Apple Watch Owners Can Claim Free Rewards By Doing One Simple Thing
Apple's Close Your Rings badge
Apple has announced its Close Your Rings day celebrations, which lets Apple Watch fans claim both physical and virtual freebies.
Close Your Rings days takes place on April 24, to celebrate 10 years of Apple's iconic Activity rings' existence.
'A decade ago, we introduced Activity rings — and since then, Apple Watch has grown to offer an extensive set of features designed to empower every user,' says Apple Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams.
If you manage to close your rings on that day, you'll unlock 10 animated stickers and a badge for use in the Messages app. Doing so will also unlock a 'limited-edition award' within the Apple Watch Activity app.
What I really want, though, is the physical pin badge Apple will give out at Apple Stores from April 24.
'Customers can pick up a pin at Apple Store locations worldwide starting April 24, while supplies last,' says Apple. It's not clear how limited these pin badges will be.
The design of the pin is based on the virtual award you unlock, seen at the top of this article, suggesting it will be a cross between a medal and the graphic representing Apple's Activity rings. Pretty neat.
If you're more interested in the stickers, here's what they represent:
These animated stickers all feature visual elements that nod to the design of Apple's Activity rings. You can see them in action at the Apple website.
To backup the importance of the Activity Rings as a motivating factor for activity and exercise, Apple has also highlighted some stats derived from one of its major health studies.
Apple says those who 'frequently' close their Activity Rings are 48% less likely to have poor quality sleep, and are 57% less likely to suffer from higher levels of stress, per their own self-reporting.
Activity Rings have been a key part of the Apple Watch since the series's inception in 2015. And while having daily goals was nothing new at that point, the design has become an important, and often copied, part of the company's iconography.
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