Apple’s watch is accurate enough to count steps and guess the length of your stride. But do you really know how much you ran or walked? With an Apple Watch Series 3 or Series 2, the standard GPS takes care of you and your movements. If you have an older Apple Watch, you will need to carry your iPhone with you to perform some functions and allow the watch to calibrate using the iPhone GPS. Read on to find out how to calibrate the Apple Watch Series 0 or 1 and improve the accuracy of distance, step and calorie measurements.
Calibrate Apple Watch for accurate statistics
Update your personal statistics
First of all, you should make sure your Apple Watch has your updated data. In the Health app, installed on your iPhone, you must verify that your weight is up to date. You can also enter your height, gender, date of birth and whether or not you use a wheelchair. Most of this data must be set only once and forgotten. Others should be reviewed and updated from time to time, otherwise the calorie count and other data will be deactivated.
How to calibrate Apple Watch series 2 and series 3
These versions of Apple Watch are easy to calibrate. You just have to give the watch permission to keep track of your movements with GPS. This happens by activating the function from your iPhone. Go to Settings -> Privacy -> Location, then scroll down until you see the System Services entry at the bottom of the list. Touch, then scroll down until you see Motion Calibration. Make sure this setting is enabled. It probably is already.
And this is all. Now, your Apple Watch will use its GPS receiver to fine-tune the step count and ensure that all data collected is accurate.
Calibrate Apple Watch series 1 or earlier
If you have an older Apple Watch, you must perform a semi-manual calibration. The idea is to do a workout of at least 20 minutes, in perfect condition, taking your iPhone with you while you are exercising. The clock and the iPhone will talk to each other, comparing the data of their various sensors and using the results to accurately set the stride length and so on.
This happens automatically as long as you have the watch and the iPhone with you during training, but there are some steps you can follow to make sure the process is fluid and that the results are as precise as possible.
Prepare for training
First, wear the tracksuit. Then head to a good flat position in the open air. The idea is to give the iPhone a clear view of the GPS satellites that are at the top, minimizing changes in rhythm due to running up and down hills.
Do not hide the iPhone in a backpack pocket. Wear it on your arm or hold it in your hand so it can see the satellites.
Then open the Training app on your Apple Watch and tap Outdoor Walking or Outdoor Running. If you want, set a goal, then run or walk for at least 20 minutes. You should go to your usual rhythm all the time. Relax and have fun.
If twenty minutes is too long for you, you can detach and resume to complete the installation. The system requires a minimum of 20 minutes of data to properly calibrate your body. Maybe next time you should run a calibration run for each speed you want to train for. For example, if you do energetic walks, fast walks, short runs and long cross-country marathons, you should do a twenty minute setup for all these activities.
Continuous calibration
Every time you do a workout with the Training app on your Apple Watch and even your iPhone is with you, the system will continue to calibrate. If you do not regularly bring your iPhone on the slopes, then you should get into the habit of doing it from time to time. This is especially important if you are a beginner in this particular training exercise, because it is likely that you will make great improvements in speed and endurance in the first weeks and months, so you will need to re-calibrate your Apple Watch.
Whenever you follow the previous steps. Walk or run outdoors. In this way your Apple Watch calibrates the accelerometer by learning more accurately the length of your pace at different speeds.