Apple first introduced the Activity rings with its very first Apple Watch in 2015. The way it works is simple; instead of needing to check the number of calories you’ve burned, how many minutes you’ve been active, or how close you’re to the goals you’ve set, Apple presents these stats, along with the number of hours you’ve stood up for at least a minute, all in the form of three rings.
As you engage in more active activities, the rings will progress according to how close you are to your set goal. As you hit your goal, the rings will finally close themselves as it comes to a full circle, with your watch displaying a celebration notification. As simple a concept as it might sound, the Activity rings are certainly motivating (and even addicting), and are a good way to make fitness fun.
If you’re one of those people who close the Activity rings on your Apple Watch like a piece of cake, you will want to take part in the Global Close Your Rings Day on the 24th of April.
Join the Close Your Rings Day and earn limited edition rewards
Participating in this activity does have its perks. But first, you will have to close all of your Activity rings on your Apple Watch on the 24th of April, and then share the activities you’ve done using the hashtag #CloseYourRings.
You will then get to earn a limited-edition pin which you can pick up at Apple Store locations worldwide starting on the 24th of April, while supplies last. Additionally, you will also receive 10 animated stickers and an animated badge on Messages.
Not all Apple Watch users can participate in the Global Close Your Rings Day
Well, at least not for those users whose Apple Watch is running on software older than Apple WatchOS 5.0, as only watches with this software version or later can join this campaign. Essentially speaking, you will need to own at least an Apple Watch Series 1 to participate. The “Series 0” model was only updated to WatchOS 4.
Also, you will have to make sure that the iPhone or iPad your Apple Watch is paired to is running at least iOS 12.0 or iPadOS 17.0.
Apple: Closing Activity rings can help improve sleep, heart health, and mental wellbeing
According to the Apple Heart and Movement Study, which has been conducted in collaboration with Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the American Heart Association, and Apple, closing the Activity rings is said to help improve one’s sleep, heart health, and mental wellbeing.
From the study, it’s shown that closing the Activity rings frequently can help reduce the chances of experiencing poor sleep quality, ie waking up frequently during the night, by 48%.
Aside from this, users who close their Activity rings frequently are also 73% less likely to experience elevated resting heart rate levels. Generally speaking, the lower your resting heart rate, the healthier of fitter you are.
Furthermore, by closing your Activity rings frequently, you’re also 57% less likely to report elevated stress, as measured by the Perceived Stress Scale-4, a 4-item questionnaire designed to assess an individual’s perception of their stress levels.
