Quick answer: Apple Watch competitions are one-on-one. You invite one friend, the competition lasts 7 days, and points come from progress on your Activity rings. For three or more people, run several one-on-one competitions in turns, compare rings in a group chat, or use a group step challenge that works on any phone.
How Apple Watch competitions work
In the Activity app you tap a friend’s name, choose Compete and invite them. Apple’s guide describes it like this: “The competition lasts 7 days.” You get a point for every percent you add to your rings each day, up to 600 points a day and 4,200 for the week (Apple Support: Share your activity from Apple Watch).
- Players: you and one invited friend per competition.
- Length: 7 days.
- Score: progress on each person’s own Move, Exercise and Stand rings, not raw steps.
- Devices: to share activity with a friend, Apple says to make sure they have an Apple Watch. You can add up to 40 friends (Apple Support: If you can’t share your Activity rings).
For two friends who both wear an Apple Watch, this is the simplest option there is. It’s free, it’s already on the watch, and the scoring adjusts to each person’s own goals. The question is what to do when three or more people want to play. We checked Apple’s guides on 16 October 2026 and found only the one-friend competition. Apple updates watchOS every year, so look in the Activity app on your own watch for anything new.
Option 1: one-on-one competitions in turns
Split the group into pairs and swap partners every week, like a small tournament. Everyone plays one competition at a time, and after three weeks each person has played everyone else once. Send all the invites on the same day so the weeks line up.
| Week | Competition 1 | Competition 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anna vs Ben | Chris vs Dana |
| 2 | Anna vs Chris | Ben vs Dana |
| 3 | Anna vs Dana | Ben vs Chris |
The person with the most wins after week 3 takes the group title. If two people have the same number of wins, the one with more points across their competitions wins. With five people, one person sits out each week and the schedule takes five weeks. Six people also need five weeks, with three competitions a week.
Option 2: share rings and compare in the group chat
Everyone shares their activity with everyone else in the group. On Sunday evening, each person posts how many days that week they closed all three rings. Most days wins. It needs no extra app and works for bigger groups too, but every player needs an Apple Watch, and one person has to collect the numbers.
Option 3: a step challenge that works on any phone
If someone in the group has an Android phone or no watch, switch from rings to steps. An iPhone’s Health app collects steps from the phone and from Apple Watch (Apple Support: Use the Health app), and Android phones keep steps in Health Connect. The challenge generator builds a one-week brief you can paste into the chat, or copy this:
Group step challenge this week? Monday to Sunday, everyone counts the steps in their phone’s health app: Apple Health on iPhone (Apple Watch steps land there too) or Health Connect on Android. Post your daily totals here by Sunday 20:00. Most steps wins, and the winner picks next week’s rule.
The different devices guide explains how to check each phone and watch before day one.
Option 4: MovePeeps, from 1 December
MovePeeps is a step challenge app planned for 1 December 2026 on iPhone and Android, free at launch. One private group of two to eight people will share one leaderboard, and each round runs Monday to Sunday. It will count steps rather than rings, read from Apple Health or Health Connect after each person gives permission, so Apple Watch owners, Android users and people without a watch can play in the same group.
If everyone in your group wears an Apple Watch and likes the rings, Apple’s own competitions may suit you better. Option 1 gives you a group version today.
Which option fits your group
| Option | Who can join | What counts | Shared group standings |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-on-one in turns | Apple Watch owners | Ring points | Kept by hand (count wins) |
| Shared rings in the chat | Apple Watch owners | Days with all rings closed | Kept by hand |
| Group chat step challenge | Anyone with a phone | Steps | Kept by hand |
| MovePeeps (from 1 December 2026) | iPhone and Android, 2 to 8 people | Steps | One private leaderboard |
Plan your first round
Planned for 1 December, iPhone and Android, free at launch. The MovePeeps app will run private step challenges for two to eight people. Rounds run Monday to Sunday, for one week or a few in a row, and the group picks the scoring: most steps, most consistent days, or best balance with a daily cap. Steps come from Apple Health on iPhone or Health Connect on Android, so a phone is enough, and a watch counts if it saves its steps there.
Want to start sooner? Use the challenge generator to copy a plan into your group chat, or join the waitlist for the launch email and a beta invite if there’s a spot. We don’t send newsletters.
If a step total looks delayed or an invite does not work, visit MovePeeps support. See the privacy policy for what the app reads and shares.