Oura’s Automatic Activity Detection (AAD) gives you the credit you deserve for all your daily movement. Whether you’re doing housework, walking the dog, or training for a marathon, Oura tracks more than 40 activities automatically and more accurately than ever before.
What’s New?
In July 2026, a new update to the Automatic Activity Detection algorithm delivered in greater improvements in accuracy, especially for low-motion activities such as strength training, yoga, and indoor cycling. Using Oura Ring signals, including motion, temperature, and heart rate, along with your personal activity history, Oura now automatically recognizes a wider range of daily activities.
Average Heart Rate & Heart Rate Zones
Oura Ring automatically captures your average heart rate and heart rate zones. Once you’ve completed the activity, you’ll see a heart rate chart and how many minutes you spent in each of six heart rate zones. Learn more about heart rate zones below.
This enables you to understand how all of your activities throughout the day—from walking your child to school to a high-intensity fitness class—benefit your health.
Plus, at the bottom of the Activity detail card, you’ll also see a bar chart aggregating your total activity minutes for the week, showing how many minutes added up to metabolic and cardiovascular benefits.
Additional Automatic Activity Detection Features
- Active Time Trend View: This trend view shows active minutes over time, empowering you to understand how daily, weekly, and monthly active time connects to your holistic health.
- Running Splits: display your time per unit of distance—in kilometers or miles, depending on which metrics your Oura App uses.
- Import Maximum Heart Rate Data: You can add your maximum heart rate (max HR) in the Oura App. This will help Oura estimate your heart rate zones during exercise with more accuracy. Learn more about determining your max HR here.
- All-Day Activity Tracking: Automatic Activity Detection now works all hours of the day and night—including between 12am and 4am—so all of your movement counts, no matter when you move. Whether you’re working a night shift or dancing into the early-morning hours, your Oura Ring is still tracking. (Note: Activities added between midnight and 4am may appear in the Oura App as a previous day’s activity.)
- Edit Previous Days’ Activity: If you missed adding a workout (or two), no sweat. Now, you can go back to add or edit activities from the past seven days. Oura will automatically adjust your past Readiness and Activity Scores accordingly. Find more details in the Support Center here.
- More Accurate Step Count: Rather than estimating step count using generic movement, Oura operates more like a pedometer, using a more advanced machine-learning model to more accurately determine when ring movement is a step. This means you will likely see a change in your step count than you may be used to, with members seeing an average decrease in step count of 20%.
- More Accurate Active Calories: Oura’s Active Calorie burn now takes your intensity of movement into account, meaning your heart rate during exercise. In November 2024, updates to Automatic Activity Tracking unlocked the ability to measure heart rate and heart rate zones after an activity was added. Now, your activity data, including active calories, will reflect that measurement. For active calories, the change in reaching your Activity Goal depends on what type of exercise you’re doing. If you’re doing a more intense workout like a HIIT class, you may see you’ve burned more calories than previously shown, making it easier to reach your goal. In lower-intensity exercises like yoga or casual walking, it may lower the active calorie burn amount shown.
- Heart Rate Imported from Partners: Heart rate data from partners is imported into the Oura App and included in your analysis of cardiovascular & metabolic benefits to create a holistic capture of your movement. Learn more about using Apple Health, Strava, and Health Connect by Android in the Support Center.*
LEARN MORE: Your Oura Activity Score
What Are Heart Rate Zones?
Your heart rate zone provides insights into how hard your body is working during an activity, which affects your overall health.
All six heart rate zones deliver benefits to your overall health. While vigorous exercise is great, remember that low-intensity activities and everyday movement can improve your energy and mood, help you manage your weight, and benefit your metabolic health. The more intensely you work out (e.g., zones 3 to 6), the more it will benefit your cardiovascular system and muscle strength.
Heart Rate Zones |
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| Oura uses six heart rate zones. The ranges assigned to each zone are calculated using an age-based estimate of your max heart rate (max HR). | |||||
| Zone 0 | ≤ 49% of max HR | You’re either fully at rest or moving slowly. This zone is associated with recovery. | |||
| Zone 1 | ≥ 50-59% of max HR | You’re moving at a light, steady pace, promoting circulation without much strain. It’s still easy to speak in full sentences. This zone is associated with metabolic health, and is common in warm-ups, cool-downs, and low-intensity activities. | |||
| Zone 2 | ≥ 60-69% of max HR | You’re moving at a light-to-moderate pace that may cause mild strain but feels sustainable. At this intensity, you’re still able to talk in full sentences, but it feels a bit harder than zone 1. This zone builds endurance and supports metabolic and cardiovascular health. | |||
| Zone 3 | ≥ 70-79% of max HR | You’re expending moderate-to-high amounts of energy and feeling more strain. Your breathing is more labored and it’s becoming difficult to maintain a conversation. Zone 3 benefits your cardiovascular fitness and muscle strength. | |||
| Zone 4 | ≥ 80-89% of max HR | You’re exerting near-max effort—moving with high intensity and really challenging your body. Time spent in this zone has high cardiovascular benefits but should be balanced with recovery. At this intensity your breathing is much quicker and you can only speak a few words at a time. | |||
| Zone 5 | ≥ 90-100% of max HR | You’re working at an all-out effort, and your heart and respiratory system are working at maximum capacity. This zone should leave you breathless while fortifying your cardiovascular and metabolic health. | |||
How Does Oura Calculate Heart Rate Zones?
Your heart rate zones are personalized to you, as Oura bases them on a formula that includes your maximum heart rate and your age at the time of activity, among other metrics.
*Accuracy calculation is based on when any one of 40+ activities are detected by Oura and not dismissed by the member.
**Keep in mind that while you can wear your Oura Ring while doing most gym activities, like other jewelry, Oura Ring may become scratched if worn while lifting weights or gripping barbells or dumbbells.