My Watch is Sleeping on the Job

[philrock]

My S7 has been slowly degrading in performance.

It's always struggled with the fact I have a standing desk. It is not uncommon for me to be standing for hours at a time and get a 10-minute warning to stand at the end of each hour. My solution to this was to walk around a bit until it realized I was standing. Lately, the walking hasn't helped, it will roll to the next hour leaving a blank bar for that hour...

More recently, it has stopped recording my exercise activity. Today, for example, I walked for a combined ~35 minutes, and it only credited me with 13 minutes. It was a fairly brisk pace, covering 2.25 miles in that time, easily enough to trigger activity.

Does anybody have ideas? I was hoping to hold out another year until the S11 comes out but not if it isn't functioning properly.

AWS7 (GPS); watchOS 11.2

 

[Night Spring]

The "stand" has always been a misnomer. You need to move in order to get it to register a "stand hour," not just stand in place. That said, I've managed to get the watch to register a stand hour by vigorously pumping my arm up and down, or when desperate, take off the watch and shake it for a minute.

However, that it's not crediting you for exercise as much as it used to is a bit concerning. Did it start happening after an OS update? That is, could it be Apple made changes to their algorithms for detecting exercise?

Unfortunately, the only way I can think of to test this is to get hold of another watch and compare.

 

[utzelu]

Mind you that as you get fitter, the effort you put into exercising may decrease, which is why the watch records less time spent exercising.

 

[philrock]

Mind you that as you get fitter, the effort you put into exercising may decrease, which is why the watch records less time spent exercising.

I just sat my ass in Cancun for a week, stuffing my face and sucking down cocktails like the Nestle Quick Bunny. It must be something different. I do understand your point, though. I wish that were it. It's out of control; Peloton is being delivered tomorrow.

 

[philrock]

The "stand" has always been a misnomer. You need to move in order to get it to register a "stand hour," not just stand in place. That said, I've managed to get the watch to register a stand hour by vigorously pumping my arm up and down, or when desperate, take off the watch and shake it for a minute.

However, that it's not crediting you for exercise as much as it used to is a bit concerning. Did it start happening after an OS update? That is, could it be Apple made changes to their algorithms for detecting exercise?

Unfortunately, the only way I can think of to test this is to get hold of another watch and compare.

Thanks. It worries me that even when I start to walk from a standing position, it doesn't register standing. Maybe I'll start windmilling my arm while I walk in these instances.

 

[Night Spring]

Thanks. It worries me that even when I start to walk from a standing position, it doesn't register standing. Maybe I'll start windmilling my arm while I walk in these instances.

Moving arms certainly helps in getting the watch to register a "stand."

Peloton is being delivered tomorrow.

Good luck with that! Oh, when you walk, do you start a walking workout? I find that if I run a workout, I tend to get more consistent exercise credits.

 

[philrock]

Moving arms certainly helps in getting the watch to register a "stand."

Good luck with that! Oh, when you walk, do you start a walking workout? I find that if I run a workout, I tend to get more consistent exercise credits.

Thanks, I typically don't start a workout for my shorter walks. I've been in this routine for 18 months, though, it just started happening the past week. I have auto-update set, so I am not sure when 11.2 was released offhand.

 

[arc of the universe]

My S7 has been slowly degrading in performance.

It's always struggled with the fact I have a standing desk. It is not uncommon for me to be standing for hours at a time and get a 10-minute warning to stand at the end of each hour. My solution to this was to walk around a bit until it realized I was standing. Lately, the walking hasn't helped, it will roll to the next hour leaving a blank bar for that hour...

More recently, it has stopped recording my exercise activity. Today, for example, I walked for a combined ~35 minutes, and it only credited me with 13 minutes. It was a fairly brisk pace, covering 2.25 miles in that time, easily enough to trigger activity.

Does anybody have ideas? I was hoping to hold out another year until the S11 comes out but not if it isn't functioning properly.

AWS7 (GPS); watchOS 11.2

hi
from my experience with a Series 8, i confirm that the behaviour Watch shows is normal (meaning "usual").
for Stand, the Watch does in fact more easily register a Stand hour if it detects a higher level of activity compared with the level of activity during the most recent few minutes.
the easiest example of this is when you get out of bed in the morning, it will easily register any amount of walking, like even 5 or 10 steps, or even just the sheer act of rising from your bed. its never failed to register that 1st hour for me.
but during the day, the more active i might be for some hours, the watch seems to require a greater level of activity during the one hour i have in fact been sitting.

for Exercise (green ring) its a different reason why it doesn't record some minutes as exercised.
for me, to get all minutes counting toward the green exercise ring (like walking - even at fast pace), the only and best way to get to record all the minutes i walk is in fact to set it as a workout. then its always an 1 to 1 counting. if i dont set it as a workout, then maybe it records only about 45 of 50% of the walk.
the only problem with this is that if you set it as an Outdoor Walk workout, but dont really exert yourself to maintain a real fast clip. then, since all Workputs also measure your Cardio Fitness your Cardio Fitness measurement gets lowered because you didn't really exert yourself.

 

[Momof2.1107]

Anytime I start a walk and it’s going to be more than 30 minutes, I start a workout to get credit for the exercise. I also realize that my arm with the Apple Watch has to be moving as well during the walk to record time standing.

 

[philrock]

hi
from my experience with a Series 8, i confirm that the behaviour y Watch shows is "normal".
for Stand, the Watch does in fact more easily register a Stand hour if it detects a higher level of activity compared with the level of activity during the most recent few minutes.
the easiest example of this is when you get out of bed in the morning, it will easily register any amount of walking, like even 5 or 10 steps, or even just the sheer act of rising from your bed. its never failed to register that 1st hour for me.
but during the day, the more active i might be for some hours, the watch seems to require a greater level of activity during the one hour i have in fact been sitting.

for Exercise (green ring) its a different reason why it doesn't record some minutes as exercised.
for me, to get all minutes counting toward the green exercise ring (like walking - even at fast pace), the only and best way to get to record all the minutes i walk is in fact to set it as a workout. then its always an 1 to 1 counting. if i dont set it as a workout, then maybe it records only about 45 of 50% of the walk.
the only problem with this is that if you set it as an Outdoor Walk workout, but dont really exert yourself to maintain a real fast clip. then, since all Workputs also measure your Cardio Fitness your Cardio Fitness measurement gets lowered because you didn't really exert yourself.

I understand all this, it's my second AW. My concern is the sudden change in how it tracks and records activity. This morning, I went on a walk that normally nets me >20 mins of activity but it only credited 12 mins.