom number of days up to a month. You won’t lose your streak, but the numbers won’t increase while it’s paused. Your streak will continue to increment where it left off when the break is over.

This feature also requires watchOS 11.

Add a widget or complication

There are a bunch of ways you can keep an eye on your rings throughout the day. Adding a widget on your iPhone or a complication on your Apple Watch face will put it front and center.

• To add an Activity complication on your Apple Watch, tap and hold on your watch face and tap Edit. Swipe left, over to the Complications tab, and tap on one you’d like to replace. Scroll up to Activity and select Rings.
• Add a widget on your iPhone Lock Screen. Tap and hold on the Lock Screen, tap Customize then tap Lock Screen. Tap the area underneath the clock, then tap Fitness to add your rings. You have the choice of a small widget with the rings icon or a detailed widget that shows all three numbers.
• You can add an even bigger and more obvious widget to your Home Screen. Tap and hold on the Home Screen, then tap Edit > Add Widget. Scroll down to Fitness then add a widget in the size you want.

Turn off or change notifications

Personally, I find the stand notifications and activity reminders more irritating than helpful. You can customize these to suit what works for you best. You can find this on your Apple Watch in Settings > Activity, or in the Watch app on your iPhone.

• Stand Reminders: Receive a reminder to stand if you’ve been sitting for the first 50 minutes of an hour.
• Daily Coaching: Get notifications that help you complete your Activity goals and Monthly Challenges.
• Goal Completions: Receive a notification when you close your Move, Exercise and Stand rings or earn an award.
• Special Challenges: Get notifications about limited edition awards you can earn by completing a challenge.
• Activity Sharing Notifications: Receive a notification when someone who shares Activity with you closes all three rings, finishes a workout or earns an award.

More Apple Watch how-tos

Learn more about your Apple Watch: