One of the side benefits of touring the cobblestone streets and castles of Portugal was that just about every day I closed all three rings on my Activity monitor on my Apple watch. Grace cracked that it was because my goals were so low to begin with but it was good to see the closed rings every day.

With the Activity App you can track how much you move, stand and exercise each day. It also tracks the number of steps you have taken, the flights of stairs you have climbed and the distance you have walked. You can share your results with friends and engage in a bit of friendly competition.

To get started, open the app on your Apple Watch and enter some information about yourself. Your Apple Watch lets you know when you reach your goals and it offers suggestions and encouragement to help you close your rings.

Move

Here's how to change your move goal:

Open the Activity app on your Apple Watch.
Go to your rings, then firmly press the screen.
Tap to increase or decrease the number of active calories for your daily Move goal.
When you're done, tap Update.

Exercise

The Exercise ring shows how many minutes of brisk activity you've completed so far. Complete your daily Exercise goal by exercising for at least 30 minutes each day. You can’t change your Exercise goal, but you can change your Move goal.

Stand

The Stand ring shows hours in which you've stood and moved for at least a minute. Complete your daily Stand goal by standing up and moving around for at least 1 minute during 12 different hours in the day. Even if you stand all day, you still need to move around.

If you specify that you use a wheelchair, the Stand ring switches to the Roll ring. Roll shows hours in which you’ve pushed around for at least 1 minute.

Check your Activity history

You can check on your progress for the day on your Apple Watch, or check your entire history from the Activity app on your iPhone.

On your Phone

Open the Activity app on your iPhone.
Tap the History tab to see details about your all day activity. On the calendar, a green dot appears next to the days that you worked out.
To see more detail, tap a day.
To get information about a workout, such as your route or total distance, tap the Workouts tab, then tap the item.*

On your Apple Watch

Open the Activity app on your Apple Watch.
Swipe up to see details for each ring.
Swipe up again to see more, like your total steps, your distance, and workouts.
To see your weekly summary, firmly press the screen, then tap Weekly Summary.

Set reminders

Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
Tap the My Watch tab, then tap Activity.
Choose your notifications and reminders. For example, coaching notifications are based on your previous progress.

Share your Activity and compete with friends

You can share your Activity rings with friends and family for motivation. Encourage each other to close all three rings, compete to win the week, or let your trainer track your daily progress.

Start sharing

To share activity, you and your friends both need an Apple Watch. When your friends meet all three of their activity goals, finish workouts, or earn achievements, you get notifications about their progress.

Add friends

Open the Activity app on your iPhone.
Tap the Sharing tab. If asked, tap Get Started.
Tap and type your friend's contact information. Or choose friends from the list of suggested contacts. You can add up to 40 friends.
After you choose your friends, tap Send. Wait for your friends to accept the invite.

Accept an invite

When someone invites you to share Activity or compete, a notification appears on your Apple Watch. Tap Accept or Ignore. If you don't get a notification, you can accept from the Activity app:

Open the Activity app on your iPhone, then tap the Sharing tab.
Tap at the top of the screen.
Tap Accept or Ignore.

Compete with friends

With iOS 12 and watchOS 5, you can invite friends to compete in a seven-day competition. During the competition, you both earn points by filling your Activity rings. You get a point for every percent that you add to your rings each day, and you can earn up to 600 points a day. That’s a max of 4,200 points for the week.

Whoever has the most points at the end of the competition wins. When the competition is complete, you earn an award.

Challenge a friend from your Apple Watch

Open the Activity app on your Apple Watch.
Swipe left, then tap a friend.
Scroll down, then tap Compete.
Tap Invite. Wait for your friend to accept the invite.

Challenge a friend from your iPhone

Open the Activity app on your iPhone, then tap the Sharing tab.
Tap a friend.
Tap Compete with [name].
Tap Invite [name] to confirm. Wait for your friend to accept the invite.

Message to invite Allen to a competition from your Apple Watch.

Motivate your friends

After you start sharing your activity, you can check on your friends and help motivate them to meet their goals. When you get a notification about a friend's activity, you can reply with preset smack talk or encouragement. And, when your friend closes all three rings or earns certain achievements, you can challenge them to a competition directly from the notification.

Jane has earned 214 out of her 280 calorie goal.

Check your friend's progress

Open the Activity app on your Apple Watch.
Swipe left to view shared activity.
Tap your friend, then scroll to see their progress. You can also send them a message.

Send your friends a message

Open the Activity app on your Apple Watch.
Swipe left, then turn the Digital Crown to scroll to the bottom.
To send a message to all your friends, tap "Send message to all."
To send a message to one friend, tap the friend, scroll down, then tap Send Message.

I think I need to go on more vacations because I close my rings way more often than when I am sitting at my desk or driving around in my car or on my motorcycle. As Grace says "vacations are the meaning of life!"

Hello Friends,

MacBook Pro 13in 2.3GHz i5 Dual Core 8GB/256GB - Space Gray - Used

Closing Your Circles - Apple Watch Activity Monitor

Move

Exercise

Stand