Recently, I finally bumped up against my 200GB iCloud sharing plan. Not wanting to pay for 2TB when I'm barely going to push 200 GB, I looked to join the family sharing account I had set up for my parents and siblings. However, because of how the accounts are set up, I was worried that my app purchasing habits [compared to theirs] would cause issues with the "Primary Payment Method".

If you join as a family member of a Family Sharing account, usually all purchases go through the primary member. This honestly is great for a family with kids, but falls down when there are a bunch of adults taking advantage of shared iCloud Storage or Apple Music.

Thanks to the Apple Support Twitter account, and my habit of buying iTunes gift cards on sales, I found an interesting way to join a family sharing account, but allow say, a particular family member, maintain their different spending habits. Especially if you're like me and tend to buy a lot more apps/music/subscriptions than your family members.

The solution? To allow charges to go directly to your account first, maintain an "Apple ID balance" on your account. By using iTunes gift cards, or just reloading your account through the App Store Account page, you can load money on your personal Apple ID to pay for your subscriptions and purchases. Your Apple ID will always default to this balance before charging the primary family member's account.

I've just started using this, and it'll be interesting to see how receipts work, but I'm glad that I can join a family sharing account, and enjoy the benefits of shared media/purchases, but without having to worry about trying to balance any payments made by the primary account holder.

Apple is now requiring Developer accounts have 2FA turned on as a security measure.

This has led to a lot of confusion because a lot of developers have separate accounts for good reason. Here’s how you can add your developer account to your device to get authentication codes.

1. Go to Passwords and Accounts on your iOS device. [EDIT- Dec 4, 2020 - Thanks to Casey Liss I realized that this menu has changed - following the below steps in Settings > Mail > accounts works. :) ]
2. Add Account
3. Add iCloud
4. Sign in to your developer account
5. Turn off all the switches
6. Bam
7. Go to App Store connect or something like that
8. Try to sign in

9. You should get two factor codes on that device

10. [Optional] File a radar to get this process streamlined/clarified.

Despite the account being labeled as ‘inactive’ on that account screen, you have added your device as a “trusted” device capable of receiving two-factor authentication codes.

I did this process after I had activated 2FA on my developer account. But you should be able to sign in this way, then go to appleid.apple.com, and enable Two-Factor Authentication there.

Edit: The one problem is enabling it in the first place - the easiest way is to create a temporary user on your Mac and enable it there, but damn if that isn’t a clunky solution.

It makes me super happy to see even more stories on Apple's Close Your Rings page. All of these videos show unique and interesting people, all striving to do the same thing - close their rings and live a better day.

Check out these stories! They really are neat, especially when it's from every day people like me and you, to professional athletes that enjoy the watch's fitness and connectivity features.

Also, check out Zac Hall's piece on his continuous journey on improving his mental and physical health with the Apple Watch.

But I still enjoy being social with my data, despite it being super personal and "private". I use Strava to track things like segments, improvements, and training for cycling and running, and enjoy having all my stats in one online place.

That's where HealthFit comes in. HealthFit is simply the best app for getting your workouts and health data out of the Health app, and into apps that are great for social features, but have terrible HealthKit implementations. [This thread has been going on for four years. I still get notifications about it.]

HealthFit is simply the best solution that I wish Apple would build into its app. It takes any workout, and [now even automatically], lets you sync it to third party service.¹ HealthKit as an API is great to have, but when even the biggest players like Strava won't integrate with it correctly, or even allow you to import data from it, then you should write the feature yourself.

I also just came across Tempo which, in a similar vein to HealthFit, focuses exclusively on runs done with Workout.app, and allows a bunch of data points to be viewed from it. In my 5 minutes of using it, I've really enjoyed its visualizations so far.

This was the first Apple Watch badge - it was awarded on Thanksgiving Day, in the US, in 2016 for completing a running, walking, or wheelchair workout of at least 5 kilometers/3.11 miles. .

New Years 2017

This badge was awarded for completing all three rings for an entire week within the first month of 2017. This was the first badge available worldwide, and included a lot more stickers.

Earth Day 2017

This badge was earned by doing an outdoor workout of at least 30 minutes or more on Earth Day. While it was somewhat strict in which workouts counted, the 2018 badge eliminated any need for a specific workout, as long as it was 30 minutes or more.

This was the 3rd yearly badge.

Mothers Day 2017

In a continuation of Every Mother Counts Partnership [kinda?], this was a badge awarded for walking a mile more in celebration of motherhood. This was only available in the US.

National Parks

Inspired by the hike from Old Faithful to Mallard Lake in Yellowstone, this badge was awarded for a walk, run, or wheelchair workout of 3.5 miles on July 15th. It was also the first big PR push for one of the badges, and was put out alongside a Press Release highlighting Apple's donations to The National Park Foundation. Despite being a celebration of the US National Parks, it was available worldwide.

Veterans Day

In celebration of Veterans Day, this badge was awarded for doing a workout of 11 minutes or more. In the US only.

Turkey Trot 2 Electric Boogaloo

A repeat of the original badge, this was the second Turkey Trot award for doing a 5k (or 4.98897 kilometers to account for someone with miles to not do the last .01 miles and end up being really sad.) on Thanksgiving. This badge was still US only however.

New Years 2018

Another yearly badge has become the New Years challenge, challenging Apple Watch Users to complete all 3 rings for 7 days during the month of January. This one did have some SQL issues though ;)

Heart Month 2018

This was a fun, new unique badge that coincided with Heart Month - a month dedicated to a health heart, heart disease awareness and research, and more in America. This was available worldwide, and encouraged Apple Watch users to meet their exercise goal 7 days in a row starting on February 7th and ending on the 14th, 2018.

This also started the trend of the badges having fun animations.

International Women's Day

A new badge celebrating international women's day encouraged Apple Watch users to double their move goal on March 8th, 2018.

This was available worldwide.

Earth Day 2018

A repeat of the 2017 badge, this encouraged Apple Watch users to get outside and do a workout of 30 minutes or more to earn an achievement. Unlike the previous badge, however, this badge would be earned for any workout totaling 30 minutes.

This was available worldwide.

China Fitness Day

One of the first internationally specific badges that wasn't US only, this badge was earned on August 8th, 2018 by doing a workout of 30 minutes or more to Apple Watch users in China.

National Parks 2018

Surprisingly not a repeat of the previous years, this National Parks badge happens on the 50 year anniversary of Redwood National Park in California, and also featured a donation campaign by Apple. This badge is achievable on September 1st, by doing a run, walk, or wheelchair workout of 50 minutes or more.

Veterans Day 2018

An exact repeat of the previous years Veterans Day badge, including the model, method of earning, and limitation to the US. Sadly, unlike others, this one isn't an animated badge.
You earn this special award by working out for 11 minutes or more on Veterans Day, November 11th, 2018.

Turkey Trot 2018

2018-2018

Unfortunately, the third annual turkey trot badge was destroyed because of a deployment issue. Because of an improperly configured Amazon bucket, badges weren't being properly propagated to devices [As far as I'm able to observe externally. Who knows what is internally causing this. All I know is I saw the asset for TURKEY_TROT_2018, but I was unable to download it]. This issue was prevalent in an in-between period of the Veterans Day badge and the Turkey trot badge.

~Asset catalog 105 was deployed, but wasn't downloading properly to devices which caused users to not achieve the Veterans Day badge. In order to fix this, the asset catalog was rolled back to 104, which didn't have the Turkey_Trot_2018 badge in it.

For some reason this was unable to be fixed before thanksgiving, and it came and went without the badge being deployed in time to notify users, and as it stands today [12/9/2018], the Achievements Asset Catalog is still at version 104 which does not include the Turkey Trot badge.~~

I'm sad that a badge was somehow not working, but I'm glad this was resolved. I really hope this badge comes back in 2019. [Spoiler: it did!]

Ring in the New Year 2019

From what I can only assume are architecture changes to badges, the New Year's Challenge was also skipped this year.

I really hope 12.2 fixes these issues.

Heart Month 2019

A redux of last year, Heart Month 2019 badge started going out to devices January 29th, with some new fun animated stickers that were awarded for those that closed their exercise ring 7 days in row, starting February 8th and ending on the 14th.

Also I love how cute this runner is.

International Women's Day 2019

Similar in style to 2018's badge, this badge was awarded upon walking, running, or doing a wheelchair workout of a mile or more on March 8th, 2019.

This badge also included some fun new animated badges.

Earth Day 2019

The third Earth Day Badge! This version included some fun new animations as well as a new style for the alumni badge.

AND PENGUINS

Yoga Day 2019

Since they officially added a Yoga workout in 2018, there can now be a yearly badge for International Yoga Day! You earn this badge by doing a Yoga workout of 15 minutes or more on June 21st.

China Fitness Day 2019

“Make August 8 an active day. Earn this award by recording any workout of 30 minutes or more on National Fitness Day”

A repeat of the first, this badge is awarded on August 8th, 2019 by doing a workout of 30 minutes or more to Apple Watch users in China.

National Park 2019 - Grand Canyon 100th Anniversary

"This challenge celebrates national parks worldwide and the 100th anniversary of Grand Canyon National Park. Earn your award on August 25 by recording a hike, walk, roll, or run of at least three miles (4.8K) - the distance of the South Kaibab Trail to Cedar Ridge and back - with any app that adds workouts to Health."

Awarded for those that completed a 3 mile workout on August 25th, 2019.

Japan Health and Sports Day 2019

This badge was for Health And Sports Day in Japan. This badge is awarded to those in Japan that did a 30 minute workout on October 14th.

Veterans Day 2019

An exact repeat of the previous years Veterans Day badge, including the model, method of earning, and limitation to the US.

You earn this special award by working out for 11 minutes or more on Veterans Day, November 11th, 2019.

Turkey Trot 2019!

Turkey Trot round 3! This badge is awarded for doing a 5k/3.1 mile walking, running, or wheelchair workout on Thanksgiving. Happy Turkey Day!

New Years 2020

New Years badge is back! and this time, it won't preemptively award it to you before the new year.

Also this running donut is adorable.

Heart Month 2020

Heart Month is back for its third year - close your exercise rings for a week from February 8th to the 14th, and you get another Heart award.

Bonus: Love

International Women's Day 2020

2020 was off to a rough start, but here's the next couple of badges obtainable this year:

This badge, seemingly inconsistent compared to previous years, was rewarded to anyone for completing a walk, run, or wheelchair workout of at least a mile on March 8th, 2020.

Environmental Day 2020

Because of the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, Apple seemed discouraged from encouraging Apple Watch users from going outside for a badge. Thus, they repurposed some of the Earth Day Badge to be used for environmental day, and encouraged them to stay indoors - this badge was awarded for users that closed their stand ring on June 5th, 2020 - World Environment Day.

Yoga Day 2020

A new Yoga Day badge - 20 minutes of Yoga got you this badge on June 21st, 2020 - The International Day of Yoga.

China Fitness Day 2020

30 minute of exercise on August 8th, 2020 National Fitness Day gets you this badge - exclusive to China.

National Parks 2020

This badge was awarded on August 30th, 2020 for anyone that did a walk, run, hike, or roll of a mile or more.

It even had some language probably because of the lock down - where last years encouraged you to hike the distance of a long Grand Canyon trail, this one said:

You can earn this award wherever you are by doing a hike, walk, run, or wheelchair workout of a mile (1.6K) or more

Veteran's Day 2020

Same as it ever was - on Veteran's day, do a workout of 11 minutes or more, and you get this achievement.

Turkey Trot 2020

Another year, another turkey trot - do a 5K walk, run, or wheelchair workout on Thanksgiving, and get this super excited pink Turkey.

Near Years 2021

The donut is back!

Close all three rings for any week in January to get this award.

Unity Award 2021

In celebration of Black History Month, this new award was given to those that closed their move ring for 7 days in a row throughout February.

Unfortunately, this one had an error in its awarding: the "Availability Date" was set to February 1st. Which, if you had previously been closing your move ring for the preceding 6 days, means you could achieve it before it was supposed to be possible.

The proper value of the property "availabilityStart" should have been 2021-02-07, the 7th day of February.

Heart Month 2021

Changed from previous year's Heart Month awards (probably due to the previous years method of achieving: 7 days in a row of the exercise ring, was too similar to the new Unity Award) this award was achievable on February 14th by getting at least 60 minutes of exercise on their Exercise Ring.

Also unfortunately, this one had a bug where it wasn't awarded unless you rebooted your device. My random theory on this (despite knowing nothing) is that this had to two with two awards being available in the same period, something not done before, and that may have caused an issue with the notification engine.

365 days seemed like a lot way back when I got my Apple Watch. I remember seeing the original 365 badge and thinking it was crazy, and now I’ve technically earned it 3 times.

I’m forever grateful for technology like this that helps motivate me to do more. It’s motivated me to try different workouts, where now I'm swimming, strength training, and attempting a triathlon very soon.

I know there's things I can say here that sound similar to what I've written before, talking about my past with exercising, how I got where I am now, and how I've worked to recovery from an injury I had a while ago and learned about my passion for other workouts because of that. But I feel like a lot of that has already been said, and I don't want to be too repetitive.

All I know is that I've found what clicks in my head. I've found and done more working out than I feel I could have ever done. I'm running faster thanks to strength training, doing way way more outside and enjoying it because of cycling, swimming, and hiking. I'm continually moving and getting stronger. And in part, I do owe a lot of that to the Apple Watch in how it motivated me. But obviously the other part is my own stubbornness, but it's nice to have a little push.

It's also cool to see fitness-focused events, at the same event that inspired me to start finding ways to close my rings all the time, without any excuse.

I just want to say thank you to everyone that has, in any way, made the Activity and Workout apps. They truly are amazing, and I still, and will continue, to use them more than any other technology in my life. Thank you.

I'm super excited to go, and here's a few things I'm hoping will happen.

Wishes/predictions

• Health updates - speedier, more information, more data types, and expansion upon the Health Records integrations.
• Activity updates - I have a small feeling about a new ring, but a bigger feeling about more workout types such as strength training, or whichever is the most popular based on Apple's anonymized data.
• Breathe updates
• MacBook Pro, Mac Pro, iMac Pro, Pro Pros. And a new Muse Single
• New Apple Watch faces, and possibly announcements of an SDK of sorts for for faces. If not, at least different options for complications
• New watchOS 5 APIs to help spur development of new, and better, Apple Watch apps.
• I'm hoping for a lot and a lot of bug fixes and improvements, and possibly a related announcement about update times/software versions. Especially since it feels like absolutely no one has heard anything about 12.

It'll be interesting if any of the previous Marzipan rumors come true. But I'm not holding out hope for anything related to that.

watchOS

The Watch is turning 3 this year, and I think it'll be due for some interesting new features, as well as improvements to existing apps. Breathe and Activity are two I could see getting majors boosts, as well as the possibility of either enabling more health tracking features, or giving us a new ring to close. I'm pretty sure we'll also see new workouts as I said above.

The watch faces themselves I think will be getting more and more features. Since it was scrapped at the last minute last year, I could see a Connectivity complication coming back, therefore allowing you to see what status you have connection wise on any watch face. I would also like to see new things that make having the cellular watch more beneficial, although I can't name a ton off of my head.

I'm hoping that Apple also rekindles developer excitement for third party apps on the Watch. There are a few apps, like CARROT, workout apps, Starbucks, and more that are really great on the Watch, but you still hear a lot about companies like Lyft and Transit removing their apps. And while some may be coming back with a rewrite based on new SDKs, I'm just hoping that more developers are encouraged to actually bring their apps up to speed, in a beneficial way. Especially with the Series 3 expanded capabilities.

UpNext API

Speaking of this, I expect the Siri face to get some integrations so third party apps can show their info as needed on the Siri watch face, and maybe alongside others.

Homepod

It feels like the HomePod is where the Apple Watch was right after the initial release - it's gained its initial users, the early adopters, and is just waiting for the big thing that'll push it to more homes. That may be more size options, a better Siri SDK for apps to use, and independent/skills type integrations that you can install.

Apple Music

Apple Music is turning 3 this year, and the latest redesign/huge addition of features [besides a focus on music videos] was 2 years ago. I'm hoping it'll get smarter, as it has with the Siri capabilities, and possibly gain more features to intrigue new subscribers

Apple TV

Recently, Apple has been expanding its marketing efforts for more and more TV content. And Apple TV as a "brand" a la Prime video and Netflix, where you can go to watch content. While this may be more suited for a September event, I could see Apple, in iOS 12, expanding and having more focus on the app, its capabilities, and possibly give us hints [either on purpose or in code] about its subscription service coming up. Who knows, maybe we'll have Cue dancing to a bunch of TV shows on stage.

Homekit

Homekit, like Siri, has gotten more capable and prominent with the release of the HomePod. While Apple probably won't be making a bunch of home specific hardware itself, it could be expanding on the types of hardware it could use, while also bringing refinements to the Home app.

macOS

I'm not sure if we'll see any kind of future indication of the platform as a whole this year, but we certainly are slowly building up to it with things like APFS, High Sierra and the subsystem rewrites, and the continued morphing of macOS into a more iOS type system. Who knows, maybe we'll get Fusion Drive APFS support, some new apps, and possibly some interesting hardware tweaks.

iOS

I doubt we'll see as drastic of a change as we did with iOS 11, I'm going the iPad continues to get improvements, alongside the new hardware. As for the OS itself, I can see refinements on things like battery, CPU usage, and more smart features that benefit the end user, and the addition of "personal health" features in relation to device usage. Bedtime is one feature like this, but additional usage time metrics/specific app controls could also assist in helping people use their devices less.

As I write this, I'm definitely not having as many initiations or thoughts as to what may be announced, which gives me a little bit more excitement because there's all kinds of things Apple could surprise us with. I'm looking forward to sitting in a room full of nerds and watching the keynote. See you all next week.

What's even more inspiring is seeing how my actions are able to inspire others, as well as watching them continue a great fitness journey.

Federico Viticci just posted an amazing story about his commitment to a healthy lifestyle:

The Apple Watch has played a fundamental role in helping me get back in shape and commit to a daily exercise routine. I am not exaggerating when I say that the Apple Watch has become as important as my iPad in my daily life. Like other features of the Watch, there isn't a single, all-encompassing aspect that defines the experience; rather, it's a collection of small but meaningful options that have turned the Apple Watch into a must-have fitness companion for me. Closing the rings and sharing my Activity with friends (hi, Kyle) keep me motivated and publicly accountable. Standard and special event badges are fun to unlock and have the practical consequence of requiring me to train harder for certain achievements.6 Working out with a Polar H10 strap and AirPods connected to my Watch without having to use an iPhone makes me feel free and is delightfully futuristic.

Go give his story a read - it's super inspiring, and is among the many things that keeps me going. It's been awesome seeing Viticci's workouts every day - consistent, improving, and besting mine.

Be sure to also listen to the episode of Connected on Viticci's Second Life.

I’ve loved doing these summary posts every year with my Apple Watch. Even though this is only the 3rd one, I feel like I’ve improved a ton, and figuring out what I’ve focused on over the last year helps me gauge what I’m doing well at and what I may need to improve.

Let’s start with the repeats:

• Since I got my Apple Watch, I've walked 15,000,000 steps.
• I've walked/ran a distance of 7017 Miles.
• I cycled 5000 miles
• I burned a total of 800,000 Active Calories. In the past year, I’ve burned as many active calories as I had burned in the first two YEARS of owning my Apple Watch (Also, that’s 3077 glazed Dunkin Donuts)
• Ruined 10 pairs of headphones, including three EarPods and 5 pairs of Jaybirds. Just trashed another pair last week just in time. Hilariously.
• Took out 2 iPhone 6's, lasted the rest of the time with my third. Rocking my iPhone 8 now.
• Upgraded to the Apple Watch Series 3, which I love. [I may have also just worn it out... the oleophobic coating seems a bit off, but I'm getting that checked next week]
• GOT INTO AN APPLE AD.

This last year, more than others, I’ve been more interested and intrigued into doing various workouts. I’ve still kept my move streak, and all 3 ring streak, going since I wrote my post last year.

Nearly at the end of summer, I got my first real road bike, and got better at going faster and longer distances. I got to a point where, at the highest, I was cycling about 120 miles+ a week. I was able to, when the weather was right, cycle 15 to 25 miles every day before even getting into work. That led to easily closing my move goal, and having the Apple Watch bump it up to 1110 calories. A day. Which was awesome.
I kept that calorie goal up through December, even into some freezing temperatures, and, when it got too cold to bike outdoors before work and easily smash it, I went to the gym at work twice a day - once in the morning, and a second time at lunch. Usually switching back and forth between the cycling machine and elliptical.

Midway through December though, there wasn’t any feasible way [especially with a foot of snow on the ground] to keep that goal up, so I switched to a 700 calorie goal. It was what my goal had been about a year ago at that time, and since it takes me ~ cycling 16 miles, or running 9 miles, to hit, I still felt like it was a reasonable goal to maintain. All throughout this, I also kept my stand and exercise goals closed.

Starting this year, I was lucky enough to have a co worker who is really really into strength training. And while the Apple Watch doesn’t really have a comprehensive way to track that, it still has an option to. So I switched to doing cardio in the mornings, and weight training at lunch.

Another thing I started to do is swim - I felt like, after learning more and more about the swimming capabilities of the watch, it was a waste to have access to a pool [not Olympic by any means, but like 50 yards away from my office] and not use the swimming workout. So I started doing that.
As I come to the end of year 3 with my watch, I can’t help but feel even better, and even more motivated, to continue working into a healthy lifestyle, complimented by pursuing new fitness hobbies, and continuing my goal of exercising no matter when and where I am. Whether it is that pushups at midnight, running around the house and making my parents think I’m crazy, or working out at 4 am because I’m about to get on a 9 hour flight and I want my stand goal closed before than and want to not have to baby my rings throughout a long transpacific flight, I’m doing it. I’m still finding more and more ways to keep my 600+ 3 ring, and 700+ move ring, streak going. And I have the Apple Watch to thank for that.

And today, I've officially hit my 1000th move goal

In truly momentous news, I hit my daily Move goal for the 1,000th time on my #AppleWatch. pic.twitter.com/zEZYTYHE1l

— Kyle Seth Gray (@kylesethgray) May 4, 2018

I’ve found this to never be the case and be quite awful in practice. In that, I never freaking get notified.

My solution, until September, is to make a notification setting in the Streaks app.

Streaks is this awesome app that can remind you do a bunch of things, and keep up 'streaks'. What's awesome is Streaks integrates directly with HealthKit. Which means, if you do whatever item you want to accomplish (say, 5 breathing minutes), Streaks will notify you and automatically mark the task as complete!

So basically, it's a great habit maker without all the glitchiness of notifications of hummingbird DeepBreathing on watchOS 4.

The first setting is simple enough - make a streak that encourages me to do at least 5 breathing sessions every day.
Second, you can edit the specific notification times by going into the top bar, taping the sideways … ellipsis, and then scrolling down. By default it only notifies you around the end of the day if you haven't done the task you've set out to do.
Lastly, I have custom times set so that I remember throughout the day, rather than at the end of the day, so I remember to Breathe.

Anyways, here's my setup. I honestly really like the breathing stuff in watchOS, but get frustrated when it just doesn't work.

That first workout, I didn't really even know how to think of yardage with a pool, and because my pool happens to be not-so-standard, I just wrongfully assumed it was... 25 yards.

So that was really an 800 yard workout.

But after some discussion and further measurement/guesstimation/Kyle-just-bring-a-tape-measure, I settled on thinking it was more in the range of 21 yards.

Turns out, after a solid month and a half of workouts, that was wrong as well.

This was really a 1,170 yard workout.

The pool's actual measurement? 47 feet long, ~15.66 yards. Not 21, and definitely not 25 yards. I'm pretty upset with myself for not measuring WAY earlier. And while it would be great to find a better local pool, nothing is better than one that is literally 50 yards away from my office. [Who knows if that yardage is right 😝]

Despite feeling behind, I definitely have already improved, and average about 80 to 90 laps per workout. And despite that being 1,200 yards, rather than the 1,680 I thought it was, the only way to go from here is going further and longer.

It'll be interesting to see what my Apple Watch thinks of my sudden drop in pace starting next week. And how the caloric estimates differ - Wolfram says it's about a 30 calorie difference, but we'll have to see.

Figuring out different ways to do cardio.

Trying running bit by bit, never going more than 5 or so miles.

Cycling 100km in one go, 4000+ miles overall.

Doing different ellipticals, from super nice LifeFitness gear to crap ellipticals that my dad got on Craigslist for like $30.

Hiking 15 miles to close my rings because I couldn't bike that day, and I didn't want to run or get injured.

But I did it.

I ran a new 10K after two years.

Who did this pic.twitter.com/n5ZFW98hZP

— Kyle Seth Gray (@kylesethgray) December 29, 2017

Turns out™, the badge didn't get a date associated with it.

Here's the condition the original 2017 New Year's badge had for you to earn it:

activityData.history.consecutiveMoveGoalsMet >= 7 AND activityData.history.consecutiveExerciseGoalsMet >= 7 AND activityData.history.consecutiveStandGoalsMet >= 7 AND dates.dayOfWeekToday == dates.lastDayOfFitnessWeek AND dates.startOfToday >= 505267200

In plain language, it was awarded when you had 7 consecutive Move, Exercise, and Stand Goals, AND it was after the end of the week, AND it was after 505267200. I assume that's the start of 2017, but for some reason that in unicode time is 01/05/1986... [Is this some iOS thing? SQL? Help]
EDIT: I'm a doof. It's NSDate. So the date is 2017/01/05

The 2018 award on the other hand had its condition set to:

activityData.history.consecutiveMoveGoalsMet >= 7 AND activityData.history.consecutiveExerciseGoalsMet >= 7 AND activityData.history.consecutiveStandGoalsMet >= 7 AND dates.dayOfMonthToday >= 7

Which means it'll just throw it at you after you earn any perfect week after the badge was downloaded, which was on Dec 27, 2016 at 5:00:00 PM. So anyone getting their perfect week on the 28th, like me and many others , got the New Year's Badge way too early.

What it should've had is AND dates.startOfToday >= 536716800, which would've prevented the super early award winning by many.

My only question is why did it not have the date condition?

--

On a similar note, it looks like the Heart Month award coming later this week should be fine, since it's marked as available after the 6th, and just has two queries: activityData.history.consecutiveExerciseGoalsMet >= 7 AND dates.dayOfMonthToday == 14 - 7 days in a row of meeting your Exercise Goal, earned on the 14th day of the month.