Apple Watch Awards vs Edge Rewards

If you wear an Apple Watch, you probably know the little buzz of closing your rings, and the badge that pops up when you keep a streak going. Apple's Activity awards are one of the simplest motivation tools in fitness.

Edge Rewards takes a different approach, turning your logged workouts and steps into points you can spend on real products. It launches on 7 November 2026 and is not live yet, so everything below about Edge Rewards describes how it will work at launch. Edge Rewards is our own programme, so we have kept the Apple side factual and fair, based on how Apple describes its features at the time of writing.

What are Apple Watch Activity awards?

Activity awards are built into Apple Watch and the Fitness app on iPhone. They sit on top of the three Activity rings:

• Move: active calories burned, towards a daily goal you set.
• Exercise: minutes of brisk activity, 30 minutes a day by default.
• Stand: standing and moving for at least a minute in 12 different hours of the day, by default.

Close them often and the awards stack up. Apple gives awards for personal records, streaks and milestones, such as a perfect week of closed rings or a new Move record. You can see them all, including the ones you are still working towards, in the Activity app on your watch or the Fitness app on your iPhone.

The awards are free, and you do not need an Apple Fitness+ subscription to earn them. You do need an iPhone, and the full set of rings needs an Apple Watch. Without a watch, the Fitness app on iPhone can track your Move ring using your phone's motion sensors, but not the Exercise or Stand rings.

How do monthly challenges and limited-edition awards work?

Each month, Apple Watch wearers get a new monthly challenge. It might ask you to burn a set number of calories, work out a certain number of times or cover a set distance, and you can follow your progress in the Activity app. Complete it and that month's badge joins your collection.

Then there are limited-edition awards, tied to a single day or a short window. In 2026, for example, the New Year challenge asked you to close all three rings for seven days in a row in January, Earth Day asked for a workout of at least 30 minutes, and International Dance Day asked for a dance workout of at least 20 minutes. These special awards usually come with animated stickers you can use in Messages.

There is a social side too. Activity sharing lets you take on a friend in a seven-day, one-on-one competition. You score a point for every percent you add to your rings each day, up to 600 points a day, and whoever has the most points at the end wins an award.

What are Apple's awards good at?

Quite a lot, to be fair.

• Streaks: a run of closed rings is a strong nudge to get up and move on a quiet day. Few people want to break a 40-day streak for the sake of a ten-minute walk.
• No effort to set up: there is nothing to log. Wear the watch and it all happens in the background.
• Small daily wins: the rings reward everyday movement, not just big sessions, which suits beginners well.
• Friendly rivalry: a competition with a friend adds a bit of fun and accountability to an ordinary week.
• Room to rest: since watchOS 11 you can pause your rings for a rest day, a week or longer without breaking your award streaks, and set different goals for different days of the week.

What do you actually get from an Apple award?

Apple's awards are digital. You get a badge in the Fitness app and, for many limited-edition awards, a set of animated stickers for Messages. They are a lasting record of what you have done, and for plenty of people that is all the motivation they need.

Apple has occasionally gone further. For the tenth anniversary of Apple Watch in April 2025, Apple Stores offered a pin inspired by that day's award, while supplies lasted. That was a one-off celebration rather than part of how awards normally work.

Apple's awards celebrate the movement itself. If you would also like your training to add up to something you can use, that is the gap Edge Rewards is built to fill.

What is Edge Rewards?

Edge Rewards is a free rewards programme inside the Edge app, built around one simple idea: get rewarded for moving. It launches publicly on Saturday 7 November 2026, and founding members on the waitlist get early access from Sunday 1 November. Until then, it is not live.

Instead of badges, you will collect points. You spend them in an in-app marketplace on real products from partner brands, a mix of free items and discounts. The categories include things like coffee and drinks, gels, snacks and bars, protein and supplements, and apparel and gear. The rewards are gifted by the partner brands, and everyone earns and redeems, whether you use the free app or Edge Pro. As a rough guide, about a week of training earns a free coffee.

How will you earn Edge points?

• Workouts: 1 point per minute of any logged workout, up to 50 points a day.
• Steps: 2.5 points per 1,000 steps, up to 25 points a day.
• Daily cap: the two add together, up to 50 points a day for free members. Anything over the cap does not roll over.
• Monthly reset: points reset to zero at the end of each calendar month, so spend them before the month ends.

Any logged workout counts, whether it is a run, a strength session, a HIIT class or a mobility session, and whether you enter it by hand or import it from Apple Health, Strava, Garmin or Coros. Points are counted by the minute, not by pace or calories, so a steady 30-minute jog earns the same as a fast one.

Edge Pro members, from £19.99 a month with a free 7-day trial, earn faster with Double XP, have no daily cap, and get exclusive prizes and secret offers.

How do Apple Watch awards and Edge Rewards compare?

Prices and features change, so check each app for current details. Accurate at the time of writing.

Can you use Apple Watch awards and Edge Rewards together?

Yes, and this is the best part. Workouts you record on an Apple Watch are saved to Apple Health on your iPhone. Edge syncs with Apple Health, and imports from Apple Health will count towards Edge Rewards. So one session can do two jobs. Here is how a normal day could look once Edge Rewards is live:

• You record a 30-minute run on your Apple Watch. It fills your Exercise ring, adds to your Move ring and keeps your streak alive.
• The run is saved to Apple Health and reaches Edge, where it earns 30 points.
• Add 6,000 steps across the day for another 15 points, making 45 points towards your next reward.

These numbers are examples to show how the rules work, not a promise of what any one person will earn. If you are on Android, Apple Health is not an option, but Strava, Garmin, Coros and manual entries all count towards Edge Rewards.

Which one should you focus on?

If you love streaks and badges, keep closing your rings. Apple's awards are free, built in and very good at turning daily movement into a habit.

If you would like your training to add up to something you can use, such as a coffee or a discount on gear, Edge Rewards is built for that. It counts any workout by the minute, which suits a hybrid week of running and lifting.

For most Apple Watch wearers the honest answer is both. Let the rings keep you moving day to day, and let the same workouts earn Edge points in the background. One word of caution: do not chase badges or points with extra training you are not ready for. Rest days still matter, and a good plan builds them in.

How do you get early access to Edge Rewards?

Join the waitlist to become a founding member. You will get early access from Sunday 1 November 2026, almost a week before the public launch on Saturday 7 November. In the meantime, keep recording your workouts as you do now, and check that your Apple Watch workouts are saving to Apple Health, so you are ready on day one.

This article is general guidance, not medical advice. If you are new to exercise, returning from injury, pregnant, or managing a health condition, speak to your GP before starting, and see a physio for any niggle that does not settle.