Pausing the rings in the Activity app on your Apple Watch is useful when you’re busy, or sick or injured. That’s how it works.
Pause the rings in the Activity app
Since watchOS 11 (and iOS 18), it is possible to pause the rings in the Activity app. This option is intended for periods when you cannot exercise. You will then temporarily not receive any encouragement to exercise and at the same time your records will not be broken.
The purpose of the three colored rings in the Activity app is that you move, exercise and stand so much every day that the rings at the end of the day full are. If you manage to do that for a longer period of time, you will receive medals for it. If you are sick for a day, you have to start a series again. So far anyway. Now you can simply pause the rings if you are sick, so that you can continue with your series when you are better again.
This is how you pause the rings
Pausing is only possible in watchOS 11. You also need an Apple Watch Series 6 or newer, an Apple Watch SE (2022) or an Apple Watch Ultra or newer. It works like this:
- Open the Activity app on your Apple Watch;
- Tap on the colored rings;
- Tap ‘Pause Rings’;
- Choose the desired period.
You can pause for up to 90 consecutive days via the ‘Custom’ option.
If you want to resume the rings within the period you have set, you can always do so in basically the same way. When you open the Activity app now, you will immediately see when the rings will resume. Tap it and you can change the period or immediately choose ‘Resume rings’.
On your iPhone
It is also possible to pause the rings on your iPhone. That’s a little easier than on the small screen of your Apple Watch. It requires an iPhone with iOS 18 and works in virtually the same way. The app here is only called Condition and not Activity. And in the App Store the app is called Fitness.
Open the Condition app on your iPhone. Tap the colored rings, then scroll down and tap Pause Rings. Then choose the desired period.
Resume also works the same way. If you open the Condition app now, you will see that the rings are paused and when they will resume. Tap that and choose ‘Resume Rings’.
Download the iPhoned app
