You have a group chat full of good intentions. One friend wears an Apple Watch. Another lives in Garmin. Someone tracks recovery on WHOOP, and one person has nothing but a phone in their pocket. Then somebody suggests a step challenge, and the enthusiasm lasts right up until setup begins. Different apps, different permissions, different definitions of what even counts as activity, and no obvious way to put everyone on one leaderboard anyone believes.
That gap is the real job of a cross platform fitness app. Connecting a tracker is the easy, visible part. The hard part is deciding which data can honestly be compared, how it should be lined up, and what each person has actually authorized an app to read. MoveTogether treats the problem as a fairness layer first and a competition second, because a leaderboard nobody trusts is just a spreadsheet people ignore.
Why your friend group can't compete together yet
Four friends can all be active and still have ecosystems that refuse to cooperate. The Apple Watch user already has activity flowing into Apple Health. The Garmin user keeps most records inside Garmin Connect. The WHOOP user cares more about strain and recovery than steps. The phone-only person has no wearable data at all, just what the handset picks up.
Plenty of challenges dodge this by staying inside one device family. That makes the engineering simple and leaves mixed-device groups out. Other apps accept several sources but compare the raw values without explaining how those values were produced, which feels unfair before the competition has even started.
A Garmin step count and an Apple Watch step count are not automatically interchangeable. The devices use different sensors, different processing rules, and different thresholds for when movement qualifies as activity. The same walk can produce two different numbers, not because one friend tried less, but because each platform read the movement its own way.
So a credible cross-platform competition needs a shared layer between the devices and the leaderboard. The app should accept activity from Apple Health, Fitbit, Garmin, WHOOP, Oura, Strava, Polar, and iPhone-only tracking, then convert those incoming records into common fields before it ever calculates a rank or a gap. Nobody should have to buy the same watch as their friends just to join. For a plainer walk-through of that, we wrote up how to compete with friends who have different wearables.
The normalization problem nobody talks about
Raw numbers look objective because they are easy to read. They are not always easy to compare. Apple, Garmin, Fitbit, WHOOP, and Oura each collect and calculate through their own systems, with their own methods for estimating calories, spotting workouts, counting steps, and deciding when movement becomes exercise. A person who logs more steps on one platform has not necessarily walked farther than someone with a lower count on another.
This is why a leaderboard built on raw steps can reward device behavior instead of effort. Calories have the same trap. A calorie figure is a model's estimate, not a universal measurement, so placing two of them side by side without context quietly bakes in bias.
What normalization changes
MoveTogether works with Move, Exercise, and Stepsas distinct activity streams. It takes each provider's records, maps them into those shared categories and units, and only then applies whatever scoring method you picked. Competition logic stays separate from the vendor-specific plumbing.
The order is the whole point. If a device stream gets scored before it has been converted into a shared structure, every feature downstream inherits the mess. Rank changes, weekly summaries, gap tracking, and coaching notes all get less reliable the moment the raw values go in unconverted. Normalize first, score second, and the rest of the product has something honest to stand on.
Why raw-step challenges break
Raw steps still have a place. They are simple, familiar, and easy for a group to grasp in one sentence. They also shut out people whose favorite activities barely register as steps, like cycling or swimming, and they quietly favor users whose devices are eager to call movement a step.
A fair system does not pretend every device measures movement the same way. It makes the conversion rules clear, applies them the same way to everyone, and then gives the group scoring choices that match what they actually care about. That is a very different promise from “connect your tracker and trust us.”
Two paths to connect your wearable
MoveTogether has two practical ways in, because Apple Health and a direct wearable connection do not expose data the same way.
Path one: Apple Health
An iPhone user can connect Apple Health and grant the categories the app needs. Apple Health acts as a central layer that gathers data from the iPhone, the Apple Watch, and compatible third-party apps and devices. In practice that can mean an Apple Watch plus 100+ compatible fitness apps, or it can mean iPhone-only tracking for someone with no wearable at all. When you connect this way, MoveTogether asks for read-only access to a short list of types (steps, active energy, exercise minutes, and workouts) and reads only those.
Apple Health does not automatically hold every wearable's data. A vendor or third-party app has to choose to write its data into Apple Health, and you have to approve that sharing. So it is best to think of Apple Health as a permissioned input, not a perfect mirror of everything every vendor knows about you.
Path two: a dedicated connection
You can also connect Fitbit, Garmin, WHOOP, Oura, Strava, or Polarthrough that provider's own authorization flow. This route matters when a service does not write the data you need into Apple Health, or when you would rather link the source directly. The app can only compare what a provider actually exposes through the approved path. Records a vendor keeps locked inside its own system stay out of reach, and no honest app should imply otherwise.
Once someone is connected, the competition host sends a shareable invite link. Friends open it on their iPhones, connect through Apple Health or a dedicated provider, and join the same event without anyone switching brands. If you want the difference between connecting a device and actually taking part spelled out, our guide on how to track workouts across any wearable covers it.
Five scoring methods, and when each fits
A normalized data layer does not make every scoring method fair for every group. The format still shapes the contest. MoveTogether has seven scoring methods in total; these five are the ones that come up most for mixed-device groups, and each carries a different bias you should know about before you start.
| Scoring method | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Ring Close Count | Mixed levels and consistency-focused groups | Works best when everyone has comparable ring goals |
| Percentage of Goals | Groups with different abilities or baselines | Everyone needs to understand their own targets first |
| Raw Numbers | Experienced athletes comparing total volume | High-volume users can run away with it |
| Step Count | Simple walking challenges | Cyclists, swimmers, and WHOOP users get under-counted |
| Workout Based | Groups built around deliberate exercise sessions | Casual all-day movement counts for less |
Ring Close Count suits a group that wants a daily consistency race. It rewards closing your daily Activity Rings rather than piling up one giant total, which tends to feel better for anyone who trains in short sessions, takes classes, or lifts instead of walking all day.
Percentage of Goals is usually the better call for a mixed group. A marathoner and a casual walker each compete against their own targets, so different starting points stop deciding the winner on day one. It is the method MoveTogether recommends specifically for mixed-device groups, since it sidesteps the fact that WHOOP has no steps and Strava is workout-only.
Raw Numbers is the direct one. It also favors people who already train at high volume, which can fire up a competitive team and quietly discourage a beginner. Step Count is the easiest to explain and perfect for a walking event, but a poor fit once the group includes people who mostly cycle, swim, or lift. Workout Based counts only logged or auto-detected workouts, which is exactly what a training club or a group of WHOOP users wants.
The right choice depends on the people in the room, not on a universal definition of fair. If you want the formats laid out with more examples, our fitness challenge app guide compares them side by side.
Privacy and permissions you actually control
Cross-device competition only works when people trust the connection. MoveTogether treats Apple Health as a user-controlled input: the app reads only the categories you authorize, and you can withdraw that access later in the Health app. If a vendor never exposes a record into Apple Health or through its own approved integration, the app simply cannot retrieve it.
That boundary is worth stating plainly. Connecting one source does not hand an app everything that source has ever stored. Your permissions decide which categories are available, and each provider's own sharing choices decide what can enter the pipe in the first place.
What you can manage
- Category access. You choose which health categories the app may read.
- Source sharing. A connected vendor still has to make its data available through Apple Health or a dedicated integration.
- Revocation. You can pull access later through Apple Health permissions.
- Data boundaries. The app cannot score with records it never received.
MoveTogether also does not run on data resale or ad networks, which gives the competition layer a clear rule: collect what the feature needs, say why it is needed, and never dress up unavailable data as if it exists. A fair leaderboard needs more than consistent scoring. It needs a visible answer to where the records came from and why two people might have different metrics available.
Real use cases across friend groups and teams
A mixed-device friend group might open with a weekend sprint. One person is on an Apple Watch, another on Garmin, another on WHOOP, and a fourth on an iPhone alone. Percentage of Goalsgives that group a better footing than raw volume, because they do not share a baseline or a device behavior. The live leaderboard shows rank changes and gaps without asking anyone to install the same brand's app.
Teams need structure
A workplace can lean on Move Leagues, the weekly ladder that drops you into a fresh cohort of up to 30 people at your tier every Monday. Top finishers promote, the bottom five demote, and the middle holds, across ten tiers from Walker to Legend. That gives a department something more durable than a single event, and it is free on every account, so nobody hits a paywall to take part.
A fitness club might prefer monthly competitions on Workout Based scoring. Coach Mo can add conversation, motivation, and competition strategy on top, though it is not a structured sets-and-reps programming tool. That line matters when a club wants encouragement and accountability without replacing its actual coaches.
Couples, or anyone who would rather not turn every week into a direct comparison, can race Past You Ghost, a MoveTogether Pro feature that puts your best completed week on the board as a live competitor. Pro also adds the Weekly Mo Report, a recap with trend deltas and coaching notes, which suits data-driven athletes who want a concise review after a competition. Free accounts can focus on the core challenge and still get most of the value.
Setting up your first competition
A first event does not need a grand plan. The host makes three decisions before sending the invite: the format, the scoring method, and the activity sources the group will use.
Start with the format
Pick a weekend sprint, a weekly event, a monthly competition, or a custom date range for any window you want. A short sprint is a fine, low-stakes test. A longer event gives people time to connect their sources, settle into a rhythm, and survive one off day without quitting the group.
Then choose the scoring method. Mixed fitness levels usually want Percentage of Goals or Ring Close Count. A walking group can use Step Count. A training club often prefers Workout Based. Raw Numbers fits a group that knowingly wants to compare total volume.
Send the link and watch the event
Create the competition and send the shareable invite link. Participants join through Apple Health, a dedicated Fitbit, Garmin, WHOOP, Oura, Strava, or Polar connection, or iPhone-only tracking. Once activity starts flowing, the leaderboard shows rank changes and gaps, with device-agnostic ring-close tracking that gives the group a shared view without pretending every wearable records identical raw values.
Coach Mo can help with motivation and strategy along the way, and Roast Mode is there for groups that enjoy sharper feedback, roasting your effort and never your body. It does not build sets-and-reps plans, so anyone who wants detailed programming should pair it with a dedicated training tool.
How to decide if MoveTogether fits
MoveTogether fits groups that want fair competition across Apple Health, Fitbit, Garmin, WHOOP, Oura, Strava, Polar, and iPhone-only tracking. It also suits iPhone users who want to join without buying a wearable, and athletes who value conversational coaching and longer-term context on their activity.
The limits are straightforward. It does not do GPS routes, and it will not replace structured sets-and-reps programming. It is available on iOS, with Android coming soon. There are two plans, Free and Pro. Pro is $12.99 per month or $99.99 per year on Apple, and $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year on the web. Choose Pro for features like the Weekly Mo Report, Past You Ghost, and expanded analytics, not for capabilities you will not use.
If the core problem is a mixed-device group that cannot compete fairly, the normalization and permission model matter far more than a long feature list. MoveTogether is free to start, with an optional Pro tier. It is available on iOS, with Android coming soon.
Third-party device and platform names belong to their respective owners. MoveTogether is available on iOS, with Android coming soon.
