Apple's next iteration of watchOS, watchOS 11, is coming soon, and it's finally going to let you take a rest day.
The fitness tracker has been encouraging us to close our activity rings since 2015, but it's always cut your streak short if you don't hit your goal - even if you had a good reason.
Whether it's a rest day, illness, an injury, or just traveling for a long period of time, our streaks have been consigned to history - but no longer.
WatchOS 11 will let you pause your activity rings for a period of time, meaning you can pick up when you've recovered or it's safe to do so. Here's how to pause your Apple Watch activity streaks.
How to pause activity streaks in watchOS 11
While much of your Apple Watch can be interfaced with by using the Watch app on your iPhone, you can do this directly on the Apple Watch with watchOS 11.
Here's how it's done:
- Open the Fitness app on your Apple Watch
- Tap the Summary button in the top-left corner (that's the bar graph)
- Scroll down using the display or the Digital Crown and select 'Pause Rings'
- You can then select from options for "Today", "Until Monday", "Until [Next Month]", or set a Custom date.
You can also pause your activity rings using our iPhone, too. If you're using iOS 18, open the Fitness app.
- Tap the Activity Rings section
- Scroll down and press the green 'Pause Rings' button
- Again, you'll get options for "Today", "Until Monday", "Until [Next Month]", or set a Custom date.
Reasons to pause your activity rings
As mentioned above, there are plenty of reasons you may want to pause your activity rings. For one, you might be traveling, and a long-haul flight is less than ideal for getting your steps in, no matter how many times you march up and down the cabin.
It can also be useful when you're recovering from an injury, or even just strenuous exercise the day before - if you've run a marathon on Saturday, you may want to enjoy a day sitting down on Sunday, but that shouldn't impact your streak.
It can also be nice to have a rest day. If you're working out with weights, your rest days are where your muscles start to rebuild to come back stronger - so it's key to give them a chance to do so without your Apple Watch nagging you to get out there.
I also acknowledge that this will only be a consideration for some people, and others won't mind too much if their streaks fade away. Still, it's good to have the option to preserve them, especially if you're particularly proud of them.
