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How to Share—and Stop Sharing—Apple Watch Activity With Friends

Use Activity on Apple Watch or Fitness on iPhone to share progress with friends—and choose Remove Friend when you want to stop sharing completely.
Estimate4–5 min Catalogued SpecialistWatchRanker Team
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To share Activity, open Activity on your Apple Watch, tap Sharing, then Invite a Friend. To stop sharing with someone completely, open that person’s sharing profile and choose Remove Friend. Use Hide My Activity for a privacy pause, or Mute Notifications if you only want to stop alerts.

What Apple Watch Activity sharing lets friends see

Activity sharing lets friends, family members, or a trainer see selected progress information associated with your Activity rings. Apple says friends can receive updates when you meet goals, complete workouts, or earn achievements. It is intended for motivation and progress tracking—not access to your complete Health history.

Activity sharing also does not provide your location to the other person, according to Apple’s Personal Safety guide. Health-data sharing is a separate feature with separate permissions.

Before you begin

  • Use the Activity app on Apple Watch.
  • Use the Fitness app on iPhone.
  • The current Apple Watch instructions are documented for watchOS 26. Labels and layouts can vary by language, region, and software release.

How to share Activity from Apple Watch

  1. Open Activity on your Apple Watch.
  2. Tap the Sharing button.
  3. Tap Invite a Friend.
  4. Scroll through your contacts with the Digital Crown.
  5. Tap the person’s name.

Apple sends an invitation through the sharing system. The person must accept before the sharing relationship is active. Depending on your software language, the invitation label may be translated or worded slightly differently.

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#1 Best Overall
Apple Watch Series 11 [GPS 46mm] Smartwatch with Jet Black Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band - M/L. Sleep Score, Fitness Tracker, Health Monitoring, Always-On Display, Water Resistant
  • A FULL-FEATURED HEALTH TRACKER—Apple Watch Series 11 gives you invaluable insights about your body, right from your wrist. Take an ECG anytime* and get alerts for a high and low heart rate or an irregular rhythm*—so you can stay closer to your heart. You can also view your overnight health tracking metrics with the Vitals app* and be notified of possible sleep apnea.*
  • KNOW YOUR SLEEP SCORE—With advanced sleep tracking, Series 11 gives you a daily sleep score. It’s an easy way to help measure and understand the quality of your sleep, so you can make it more restorative.
  • GET HYPERTENSION NOTIFICATIONS—Did you know that Series 11 can spot signs of chronic high blood pressure? By analyzing how your blood vessels respond to beats of the heart, it can notify you of possible hypertension.*
  • SAFETY FEATURES—A smartwatch that puts your safety first. Series 11 can detect a hard fall or severe car crash, automatically help connect you with emergency services, and notify your emergency contacts.* Check In can automatically notify a loved one when you’ve arrived at your destination.
  • A POWERFUL FITNESS TRACKER—With advanced metrics and motivating features like Pacer, Heart Rate Zones, training load, and Workout Buddy powered by Apple Intelligence from your nearby iPhone*—Series 11 is made to help everyone stay active, from runners and hikers to strength-training enthusiasts.

How to share Activity from iPhone

On iPhone, Activity sharing is managed in the Fitness app:

  1. Open Fitness.
  2. Go to Sharing.
  3. Use the add or invite control to choose a contact.
  4. Send the invitation and wait for the person to accept.

Apple’s exact add button can vary between iOS releases, so look for the control that adds or invites a friend within the Sharing section.

How to view a friend’s Activity

  1. Open Activity on Apple Watch.
  2. Tap Sharing.
  3. Scroll through the friend list with the Digital Crown.
  4. Tap a friend’s name.

You can then view the shared progress and statistics Apple makes available for that person. This view is not a substitute for their private Health record.

Rank #2
Sale
Apple Watch Series 11 [GPS 42mm] Smartwatch with Rose Gold Aluminum Case with Light Blush Sport Band - S/M. Sleep Score, Fitness Tracker, Health Monitoring, Always-On Display, Water Resistant
  • A FULL-FEATURED HEALTH TRACKER—Apple Watch Series 11 gives you invaluable insights about your body, right from your wrist. Take an ECG anytime* and get alerts for a high and low heart rate or an irregular rhythm*—so you can stay closer to your heart. You can also view your overnight health tracking metrics with the Vitals app* and be notified of possible sleep apnea.*
  • KNOW YOUR SLEEP SCORE—With advanced sleep tracking, Series 11 gives you a daily sleep score. It’s an easy way to help measure and understand the quality of your sleep, so you can make it more restorative.
  • GET HYPERTENSION NOTIFICATIONS—Did you know that Series 11 can spot signs of chronic high blood pressure? By analyzing how your blood vessels respond to beats of the heart, it can notify you of possible hypertension.*
  • SAFETY FEATURES—A smartwatch that puts your safety first. Series 11 can detect a hard fall or severe car crash, automatically help connect you with emergency services, and notify your emergency contacts.* Check In can automatically notify a loved one when you’ve arrived at your destination.
  • A POWERFUL FITNESS TRACKER—With advanced metrics and motivating features like Pacer, Heart Rate Zones, training load, and Workout Buddy powered by Apple Intelligence from your nearby iPhone*—Series 11 is made to help everyone stay active, from runners and hikers to strength-training enthusiasts.

Mute notifications, hide Activity, or remove a friend?

What you want Use this control Result
Stop alerts about a friend Mute Notifications You remain connected and the friend can still see your shared Activity.
Pause what one friend can see Hide My Activity Your Activity is hidden from that friend while the sharing relationship remains available.
End sharing with one person Remove Friend The person is removed from Activity sharing.

The important distinction is that Mute Notifications is not a privacy control. It only stops notifications about that person.

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How to mute a friend’s Activity notifications

On Apple Watch:

  1. Open Activity.
  2. Tap Sharing.
  3. Tap the friend.
  4. Scroll down.
  5. Tap Mute Notifications.

This preserves the sharing connection and does not hide your Activity from the friend.

How to temporarily hide your Activity from a friend

On Apple Watch:

  1. Open Activity and tap Sharing.
  2. Tap the friend.
  3. Scroll down and tap Hide My Activity.

On iPhone:

  1. Open Fitness and tap Sharing.
  2. Tap the friend.
  3. Tap the More button.
  4. Tap Hide My Activity.

Use this when you want to pause visibility without choosing the permanent-looking removal option. Apple documents it as a separate control from Remove Friend; do not assume that hidden historical information is deleted unless the current interface explicitly says so.

Rank #3
Apple Watch SE 3 [GPS 40mm] Smartwatch with Starlight Aluminum Case with Starlight Sport Band - S/M. Fitness and Sleep Trackers, Heart Rate Monitor, Always-On Display, Water Resistant
  • GET SMARTER HEALTH INSIGHTS—Apple Watch SE 3 is an advanced health tracker that helps you better understand your body. The smartwatch sends alerts for an irregular heart rhythm, or an unusually high or low heart rate.* You can view your overnight health tracking metrics with the Vitals app,* track your sleep score, and get sleep apnea notifications.*
  • A GREAT FITNESS TRACKER—SE 3 can track your workouts in a healthy number of ways—from running and strength training to simply achieving your 10K steps a day. With real-time metrics and Workout Buddy powered by Apple Intelligence from your nearby iPhone,* you’ll hit your goals like never before.
  • KEEP HELP CLOSE AT HAND—SE 3 is a smartwatch that can detect a hard fall or severe car crash and automatically help connect you to emergency services and notify your emergency contacts.* Check In can automatically notify a loved one when you’ve arrived at your destination.
  • WOMEN’S HEALTH INSIGHTS—SE 3 has advanced sensors that track your wrist temperature while you sleep. With this smartwatch, you can log your periods and symptoms, get period predictions, and get notified of cycle deviations.*
  • GREAT BATTERY LIFE AND FASTER CHARGING—Enjoy a smartwatch with all-day, 18-hour battery life* from sunup to sundown. Then charge up to twice as fast as SE 2* and get up to 8 hours of battery in just 15 minutes.*

How to stop sharing Activity completely

Remove Friend—not Mute Notifications—is the control that ends Activity sharing with that person.

On Apple Watch

  1. Open Activity.
  2. Tap Sharing.
  3. Tap the person.
  4. Scroll down.
  5. Tap Remove Friend.

On iPhone

  1. Open Fitness.
  2. Tap Sharing.
  3. Tap the person.
  4. Tap the More button.
  5. Tap Remove Friend.

These controls are person-specific, so you can remove one friend without ending Activity sharing with everyone else. Deleting the person from Contacts is not a substitute for changing the sharing permission inside Activity or Fitness.

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Start a seven-day Activity competition

Apple’s Activity competitions are separate challenges layered on top of ordinary sharing. To invite a friend from Apple Watch:

Rank #4
Apple Watch SE 3 [GPS 40mm] Smartwatch with Midnight Aluminum Case with Midnight Sport Band - S/M. Fitness and Sleep Trackers, Heart Rate Monitor, Always-On Display, Water Resistant
  • GET SMARTER HEALTH INSIGHTS—Apple Watch SE 3 is an advanced health tracker that helps you better understand your body. The smartwatch sends alerts for an irregular heart rhythm, or an unusually high or low heart rate.* You can view your overnight health tracking metrics with the Vitals app,* track your sleep score, and get sleep apnea notifications.*
  • A GREAT FITNESS TRACKER—SE 3 can track your workouts in a healthy number of ways—from running and strength training to simply achieving your 10K steps a day. With real-time metrics and Workout Buddy powered by Apple Intelligence from your nearby iPhone,* you’ll hit your goals like never before.
  • KEEP HELP CLOSE AT HAND—SE 3 is a smartwatch that can detect a hard fall or severe car crash and automatically help connect you to emergency services and notify your emergency contacts.* Check In can automatically notify a loved one when you’ve arrived at your destination.
  • WOMEN’S HEALTH INSIGHTS—SE 3 has advanced sensors that track your wrist temperature while you sleep. With this smartwatch, you can log your periods and symptoms, get period predictions, and get notified of cycle deviations.*
  • GREAT BATTERY LIFE AND FASTER CHARGING—Enjoy a smartwatch with all-day, 18-hour battery life* from sunup to sundown. Then charge up to twice as fast as SE 2* and get up to 8 hours of battery in just 15 minutes.*
  1. Open Activity and tap Sharing.
  2. Tap the friend.
  3. Scroll down and tap Compete.
  4. Tap Invite [friend’s name].
  5. Wait for acceptance.

A competition lasts seven days. Apple’s current watchOS 26 guide says participants earn one point for each percentage point added to their rings each day, up to 600 points per day and 4,200 points over the full competition. The highest score at the end wins.

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Activity sharing is not Health-data sharing

Apple Watch Activity sharing and Health sharing are separate systems. If you have also shared broader Health information with someone, removing that person from Activity sharing does not necessarily stop Health-data access.

To check Health sharing independently, open Health on iPhone, go to Sharing, tap the person or provider, then choose Stop Sharing or Remove Account, as applicable. Apple explains the distinction in its Health-data sharing guide.

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Best Value
Apple Watch Series 11 [GPS 42mm] Smartwatch with Jet Black Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band - S/M. Sleep Score, Fitness Tracker, Health Monitoring, Always-On Display, Water Resistant
  • A FULL-FEATURED HEALTH TRACKER—Apple Watch Series 11 gives you invaluable insights about your body, right from your wrist. Take an ECG anytime* and get alerts for a high and low heart rate or an irregular rhythm*—so you can stay closer to your heart. You can also view your overnight health tracking metrics with the Vitals app* and be notified of possible sleep apnea.*
  • KNOW YOUR SLEEP SCORE—With advanced sleep tracking, Series 11 gives you a daily sleep score. It’s an easy way to help measure and understand the quality of your sleep, so you can make it more restorative.
  • GET HYPERTENSION NOTIFICATIONS—Did you know that Series 11 can spot signs of chronic high blood pressure? By analyzing how your blood vessels respond to beats of the heart, it can notify you of possible hypertension.*
  • SAFETY FEATURES—A smartwatch that puts your safety first. Series 11 can detect a hard fall or severe car crash, automatically help connect you with emergency services, and notify your emergency contacts.* Check In can automatically notify a loved one when you’ve arrived at your destination.
  • A POWERFUL FITNESS TRACKER—With advanced metrics and motivating features like Pacer, Heart Rate Zones, training load, and Workout Buddy powered by Apple Intelligence from your nearby iPhone*—Series 11 is made to help everyone stay active, from runners and hikers to strength-training enthusiasts.

Troubleshooting Activity sharing

You cannot find Sharing

Check that you are using the right app: Activity on Apple Watch and Fitness on iPhone. If no sharing relationship exists yet, the screen may show an invitation or setup state rather than a friend list. Older watchOS or iOS releases may also use different labels and layouts.

You want to stop sharing with only one person

Open that person’s profile in Activity or Fitness and choose Hide My Activity or Remove Friend. Do not delete the person from Contacts as a workaround.

You want fewer interruptions, not more privacy

Choose Mute Notifications. Removing the friend would end the sharing relationship, while muting leaves it in place.

You are worried about location

Apple’s Activity-sharing documentation says this feature does not reveal your location. That statement applies to Activity sharing; Health sharing has its own data categories and permissions, which should be reviewed separately.

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Sources

Apple Watch User Guide: Share your activity
Apple Personal Safety User Guide: Manage Activity sharing
iPhone User Guide: Share your health data

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