Why is my Apple Watch workout share cropped on Instagram?

Why it happens

Apple’s shared image. When you share a workout from the Fitness app, you send Apple’s summary image in its fixed layout. Instagram fits it into the 9:16 Story frame, and people have reported it arriving cropped or blurry (Apple Community).

A screenshot. A full-screen iPhone screenshot is taller than a Story. On iPhone models with Face ID, screenshots are about 9:19.5: an iPhone 16 screenshot is 1179 × 2556 pixels, while a Story is 1080 × 1920 (9:16). To fill the frame, Instagram trims the top and bottom of the screenshot, which is often where the date or the stats are.

How to fix it

1. Resize it in the Story editor. Pinch the image smaller until nothing is cut off. It won’t fill the screen, so pick a background color behind it.
2. Crop to 9:16 before you post. In Photos, open the screenshot, tap Edit, tap Crop, choose the 9:16 aspect ratio, and frame the stats you want. Then share the edited photo to your Story.
3. Share an image made at Story size. Forta makes cards and animations from your Apple Health workouts at 1080 × 1920, the exact Story size, so nothing is cropped. Without an app, type your stats into the free workout card maker and download a 1080 × 1920 PNG.

Why it can also look blurry

Instagram recompresses every Story. When a small or oddly shaped image is enlarged to fill the frame, the enlargement and the compression add up. Starting from a full 1080 × 1920 image avoids the enlargement.

Other watches and apps

Forta reads any workout in Apple Health on your iPhone. How to get workouts from another watch or app into Apple Health:

• Garmin
• Fitbit and Pixel Watch
• Polar
• COROS
• Oura
• WHOOP
• Strava