Automatically recognize exercise?

[melvynadam]

I switched to the Apple Watch from a Fitbit Blaze. The thing I miss most about my Fitbit is the way it automatically tracked and logged exercise by what I was doing. Walking outside, running on an elliptical, cycling etc are all automatically logged and counted towards your exercise goals. They call this “SmartTrack” and have had it since 2015.

Is there any app (that people are happy with) that can achieve the same thing on Apple Watch? I saw one recently in the App Store but the reviews indicate that it’s not delivering on the promises the marketing team are making.

 

[Rok73]

cycling

How does a Fitbit determine that you're cycling

 

[Resqu2]

For myself I want to set a workout based on type and when I start and stop. I may be after a certain amount of time or maybe a certain distance that day.

 

[Cordorb]

the watch has a machine link to some equipment but not at my YMCA
I set it to stair master for most circuit stuff then indoor bike for bike

 

[ersan191]

Aside from GymKit, I don't think this functionality exists unfortunately, and I don't think a third party app would be able to do this because HealthKit doesn't expose enough sensor information to make a determination. Though I could be wrong since AutoSleep manages to track when you are sleeping, but I'm sure that requires a lot less information.

For Fitbit they wrote software specifically devoted to this function (They call it SmartTrack and even took the time to trademark the name) - it would be neat if Apple wrote something similar but I think it just isn't a highly requested feature, unfortunately. I think Siri being able to start specific workouts is "close enough" in convenience for most people, since Fitbit products don't have something similar.

 

[sean000]

I use an app called ride report that automatically logs bicycle rides. It’s quite accurate.