▼ Summary
– Apple is marking the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch on April 24th, 2025, with “Global Close Your Rings Day” instead of releasing special edition hardware.
– The event encourages Apple Watch users worldwide to complete their three daily Activity rings: Move, Exercise, and Stand.
– Participants who achieve this goal on April 24th will receive a limited-edition digital badge, animated stickers, and a physical pin available at Apple Stores.
– Apple supports this challenge with data from its Apple Heart and Movement Study, highlighting health benefits for users who regularly close their rings.
– The anniversary celebration focuses on promoting continuous health engagement rather than commemorating the launch date with special hardware.
A decade ago this week, on April 24th, 2015, the first Apple Watches began arriving, marking Apple’s significant entry into the wearables market. Ten years is a notable milestone in consumer tech, often prompting retrospective celebrations or special edition hardware. However, Apple is taking a different approach for its smartwatch’s tin anniversary. Forget a commemorative “Watch X” (though rumors persist for future models) or a nostalgia-fueled campaign. Instead, Cupertino is designating April 24th as “Global Close Your Rings Day.”
It’s a characteristically Apple move: pivot from the past to present action, focusing on the device’s core health and fitness identity.
The Challenge: Close Your Rings
Global Close Your Rings Day is straightforward. Apple Watch users worldwide are encouraged to complete their three daily Activity rings – Move (active calories burned), Exercise (minutes of brisk activity), and Stand (getting up and moving for at least one minute in 12 different hours).
Achieving this trifecta on April 24th unlocks a few rewards: a limited-edition digital badge in the Fitness app and a set of 10 animated stickers for use in Messages. In a rarer move connecting digital achievement to a physical token, Apple Stores globally will also offer a limited-edition physical pin inspired by the award, available starting the 24th while supplies last. Details on the pin’s exact design are scarce, but Apple indicates it will mirror the digital award.
These activity challenges are a familiar tactic for Apple, often tied to holidays like New Year’s or awareness events like Heart Month and Earth Day, aiming to motivate users through gamification.
Data-Backed Motivation
This time, however, Apple is bolstering the motivational push with specific findings from its ongoing Apple Heart and Movement Study. Conducted in collaboration with Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the American Heart Association, the large-scale study (now involving over 200,000 participants, according to some reports) provides data correlating ring closure habits with wellness indicators.
Apple highlights analysis suggesting that individuals who consistently close their Activity rings report significant benefits compared to those who rarely do. The company states these regular ring-closers were:
- 48% less likely to experience poor sleep quality.
- 73% less likely to have elevated resting heart rates.
- 57% less likely to report elevated stress levels (measured using the standard PSS-4 scale).
By emphasizing these health connections, Apple frames the anniversary challenge less as a simple game and more as a nudge towards tangible well-being improvements, reinforcing the Watch’s evolution from a communication accessory to a personal health tool.
A Low-Key Milestone
While effective in promoting daily engagement, dedicating the 10-year mark to a standard (albeit globally branded) activity challenge feels decidedly low-key. There’s no special edition hardware announced for the date, despite some earlier speculation and the emergence of images purportedly showing an unreleased 10th-anniversary Sport Band sample.
This approach suggests Apple’s focus remains squarely on the continuous use and health integration of the Watch, rather than dwelling on its launch date. For the millions who wear one, the daily nudge to “Close Your Rings” is already constant. On April 24th, Apple simply adds a small badge, some stickers, and potentially a collectible pin to that familiar routine, marking a decade not with a party, but with a push for one more active day.
(Inspired by: The Verge)
