If you find the stand reminders on your Apple Watch annoying or unnecessary, you can easily turn them off either directly on the watch or through the iOS Apple Watch app.
Here is the quick process:
- On your Apple Watch, go to Settings > Activity.
- Turn off the switch next to Stand Reminders.
Or on your iPhone, go to the Watch app > Activity > Stand Reminders and toggle off.
Below I‘ll explain in more detail how stand reminders work and the benefits of standing more, provide some expert insight on deciding whether to disable them, and give step-by-step instructions for turning stand reminders off (as well as other customization options).
What Are Stand Reminders on Apple Watch?
Stand reminders are notifications that nudge you to stand up and move around if you‘ve been sitting or inactive for an extended period.
By default, the Apple Watch is configured to activate a stand reminder every hour if you haven‘t stood up for at least 1 minute during that time. When the reminder goes off, you‘ll feel a gentle tap on your wrist and see an alert on your watch face prompting you to stand up.
The reminders will repeat every 5 minutes until you respond by getting up and moving. This feature is designed to minimize long sedentary periods, which research shows can negatively impact your physical and mental health.
Why You Might Want to Disable Stand Reminders
While encouraging more movement is beneficial for most people, there are valid reasons why you may want to turn stand reminders off, including:
- You find the hourly (or more frequent) alerts disruptive, annoying, or unnecessary for your lifestyle.
- You already have a naturally active job or routine and don‘t need additional reminders.
- You have privacy concerns about your watch tracking sedentary time.
- You want to save battery life. The reminders cause more frequent screen activations.
- You would rather manage your own standing breaks than rely on prompts.
The decision depends on your individual needs and preferences. The reminders are helpful for some but viewed as excessive hassle by others.
Fortunately, like all Apple Watch features, stand reminders are completely optional. You can customize or disable them at any time.
How Frequently Moving Benefits Your Health
To determine if stand reminders are worthwhile for you, it helps to understand the significant benefits of avoiding long sedentary periods:
Reduces risk of chronic illness: Frequently moving helps prevent obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and other conditions. Studies show people who sit for long stretches have a higher mortality rate.
Improves blood markers: Regular movement can lower blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure levels. This enhances cardiovascular health.
Increases energy: Taking short active breaks can boost energy and mental focus while reducing fatigue.
Aids concentration: Getting your blood pumping helps oxygenate your brain and improves concentration for tasks.
Burns extra calories: Even light activity like standing and walking helps burn some additional calories throughout the day.
The Apple Watch aims to reinforce these positive effects by nudging you to get up every hour or so. But you can make your own assessment of whether the benefits are worthwhile.
Deciding If You Should Use Stand Reminders
Consider these factors when determining if stand reminders are helpful for your personal needs:
How sedentary is your lifestyle currently? If you have a desk job and tend to sit for very long stretches, the reminders could provide useful motivation and accountability. But they may be excessive if you already move frequently.
How do you respond to the reminders? Pay attention to whether the alerts make you feel encouraged or annoyed. If they provide a beneficial nudge, keep them on. But if you feel irritated, disabling them may be the best option.
Do you have any mobility limitations? The reminders aren‘t as practical if you have physical challenges standing up or if standing for a full minute is difficult. Turning them off would be reasonable in this case.
Are you already active? If you consistently meet Apple Watch activity goals and receive positive health reports, extra reminders probably won‘t improve much. But if you struggle with motivation, they could help.
Consider your honest self-assessment. Reminders are ultimately a tool to build better habits. If they don‘t serve you positively, don‘t force it.
Step-by-Step: How to Turn Off Stand Reminders on Apple Watch
If you decide stand reminders aren‘t useful for you, turning them off directly on the Apple Watch takes just seconds:
Press the Digital Crown on your Apple Watch to return to the home screen if you‘re not already there.
Locate and tap the Settings app icon, which looks like a gear.
Scroll down until you see the Activity option.
Tap Activity to open the Activity settings page.
Under the Stand Reminders section, tap the switch so it turns gray. It will now show “Off” indicating stand reminders are disabled.
That‘s all there is to it! With this setting changed, your Apple Watch will no longer nudge you to stand up every hour.
Turning Off Stand Reminders Using iPhone
You can also easily disable stand reminders from the Apple Watch app on your paired iPhone:
Open the Watch app (it has an icon that looks like a small watch face).
Scroll down and select My Watch.
Tap the Activity option.
Locate the toggle switch next to Stand Reminders and turn it off so it appears grayed out.
The update will sync to your watch so stand reminders will be turned off there as well.
Customizing Reminder Frequency (Instead of Disabling)
If you still want stand reminders but find hourly alerts too frequent, you can adjust the timing rather than disabling them completely:
Follow the same steps above to access Activity settings.
Tap Hourly below Stand Reminders to view other frequency options.
Choose your desired timing interval, such as every 2 hours or 3 hours.
This allows you to continue benefiting from regular reminders while reducing potential distractions and annoyance.
Popular alternatives to the default hourly reminders include:
| Reminder Frequency | Description |
|---|---|
| Every 2 hours | Cuts down interruptions while maintaining a nudge to move regularly. |
| Every 3 hours | Good for people who need to focus for longer periods. |
| Every 30 minutes | Frequent prodding if you tend to hyperfocus while working. |
| Every 4 hours | Minimum reminders for those who already move often. |
Experiment to find the timing and prompts that work optimally based on your habits, schedule, and needs.
Using Do Not Disturb to Pause Reminders
If you want to temporarily mute stand reminders during certain activities or times of day, enable Do Not Disturb mode on your Apple Watch:
Swipe up from the bottom of your watch face to open Control Center.
Tap the crescent moon icon to turn on Do Not Disturb.
This prevents all alerts, including stand reminders, until you disable the mode again. It‘s great for wearing during presentations, movies, exams, dates, or any scenario where you want to avoid interruptions.
Do Not Disturb allows you to keep stand reminders generally active but easily pause them as needed.
Can Third-Party Apps Provide Better Customization?
The native stand reminders on Apple Watch offer limited options – you can turn them on or off and change the frequency.
If you want deeper customization, consider using a third-party Apple Watch app such as Standland or Stand Up! These apps allow you to:
- Set advanced recurring schedules for reminders
- Customize the alert tones and haptic feedback
- Change the length of standing time needed to dismiss alerts
- View detailed standing time reports and trends
- Create reminders for other activities like water intake or eye breaks
However, be aware these apps require access to health data to implement their reminders and features. Be sure to carefully review privacy policies before downloading.
Other Apple Watch Activity Tracking Features
Even if you disable stand reminders, your Apple Watch still provides powerful activity and health tracking functions:
Move ring: Automatically tracks total active calories burned from movement each day. Provides on-screen celebrations when you hit daily calorie goals.
Workout app: Detects walks, runs, and other workouts and shows real-time metrics. You can also manually start tracked workouts.
Activity trends: Check your activity patterns over the past 90 days and see how you compare to other users.
Activity competitions: Fun monthly challenges against your own records or other Apple Watch wearers. Unlock achievement awards.
So you can take advantage of these helpful motivational tools while opting out of stand reminders specifically if you want.
The Bottom Line
Stand reminders aim to prompt more frequent movement and break up extended sitting periods. Research clearly shows this benefits your physical and mental health.
But ultimately, you know your own needs and preferences best. If you find the reminders annoying or unnecessary, you can easily disable them either directly on your Apple Watch or through the iPhone Watch app settings.
Customizing the reminder frequency or using Do Not Disturb mode are other great options to reduce disruptions while keeping some nudges. Just be intentional about taking regular breaks if you turn reminders off entirely.
As a wearable technology, the Apple Watch should adapt to your lifestyle – not the other way around. Take control of your preferences.
