How to Fix Apple Watch Activity Tracking & Exercise Tracking

Is your Apple Watch not tracking activity or exercise correctly? This is a very common Apple Watch problem, and it’s annoying when you’re trying to use the Apple Watch to get in shape.

There are a few things you can do to to make the activity tracking more accurate and an easy way to make the exercise tracking work better even when you aren’t doing a traditional workout.

Here’s how to fix the Apple Watch activity tracking problems. It takes just a minute to set up, but you will need about 20 minutes of walking to completely fix the problem.

How to Fix Apple Watch Activity Tracking

If you are not getting credit for activity or exercise on the Apple Watch you can try three different things. If you just got the Apple Watch you will still need to calibrate it. Even users who are upgrading or who bought a long time ago may need to do this as well. Before we go to that part, let’s check some settings.

1. Open Settings on your iPhone.
2. Tap on Privacy.
3. Tap on Location Service.
4. Make sure these are on.
5. Scroll down and tap on System Services.
6. Make Sure Motion Calibration and Distance is on.

Once that is under control you can work on calibration issues. If you just got your Apple Watch you may not need to reset the calibration, but it can’t hurt. This section will show you how to reset the Apple Watch calibration data and then retrain your Apple Watch.

1. On your iPhone open the Apple Watch app.
2. Tap on Privacy.
3. Tap on Reset Fitness Calibration Data.
4. Confirm this decision.

Take a walk to calibrate the Apple Watch fitness calculations.

After you delete the data, you need to re-train the Apple Watch. To do this you should bring your phone with you outside. You’ll need to do a 20 minute walk. You can break this up into smaller walks if you need to, but the tracking won’t be accurate until you’ve done a combined 20 minutes.

1. On your Apple Watch tap on Workouts
2. Tap on Outdoor Walk Open Goal.
3. Walk outdoors, with a clear sky for 20 minutes.

When you are done the Apple Watch fitness data will be recalibrated and should now be more accurate. If you continue to have problems with activity tracking or exercise tracking you can try the trick listed below.

How to Fix Apple Watch Exercise Tracking

Trick the the Apple Watch into tracking your activity and exercise better by doing an other workout with an open goal.

If you are not getting exercise credit when you are moving around, you can try this trick to better track the activity and exercise on the Apple Watch.

When you are about to do an activity like cleaning, yard work or even shopping where you will be moving a lot, you can start a workout to track the activity. This isn’t foolproof as you need to still move enough to register on the watch, but it’s better than just letting the watch track it.

On your Apple Watch, open the Workouts app. Scroll down and tap on Other Open Goal. Now go about your business and when you are done end the workout. This works for all types of activities.

Answer Calls on the Apple Watch

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You can answer a call on your Apple Watch using it as a small Bluetooth speakerphone. You only want to use this for shorter calls because the audio quality isn't as good as when you are talking on speakerphone on your iPhone.  The Apple Watch only allows you to answer your calls on Speakerphone, so you won't want to use this all the time. It is very handy when you are working on a project or busy with your hands. Definitely be conscious of where you are taking calls. If you wouldn't talk on speakerphone, you shouldn't talk on your Apple Watch. If you buy the new Apple Watch with LTE, you can even make calls on the Apple Watch without your iPhone nearby. This requires adding the watch to your plan for $10 a month. You cannot answer a FaceTime video call on the Apple Watch.

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