How to make the most out of the new Activity app on your Apple Watch

watchOS 10 Activity App on Apple Watch

Apple has made major design changes to the Apple Watch software by introducing watchOS 10.

The new operating system for the Apple Watch makes widgets a core part of the new interface.

Beyond the Widgets functionality, Apple has revamped many of the native apps on the Apple Watch. The new Activity app on your Apple Watch showcases some of the new design thinking.

Related reading:

Activity app updates in watchOS 10

The Activity app has been around on the Apple Watch since its inception in 2015. 

In watchOS 10, Apple has introduced some quick hacks right on the Activity app. These new changes move beyond the typical three-ring progress that you are used to seeing on the Activity app.

Apart from the three classic rings that show your daily progress for exercise, move, and stand, Apple now provides access to useful insights on the Activity app.New Activity App on watchOS 10

Here are 6 Things you can do now with the new Activity app on watchOS 10 

  1. Check Your Weekly Progress using the Activity app

The new Activity app now sports several complications on the watch face. You no longer need to open the Health app on your iPhone to get a quick snapshot of your weekly progress.

Instead, tap on the complication at the top left corner of the Activity app main screen.Access Weekly Summaries from aCTIVITY app on Apple Watch

This shows you your weekly daily Move, Stand, and Exercise minutes summary. 

Tap on ‘X’ Weekly Summary to exit this screen after reviewing your weekly activities.

2. Easily Change your Weekly Goals from the new Activity App

A little-known tip lets you change your weekly exercise goals directly from the new Activity app. 

When you are browsing your weekly summaries, scroll down to the bottom of the screen on your Apple Watch.

Change Weekly Goals using Activity app on Apple Watch

Tap on Change Goals

Change your Move Goal in terms of Calories, Exercise Goals in Minutes, and Stand Goal in Hours.

3. Share your Activity with friends

The little complication on the screen’s bottom left corner is intended to help you share your exercise activity with others.Activity Sharing using watchOS 10

Tapping on it currently reminds you to open the Fitness app on your iPhone to begin sharing. We think this may change in the future and will probably let you directly share activity from your Apple Watch

4. Access your Activity Awards on your Apple Watch and monitor your monthly award progress

Accessing your activity awards is now a breeze using the new Activity app on your Apple Watch. 

Tap on the Awards complication/icon at the bottom right corner of the screen.Access Badges and awards using activity app on apple watch

This will take you to the screen that shows all your awards.

Tap on ‘Go For it,’ and it shows you the progress you have made for each eligible award.Monitor Award progress using Activity app on watchOS 10

You can access your Limited Edition Award badges, Workout badges, and Competition scores all from this screen

5. Use the Digital Crown to review specific details for your daily activity

The new activity app supports several information pages about your exercise and other activities.

Rotate the Digital crown to bring up your daily Move Goal details.Review Daily Progress details on Activity app

The well-designed, one-page screen not only shows your daily percentage completion associated with the goal, but you can tap on the little icon at the bottom right corner of the screen to change the Goal.

Use the digital crown to glance through relevant information for move, exercise and stand.

6. Check your Daily Steps and Distance right from the Activity app

You can now get a snapshot of your daily Steps and distance right from the Activity app. 

Once you open the app, rotate the digital crown to guide you to the last screen.how to review daily steps and distance on activity app

This shows you your daily steps, distance covered, and the number of Flights.

Scroll down on this screen, and it lists all the workout types that contributed to the distance/steps you have covered for the day.Check distance covered by activity on Apple Watch

The new Activity app does not look pretty with those new gradients, but I like the use of corner complications within the app itself to access the most relevant information related to my activities.

There’s even a progress bar to indicate the completion status of your current monthly goal!

Final thoughts

We will update the article as we uncover additional details for watchOS 10. And if you discover something, let us know!

What do you think of the new Activity app on your Apple Watch? Post your thoughts and observations in the comments section below.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Unfortunately, under weekly summary, we have lost a fair bit of information from watch OS 9

    No longer provides weekly total steps and km

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