Apple Watch has a useful hidden feature for tracking a great healthy habit
Source: 9to5Mac
My new favorite Apple Watch and Apple Health metric is one that has been quietly working in the background for years. Specifically, it’s a hidden Apple Watch feature for tracking a great healthy habit: Time in Daylight.
Apple Health automatically tracks Time in Daylight using your Apple Watch
Time in Daylight arrived as a metric in the Health app as part of iOS 17 in 2023. Since watchOS 10, Apple Watch has automatically tracked Time in Daylight just by wearing it.
The feature works by using the watch’s ambient light sensor to measure your environmental brightness. There’s no app to install or tracking mode to enable (though you can optionally disable it).
“Time in Daylight is an estimate of the amount of time spent in sunlight,” Apple explains in the Health app. “When unobstructed, Apple Watch can automatically record an estimated amount of Time in Daylight in Health.”
How to find Time in Daylight data in Apple Health
Because the metric can go as far back as June 2023, you can have years of Time in Daylight data. It appears in the Health app as soon as you’ve been wearing an Apple Watch.
Steps to locate the data:
- Open the Health app on iPhone or iPad.
- Tap the magnifying‑glass icon for search.
- Type “daylight” into the search field.
You can also find Time in Daylight from the Mental Wellbeing or Other Data sections on the Health Categories page.
Reframing how Apple Watch tracks healthy habits
Spending time in sunlight provides both physical and mental health benefits, so quantifying this habit expands the view of wellness beyond exercise alone.
For example, my highest Time in Daylight day over the last week wasn’t spent walking to the beach or riding my bike. Sunday’s outdoor activities ranked second. The top two days actually involved taking my MacBook Air outside and writing for several hours, which netted more daylight exposure.
As I try to optimize for a consistently positive mood, quantifying Time in Daylight with Apple Watch feels like an unlock I really appreciate. It gives credit for healthy choices that aren’t reflected in exercise minutes.
Further reading for Apple Watch and Apple Health
- Apple Watch sleep score became more useful for me with these settings
- Apple at 50: How the company’s shift into health changed my life at 25
- Review: Apple Watch Ultra 3 delivers off‑grid connectivity as Series 11 extends battery
You can find the new Apple Watch Series 11 for as low as $299 on Amazon today.
FTC: We use income‑earning auto affiliate links. More.