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Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET
With its clean interface and accurate recording that requires nothing other than you carrying around your iPhone, Moves is a great activity tracker. It automatically tracks your activity, as long as you are walking, running, cycling, or engaged in some sort of transport like driving a car. While I walk my dog frequently, drive my kids around daily, and take my bike out regularly during the warmer months, I never jog as a general rule. I engage in a number of other activities, however, from pond hockey and downhill skiing to pick-up basketball and tennis, so Moves has left me wanting. With an update earlier this week, Moves lets me edit my activities and provides a list of more than 60 activity types.
Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET
Moves doesn’t automatically recognize these additional activities, and it might not be not readily apparent to you about how one would go about editing an activity type. To do so, tap on an entry on your timeline of events, which opens up the map view with the activity type and duration listed at the bottom. Tap on the banner at the bottom that cataloged your activity as walking, running, or cycling. This opens the Edit Activity screen, which lets you adjust the duration or delete the activity entirely. Above the dial that lets you adjust the duration is a banner that shows the activity type. Click on the banner to see all of Move’s new activities.
Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET
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You’ll see two lists. A small, suggested list at the top and then an alphabetical list of all manner of activity, from Aerobics to Zumba with things likes Bandy, Kettleball, and Petanque in between. Moves will then adjust the calorie count according to the activity. For example, 1 hour and 5 minutes of hockey burns 508 calories while playing American football for the same duration burns only 299 calories. Must be all of that downtime in the huddle.
Also, Moves seems to be smart about the activities it suggests at the top. I selected an ice pond as the location for my lunchtime outing today, for example, and two of the suggested activities were skating and hockey.
You can also create and name an activity that you may have engaged in without your iPhone or with Moves turned off. When in map view, tap the “+” button in the lower-right corner and as you can when editing an activity, you can select the activity type and its duration.
Moves is also available for Android, but the latest update has been rolled out only to iOS to date.
