Missing Some Activity Awards on iOS 12? Apple Says They'll Be Restored in a Future Software Update

If you updated your iPhone to iOS 12 this week and noticed that some Activity Challenge awards are missing, you're not alone.

activity challenge awards
In a new support document, Apple has acknowledged that five limited edition awards may be temporarily unavailable in the Activity app after updating to iOS 12, presumably due to a minor software bug of some kind.

They include:

  • Thanksgiving Day Challenge 2016

  • Mother's Day Challenge 2017

  • Veterans Day Challenge 2017

  • Thanksgiving Day Challenge 2017

  • China National Fitness Day 2018

Apple is aware of this issue and will address it in an upcoming software update, according to the support document.

MacRumors has been affected by this issue on at least one of our iPhones, with a few awards missing on both iOS 12 and the first beta of iOS 12.1, seeded to registered Apple developers earlier today. There's a chance the awards could be restored in a subsequent beta version of iOS 12.1 in the days to come.

Of note, the Mother's Day Challenge award was still visible on another one of our iPhones running Monday's publicly released version of iOS 12, so it appears that not everyone is affected to begin with.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 11
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)
Related Forum: iOS 12

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
iOS 26 Maps Glass

Apple Reportedly Moving Ahead With Ads in Maps App

Sunday October 26, 2025 6:22 am PDT by
Apple Maps could feature integrated ads as soon as next year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. In his latest "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that Apple's plan to bring more ads to iOS is moving "gaining traction," with the Maps app being next in line. The project will apparently give restaurants and other businesses the option to pay to have their details featured more prominently in...
iOS 26 Battery Glass Feature

iOS 26.1 Beta Liquid Glass Battery Drain Test: Tinted vs Clear Mode

Friday October 24, 2025 2:30 pm PDT by
In the fourth iOS 26.1 beta, Apple added a "Tinted" option that reduces the translucency of Liquid Glass for those who prefer a more opaque look. I saw some comments wondering whether the setting might preserve battery life, so I thought I'd do some testing. Test Settings I did four separate tests using the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and I kept the parameters as similar as possible. Here are the...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

M6 MacBook Pro: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Monday October 27, 2025 9:15 am PDT by
Apple this month refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, and higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow in early 2026. However, these machines will represent the final update to the current design, with Apple reportedly developing a completely new version of the MacBook Pro packed with next-generation hardware...
iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features for Your iPhone

Wednesday October 22, 2025 6:15 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. iOS 26.1 is currently in beta testing. The update will likely be released in the first half of November, and it is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer, but some...
swift for android

Developers Can Now Make Android Apps With Apple's Swift

Sunday October 26, 2025 4:23 am PDT by
The first preview release of the Swift SDK for Android was published this week, allowing developers to build Android apps in Swift with official tooling and making it easier to share code across iOS and Android. The SDK enables Android apps to be built in Swift using officially supported tooling rather than community workarounds. In June, it was announced that Apple's Swift programming...

Top Rated Comments

OldSchoolMacGuy Avatar
93 months ago
BUT I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT MY REWARDS FOR A SECOND!

THIS IS IT! INDICATION THAT APPLE IS DOOMED AND CAN'T PRODUCE A QUALITY PRODUCT ANYMORE!
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
munpip214 Avatar
93 months ago
I feel like there have been regular issues with Activity challenges since they introduced the special monthly challenges last year. They don't always register as being done, or don't show up until halfway through the month. September for instance, I started with my challenge being 30 days closing my rings, then it changed to 6. I got that, but then got a notification that I have a September challenge for 20 days... I also never got the 50 minute park challenge either. Also, when looking at other peoples achievements, it is very buggy and doesn't always show the accurate ones.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
magicschoolbus Avatar
93 months ago
What am I going to do without China fitness day.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Menopause Avatar
93 months ago

BUT I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT MY REWARDS FOR A SECOND!

THIS IS IT! INDICATION THAT APPLE IS DOOMED AND CAN'T PRODUCE A QUALITY PRODUCT ANYMORE!

Part of what you said is definitely true: Apple's quality control has been beyond crap in the last couple of years.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
anthonyzp Avatar
93 months ago
Achievements I earn now don't appear in Activity app on iPhone until I reboot iPhone. Anyone else experiencing this? ie: I'll earn Move Goal 200%, won't show up on iPhone in the Activity app until I reboot iPhone. Running iOS 12 and watchOS 5. Noticed this behaviour when upgraded to iOS 12 and watchOS 5. Anyone else?
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
OldSchoolMacGuy Avatar
93 months ago
Part of what you said is definitely true: Apple's quality control has been beyond crap in the last couple of years.
I've actually taken a look at it and there hasn't really been an increase in reported issues in recent years. Current events always stick out in our mind far more than past. The reality is that there are just as many issues with Apple products now as there were when Jobs was still running things. The media certainly makes a FAR bigger deal of even the smallest issue these days too, which makes everything appear bigger than it is.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)