Most likely your steps or workout hasn't reached Apple Health yet. Tonic reads that one number, so it only earns time once the data lands. Open your tracker app to force a sync. If your total looks low or high, set one priority source in Apple Health so devices don't double-count.
Why nothing unlocked yet
Tonic does not connect to your watch or tracker directly. It reads one number: the steps or workout already recorded in your iPhone's Apple Health app. So time is earned the moment Apple Health has the data, not the moment you finished the walk or workout.
Your iPhone counts steps on its own, live, with nothing to set up. A separate tracker is different: its companion app sends the data to Apple Health on a short delay, and only if you turned that sharing on. So the usual reason nothing unlocked is simple: the data has not synced across yet.
Force the sync (the quick fix)
- Open your tracker's app.Open Garmin Connect, the Fitbit app, or whichever app pairs with your device. Opening it pushes your latest steps and workouts into Apple Health, usually within a minute or two.
- Open Tonic.Tonic re-checks Apple Health when you open it, so your fresh steps or workout get counted.
- Confirm sharing is on.You only do this once. In your tracker's app, turn on its Apple Health connection. In Garmin Connect: More, then Settings, then Connected Apps, then Apple Health, then Connect, and allow the categories with Steps included. It is off by default.
- Let Tonic read the data.The first time Tonic asks for Apple Health access, scroll down and turn on Steps and Workouts under the Read section. Read and Write are separate lists, so it is easy to miss one. You can change this any time in iPhone Settings, then Health, then Data Access & Devices, then Tonic.
Why your total doesn't match your watch
If Tonic shows fewer steps than your watch, it is almost always because more than one device is feeding Apple Health, and Apple Health picks one source at a time instead of adding them together. Tonic shows the same total the Apple Health app shows, so the fix is to tell Apple Health which device to trust.
- Open the Health app on your iPhone.Go to Browse, then Activity, then Steps.
- Tap Data Sources & Access.It is near the bottom of the Steps screen.
- Drag your preferred device to the top.Tap Edit, then drag the source you trust most, your watch or your iPhone, above the others. That source wins, so the count stops looking doubled or short.
Good news for earning: a high count never locks you out.
For earning time, the count only ever decides whether you have reached your goal. If sources overlap and the number runs a little high, the only effect is that you reach your goal a touch sooner. It can never leave you stuck below the line.
A few activity-specific notes
- Workouts. A workout counts once you finish it and it saves to Apple Health. Apps like Strava, Nike Run Club, Peloton, and Strong all work. If it has not unlocked, open that app to make sure the workout saved and synced.
- Walking without your phone. This is the one case where a tracker matters. Steps taken with just your watch arrive on a delay, so open the tracker app afterward to bring them in.
- Meditation. A session counts once you complete it in a meditation app with Apple Health sharing turned on. Breathwork from a Garmin or other watch does not count as meditation.
- Sunlight. Time in daylight is measured by the Apple Watch only. No other tracker records it.
Still stuck? Email [email protected]. A real person reads every message.
Related: Does Tonic count steps from a Garmin, Fitbit, or other tracker?