Am I the Only One Being Bullied by My Apple Watch?

story by Camille Graham photo by Carolina Watlington

I used to sit peacefully on the couch, watching YouTube videos and scrolling through my phone for hours on end. I’d think nothing of the days when I couldn’t make it to the gym or when I drove somewhere instead of biking. I was a happy little couch potato until my Apple Watch came into my life. Smartwatch encourage wearers to meet certain step goals and activity levels. The technology and goals may differ from watch to watch, but the sentiment remains the same: Move when your watch tells you to move. Is everyone as obedient to a time-telling personal trainer as I am?

I always loved the clean lines, usability and (absurd) status symbolism of Apple products. So when a friend offered to sell me her brand new Apple Watch Series 4 for an incomparable low price, I jumped at the chance. I had no idea that I was buying a piece of wearable technology that would gently shame me into athleticism.

I wasn’t ready for the constant barrage of notifications reminding me of my sedentary, couch potato lifestyle.

Let me set the record straight: I am not totally averse to exercise. I love being around nature, and my ideal Saturday involves a hike around a lake or time spent exploring wooded trails. However, I have a hard time mustering up the same enthusiasm for a trip to the gym to spend an hour on the elliptical.

The hourly reminders ensure that I stand for at least one minute an hour for 12 hours, making me acutely aware of just how long I’ve been stationary. While 30 minutes of exercise isn’t a lot to ask, it’s not something that happens accidentally. All of a sudden, I find myself jumping up when I get a notification, standing and power walking to class rather than driving.

Apple users aren’t the only ones being told to move more. Other best-selling watches like the Samsung Galaxy Watch and the Fossil When I asked 100 different smart watch wearers, there was a roughly even split of obedient movers and watch-wearing rebels. Fifty-six percent said they acknowledge but disregard their watches’ warnings – with varying degrees of guilt – while the other 44% said they always heed the moving instructions of their watch. With varying degrees of willingness, they find themselves walking laps around the office or doing late-night jumping jacks to meet their exercise goals.

Elias Bouyounes, a microbiology lab technician, says that his smart watch has quickly made him more active, and he relies on his movement notifications during work. His Fitbit Blaze Watch pushes him to take about 250 steps an hour, a task he does his best to complete every day.

“It gives me a little firework show every time I reach ten thousand steps,” Bouyounes said. “I haven’t reached 20,000 steps yet so I don’t know what happens, but I hear good things.”

Like Bouyounes, I get excited for the buzzes and fireworks when I meet my activity goals. Although insignificant, it’s gentle encouragement from my relentless, albeit a bit annoying, Apple Watch to be a little bit healthier and a little bit more active today. O&B