Activity App - Can't Change Training Duration

[gnirkatto]

Being brand new to Apple Watch (series 5), one of the reasons I purchased it was to track my daily exercising.
So there are these rings that give you a feel for where you stand in terms of achieving your training goals.
Moving - OK I can change the calories goal.
Standing - I'm not totally clear of what this is good for (better: what it tells me, the values don't seem correct to me), but I don't care a lot about that, to be honest.
Training/Exercising - there seems to be a default of 30 minutes training duration. I spent the last few days to figure out how to change that, until today, when I found that it was hardcoded and cannot be changed !!??!!

Sorry Apple, but how stupid is that? While not being in a very good shape, even for me, 30 minutes is ridiculously low.
What is the point of the watch/app cheering at me, for reaching 'my' 30 minutes exercising 'goal'?
What is the point of a green circle being completed - if I want my goal to be 45, or 60, or even more minutes?

What am I missing here? This is the first fitness app/system, that does not allow me to make the goals fit my own needs, but tells me that 30 minutes are success.
What is the point, and what is Apples rationale behind this? I can't believe it's just stupidity. There HAS TO BE a deeper meaning.

 

[wenrob]

Set a workout and do more? It keeps track of your minutes so you will still have a record of how much you’ve done.

 

[Tartarus]

Being brand new to Apple Watch (series 5), one of the reasons I purchased it was to track my daily exercising.
So there are these rings that give you a feel for where you stand in terms of achieving your training goals.
Moving - OK I can change the calories goal.
Standing - I'm not totally clear of what this is good for (better: what it tells me, the values don't seem correct to me), but I don't care a lot about that, to be honest.
Training/Exercising - there seems to be a default of 30 minutes training duration. I spent the last few days to figure out how to change that, until today, when I found that it was hardcoded and cannot be changed !!??!!

Sorry Apple, but how stupid is that? While not being in a very good shape, even for me, 30 minutes is ridiculously low.
What is the point of the watch/app cheering at me, for reaching 'my' 30 minutes exercising 'goal'?
What is the point of a green circle being completed - if I want my goal to be 45, or 60, or even more minutes?

What am I missing here? This is the first fitness app/system, that does not allow me to make the goals fit my own needs, but tells me that 30 minutes are success.
What is the point, and what is Apples rationale behind this? I can't believe it's just stupidity. There HAS TO BE a deeper meaning.

The deeper meaning is that 30 minutes is the core minimum for any human to do at any given day.
If you want to do more, nobody is keeping you, the green ring will even show that you’ve done more than those 30 minutes.

 

[Annie_M]

If you want to do more, go for it. I value the stand challenge because I sit at a desk all day and appreciate the reminders to stand!

 

[gnirkatto]

I understand that I can do more.
But why does my fitness tracking system not allow me for setting a goal that fits my needs? Individual goal setting and tracking achievements is one - if not the - very basic functions of every fitness tracker that I know of.
Sorry, but a hardcoded 'goal' of 30 minutes is plain ridiculous.

 

[gnirkatto]

Set a workout and do more? It keeps track of your minutes so you will still have a record of how much you’ve done.

I know that I can set a longer duration per workout. But 1. it always defaults back to 30 minutes, and 2. it does NOT change the global 'goal' of 30 minutes. Therefore almost useless - or at least very cumbersome - for chasing daily goals, to be achieved by eg combining running, biking & walking.

 

[SwitchBeach]

Aren't there other apps that you could use to accomplish this?

 

[gnirkatto]

Aren't there other apps that you could use to accomplish this?

Probably - but I wanted to go with the built in ones initially. I don't need more sophistication like eg what Garmin offers. However, I would like to specify my own daily goal.

 

[gnirkatto]

If you want to do more, go for it. I value the stand challenge because I sit at a desk all day and appreciate the reminders to stand!

I agree the stand tracking would be useful. But I doubt the values are correct. Eg yesterday, it showed 10/12 hours. Whatever that means. I stood 10 of 12 hours? No way. Yesterday was couch day.

 

[Annie_M]

I agree the stand tracking would be useful. But I doubt the values are correct. Eg yesterday, it showed 10/12 hours. Whatever that means. I stood 10 of 12 hours? No way. Yesterday was couch day.

If my lazy day yesterday is any indication, my Stand activity is accurate. After sleeping in ridiculously late, watching two movies on Netflix, a trip out for lunch and groceries, the rest of the day was spent watching tv and hanging out here on iMore. By the time I went to bed I only had earned 8/12 hours. That’s a completely accurate assessment of my stand activity for the day. Sad, but true!

 

[Tartarus]

I agree the stand tracking would be useful. But I doubt the values are correct. Eg yesterday, it showed 10/12 hours. Whatever that means. I stood 10 of 12 hours? No way. Yesterday was couch day.

Standing for more than a few minutes per hours counts as a stand hour.
It is to make people who work at desks aware that they need to stretch their legs for a few minutes.

 

[gnirkatto]

Standing for more than a few minutes per hours counts as a stand hour.
It is to make people that work at desks aware that they need to stretch their legs for a few minutes.

Oh - I see...so 10/12 doesn't mean I was standing 10 hours long in 12 hours, but in 10 of 12 hours I stood, briefly maybe, but I stood. That makes sense, thanks.

 

[Tartarus]

Oh - I see...so 10/12 doesn't mean I was standing 10 hours long in 12 hours, but in 10 of 12 hours I stood, briefly maybe, but I stood. That makes sense, thanks.

That’s right.
Here’s the official text from Apple.

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.
You can’t change your Stand or Roll goal, but you can change your Move goal.

Source: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204517

 

[SwitchBeach]

Probably - but I wanted to go with the built in ones initially. I don't need more sophistication like eg what Garmin offers. However, I would like to specify my own daily goal.

If the app doesn't meet your needs, use something else. Pretty simple.

 

[gnirkatto]

If the app doesn't meet your needs, use something else. Pretty simple.

Honestly - I always wondered what to do with such advice - one that in many (most?) cases pops up sooner or later, whenever somebody questions the functionality of a particular app or feature.
Does the advisor think that the requestor doesn't know that there are other 'pretty simple' options available? If yes, thank you very much. If no, maybe we should stop discussing what we like/dislike, or better, not even begin such a discussion?
And what's wrong with raising the flag on a (imho) very stupid 'feature' of a standard app, and by that, hoping for an improvement?
Sigh.

 

[doogald]

What is the point, and what is Apples rationale behind this? I can't believe it's just stupidity. There HAS TO BE a deeper meaning.

The move (red) ring is the one that is designed to motivate you to be more active. The green exercise ring is meant to motivate you to do the bare minimum of activity that you should have for the day for good health. There are days when you are traveling, slightly ill, etc., when reaching the move goal would be counter-productive, but reaching the exercise goal will still be do-able.

 

[gnirkatto]

The move (red) ring is the one that is designed to motivate you to be more active. The green exercise ring is meant to motivate you to do the bare minimum of activity that you should have for the day for good health. There are days when you are traveling, slightly ill, etc., when reaching the move goal would be counter-productive, but reaching the exercise goal will still be do-able.

I understand all that.
But why can't I set the green ring to - let's say - 45 minutes if I feel like this is what I should achieve each day? Or even more? Or less?
And why can I change the red ring's calories - but not the green ring's workout minutes?
There is still no explanation I was given that makes any sense.

 

[doogald]

I understand all that.
But why can't I set the green ring to - let's say - 45 minutes if I feel like this is what I should achieve each day? Or even more? Or less?
And why can I change the red ring's calories - but not the green ring's workout minutes?
There is still no explanation I was given that makes any sense.

I think I have given the explanation that makes sense - as far as Apple is concerned, the green ring is meant to motivate you to do the minimum amount of movement for good health, the red ring is meant to motivate you to push your fitness to a higher level. You just disagree with the design, which is fine, but there is a rational explanation.

Apple has some info here that may explain the reason: https://www.apple.com/watch/close-your-rings/#mn_p

"Each week Apple Watch recommends a new Move goal specifically tailored to your activity. So it’s easy to stay motivated."

"30 minutes of brisk activity every day can help minimize the chance of stroke, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and weight gain. It can also help improve sleep and mood, as well as reduce stress."

 

[gnirkatto]

I think I have given the explanation that makes sense - as far as Apple is concerned, the green ring is meant to motivate you to do the minimum amount of movement for good health, the red ring is meant to motivate you to push your fitness to a higher level. You just disagree with the design, which is fine, but there is a rational explanation.

Apple has some info here that may explain the reason: https://www.apple.com/watch/close-your-rings/#mn_p

"Each week Apple Watch recommends a new Move goal specifically tailored to your activity. So it’s easy to stay motivated."

"30 minutes of brisk activity every day can help minimize the chance of stroke, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and weight gain. It can also help improve sleep and mood, as well as reduce stress."

The "rational explanation" is that Apple has decided that 30 minutes are good for everybody, and that no Apple watch user gets the option to set the goal to a custom (higher) value - which is/should be the basic function of every decent fitness tracker. It's not "at least" 30 minutes, it is "30 minutes only" (pls no education on the option of exercising longer - I know that, but would appreciate being informed after 45, 60 or whatever minutes). Still makes no sense to me, sorry.

P.S. I do love the Apple Watch a lot, use it all day & night long, and think it's a stroke of genius. But this is the one not really smart feature, imho.