A complication on Apple Watch is a small piece of live information or a shortcut that sits on your watch face, like your Activity rings, heart rate, the weather, or a score from an app you've installed. You add them by touching and holding the watch face, tapping Edit, and swiping to the complications screen, or from the Apple Watch app on your iPhone. For fitness, the most useful complications put your training and recovery numbers on your wrist, so you see them every time you check the time.
What Is a Complication on Apple Watch?
Complication is an old watchmaking word for anything a watch shows beyond hours and minutes: a date window, a moon phase, a stopwatch. Apple kept the term. In Apple's words, complications are "special features" you add to some watch faces "so you can instantly check things like stock prices, the weather report, or information from other apps you installed" (Apple Support).
Complications come in a few shapes, and each watch face decides which shapes it has room for:
- Circular: a small round gauge or number, such as a score ring
- Corner: a curved gauge tucked into a corner of a round-style face
- Rectangular: a wider slot with room for a label, a chart, or several numbers
- Inline: a single line of text, usually above or below the time
Apple builds in complications for its own apps, such as Activity and Heart Rate. Apps from the App Store can include complications too, which is how a fitness app like FITIV Pulse puts its scores on your watch face.
Complications vs. Widgets in the Smart Stack
The Smart Stack is the scrolling set of widgets you get when you turn the Digital Crown up or swipe up from the bottom of the watch face (Apple Support). Complications live on the face itself, so they're visible every time you raise your wrist. Smart Stack widgets are one gesture away and have more room.
Many apps offer both, and the same wide rectangular design often works in either place. A good rule: put the two or three numbers you check most often on the face, and leave the rest in the Smart Stack.
To add a widget to the Smart Stack, open it, scroll to the bottom, tap Edit, then tap the Add Widget button and choose one. The Pin button keeps a widget in a fixed spot so it doesn't move as the stack reorders itself (Apple Support).
How to Add Complications to Your Apple Watch Face
You can change complications on the watch or on your iPhone. The iPhone is easier when you're setting up several at once.
Adding Complications on the Watch
- With the watch face showing, touch and hold the display, then tap Edit.
- Swipe left all the way to the end, to the complications screen.
- Tap a complication slot, then turn the Digital Crown to choose what goes there.
- Press the Digital Crown to save, then tap the face to switch to it.
These steps come from Apple Support. If you don't see a complications screen, the face you're on doesn't support them.
Adding Complications in the Apple Watch App on iPhone
- Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone and tap Face Gallery.
- Pick a category, such as Health and Fitness or Data Rich, and choose a face.
- Tap a complication position, such as Top Left, Top Right, or Bottom, then choose a complication.
- Tap Add to put the face in your collection.
To clear a slot, open its list and scroll to the top, then tap Off (Apple Support).
Why an App Isn't in Your Complications List
Complications come from apps that offer them, so if an app is missing from the list, check that it's installed on your watch. Not every app offers complications, and an app may only offer certain shapes, so a rectangular complication won't appear on a face that only has circular slots.
Which Watch Faces Hold the Most Complications?
If you want a data-heavy fitness face, start with one that has a lot of slots. These are the counts Apple lists for watchOS 27 (Apple Support):
| Watch face | Complications |
|---|---|
| Infograph | Up to 8 |
| Modular Ultra | 7 |
| Modular | 6 |
| Nike Hybrid | Up to 5 |
| Nike Globe | Up to 4 |
| Modular Compact, Modular Duo, Utility | Up to 3 |
Infograph fits the most numbers. Modular Ultra has a large complication in the middle that suits charts and multi-number summaries. If closing your rings is the main goal, the Activity Analog and Activity Digital faces build your Activity progress into the face itself, with a few slots left for complications.
The Best Apple Watch Complications for Fitness
The best complications are the ones you'd otherwise open an app to check. Pick by what you're training for.
Best Complications for Daily Activity and Activity Rings
Apple's own Activity complication shows your Activity rings (Move, Exercise, and Stand), and it's the simplest way to keep them on any face that supports it. Add a steps gauge next to it if you also track a step goal. If your Exercise ring doesn't seem to fill as much as your workout should, this guide explains why.
Best Complications for Heart Rate Training
Apple's Heart Rate complication gives you a quick heart rate check from the watch face. For training, pair it with something that puts heart rate in context, like how hard your recent training has been or how ready you are for today. During a workout, your workout app's own screen shows live heart rate and zones; the face is for the rest of the day. The heart rate zones guide explains what each zone is for.
Best Complications for Recovery and Readiness
If you train most days, a recovery or readiness number is the one most worth having on your wrist. It answers the question you have every morning: push today, or take it easy? With watchOS 27, Apple added a Readiness app with a daily score, but only on Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 (Apple Newsroom). On any other model, a third-party app fills the gap. FITIV's Recovery, Training Readiness, and Battery complications all work for this (more below).
Best Complications for Weight Loss
For weight loss, the useful numbers are the ones that show the trend, not a single day: a weight trend, progress toward your goal, and your calorie deficit or surplus for the day. Calories burned on its own is less useful without the other side of the balance.
FITIV Pulse Complications for Apple Watch
FITIV Pulse has complications for nearly every score in the app, in several shapes, so you can build a face around training, recovery, or weight. They work on watchOS 10 or later, and the wide rectangular ones also work as widgets in the Smart Stack.
| Complication | Shapes | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Recovery, Strain, Sleep, Readiness scores | Circular, corner | That score as a gauge |
| Battery, Stress | Circular, rectangular, corner | Your Battery charge or Stress level |
| Battery and Stress | Rectangular | Both on one card |
| Training Readiness | Rectangular | Today's Training Readiness |
| Training Load Summary | Rectangular | Your recent training load compared with your longer-term load |
| Vitals Summary | Rectangular | Resting heart rate, HRV, respiratory rate, blood oxygen, and wrist temperature against your typical range |
| Heart Rate Range | Circular, corner | Current heart rate with the day's low and high |
| Daily Steps, Calories Active, Calories Total, Sleep | Circular, corner | Steps, calories, or hours slept as a gauge |
| Calories Burned, Calorie Deficit, Macronutrients | Rectangular | Calories burned, your deficit or surplus, and carbs, protein, and fat |
| Weight Trend, Weight Goal | Circular, rectangular, corner, inline | Current weight and 30-day trend, or progress toward your goal |
| GLP-1 Medication | Circular, rectangular, corner, inline | Where you are in your current GLP-1 cycle |
| Last Workout | Rectangular | Your last workout's heart rate, time, and zone |
| FITIV Career | Rectangular | Your progress toward the next Career level |
| Start Workout | Rectangular | Buttons to start a walk, run, or ride |
A few notes on how they behave:
- Scores come from your iPhone. Recovery and Training Readiness, Battery and Stress, vitals, and training load are calculated in the FITIV app on your iPhone and synced to the watch. If a score looks out of date, open FITIV on your iPhone to refresh it.
- Steps, calories, sleep hours, and heart rate range are read on the watch itself.
- Start Workout has walk, run, and ride buttons on watchOS 11 or later. Tapping one starts that workout and opens FITIV on the watch.
- Weight Trend, Weight Goal, and GLP-1 Medication open the matching screen in the app when you tap them. See weight management and GLP-1 tracking.
FITIV doesn't have its own Activity rings complication. Use Apple's Activity complication for your rings alongside FITIV's scores.
Example Fitness Watch Faces to Build
Three setups that work well, each on a face with enough room:
- Training and recovery (Modular Ultra): Training Readiness in the large center slot, with Recovery, Strain, and Heart Rate Range in the smaller slots. One look tells you how ready you are and how hard you've already gone today.
- Rings and steps (any face with a few small slots): Apple's Activity complication for your rings, with FITIV's Daily Steps and Battery next to it.
- Weight loss (Infograph or Modular Ultra): Weight Trend and Calorie Deficit, plus Apple's Activity complication to keep you moving.
Save each one as a separate face in your collection: a training face for workout days, a simpler one for rest days. To switch, touch and hold the current face, swipe to the one you want, and tap it.
Apple Watch, iPhone, watchOS, Digital Crown, and Apple Health are trademarks of Apple Inc. FITIV is an independent app and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you add third-party complications to an Apple Watch face?
Yes. Apps from the App Store can include complications, and you choose them from the same complication list as Apple's own. If an app is missing, check that it's installed on your watch. Which slots an app can fill depends on the shapes it supports and the face you're using.
Do all Apple Watch faces support complications?
No. Complications can be added to some watch faces, and the number of slots varies from face to face. Data-rich faces like Infograph, Modular, and Modular Ultra hold the most.
Is there a FITIV complication for Activity rings?
No. FITIV's complications cover its own scores, like Recovery, Training Readiness, Strain, and Battery, plus steps, calories, and weight. For your Move, Exercise, and Stand rings, add Apple's Activity complication next to them.
Why isn't my complication updating?
Complications don't update continuously, so a number can lag a little behind the app. FITIV's scores, such as Recovery and Training Readiness, are calculated on your iPhone, so opening FITIV on your iPhone brings them up to date on the watch.
What's the difference between a complication and a widget on Apple Watch?
A complication sits on the watch face, so you see it every time you raise your wrist. A widget lives in the Smart Stack, which you open by turning the Digital Crown up or swiping up from the face. Many apps, FITIV included, offer designs that work in both places.
