Stand-Up Reminder Apps for iPhone and Apple Watch: How Each One Reminds You

Based on App Store listings, developers’ websites, and Apple’s documentation · Checked October 2026

Here’s how several popular stand-up reminder apps decide when to remind you, whether they have an Apple Watch app, and what they cost. They’re grouped by how they remind you. MoveMonkey, our own stand-up reminder app, is included too.

Which stand-up reminder app is best? Start with how it decides when to remind you

Stand-up reminder apps come in roughly two kinds: one reminds you at a fixed interval or at times you set; the other uses your activity data and holds off if you just moved. Decide which kind you want first, then look at whether it has an Apple Watch app and what it costs.

An app that reminds you at an interval keeps to its schedule: even if you got up a minute ago, it reminds you right on time. Say it’s set to every 60 minutes and starts counting at 10:00. You get up for a meeting at 10:40, and it still reminds you at 11:00. An app that uses your activity data counts that 10:40 trip, so it won’t remind you right at 11:00.

Some apps, like Standland, don’t remind you at all; they only record whether you stood. Apple Watch’s built-in stand reminder works by the clock hour, unlike any of these; see Do you still need a stand-up reminder app if you have Apple Watch?

Stand-up reminder apps for iPhone and Apple Watch: comparison table

Stand-up reminder app	Reminds you by	Holds off if you just moved?	Apple Watch app
Apple Watch’s built-in stand reminder	The clock hour, at minute 50	No reminder that hour if you’ve stood	Built in
Stand Up!	A fixed interval, 5 minutes to 2 hours	Keeps to its interval; you can skip or pause by hand	No
Moova	An hourly schedule, or one you set	A new test feature reads your steps	Yes
Wakeout	Activity data, or a timer you set	Smart reminders do; the timer keeps to your interval	Yes
Standland	Doesn’t remind you; records whether you stood each hour	Doesn’t remind you	Yes
MoveMonkey stand-up reminder app	How long you’ve sat (30, 45, 60, or 90 minutes)	Yes; it counts from when you last got up	Yes

What each app costs is under Are there free stand-up reminder apps? Sources for the rest are in each app’s section below; for Apple Watch’s built-in stand reminder, see Do you still need a stand-up reminder app if you have Apple Watch?

How each stand-up reminder app reminds you, and what it costs

First the apps that remind you mainly by the clock, then Wakeout, whose smart reminders use your activity data. Standland doesn’t remind you, so it comes after both, and our own MoveMonkey comes last.

How does Stand Up! The Work Break Timer remind you, and what does it cost?

Stand Up! came out in 2014 and reminds you at a fixed interval, which you can set anywhere from 5 minutes to 2 hours in 5-minute increments. You can also limit reminders to your office location, so it won’t go off when you head out to lunch. It’s free and fully functional, with one alarm sound included; the rest come as a one-time purchase, and you can leave a tip. Its last update was in March 2018. It has no Apple Watch app, and its interface is in English only.^[1]

How does Moova remind you, and what does it cost?

Moova calls itself a movement break reminder for desk workers: you can “set hourly alerts or customize your own ergonomic break schedule.” It has guided 5-minute desk stretch routines, breathing exercises, and a pedometer that counts your steps during walking breaks; it also tracks your daily movement and sedentary patterns and syncs activities to the Health app. Since June 2026 it has an experimental Smart Break Timing that reads your steps, so reminders don’t interrupt you when you’re already up and moving. It has an Apple Watch app. It’s free to download, and its premium subscription, Moova Plus, starts with a 7-day free trial. Its interface is in English.^[2]

How does Wakeout remind you, and what does it cost?

Wakeout’s App Store listing is mostly about the moves themselves: AR games where your body is the controller, a new one-minute challenge every day, and 3,000+ moves. As for reminders, the listing says Wakeout “nudges you to move at good moments”: you can use the Wiggle Timer or tune your schedule. Its Apple Watch app is a companion for your iPhone, so you can start and control your Wakeouts from your wrist. It comes with a 7-day free trial, then needs an active subscription, and signing up requires Apple’s two-factor authentication.^[3]

Wakeout’s smart reminders read your steps, walking minutes, and stand hours from the Health app and remind you only when you’ve actually been still too long; with the timer, it reminds you at the interval you set.^[4] Apple named Wakeout its iPhone App of the Year for 2020.^[5]

Does Standland remind you, and what does it cost?

Standland doesn’t remind you; it records whether you stood each hour. It reads stand hours from the Health app, or steps when there are none, and moving around for more than a minute in an hour counts as one stand.^[6] Its developer explains that there are no hourly reminders for now, because Health data is encrypted while your iPhone is locked, so the app can’t read it.^[7] When you stand up and move a little, the creatures in the app wake up; if you keep sitting, they fall asleep. Reaching goals unlocks new companions, 15 in all. It has an Apple Watch app, and you can put your favorite companion on your watch face. It’s free with ads, and some lands, missions, and the weekly and monthly reports cost extra. Its interface is in English and Japanese.^[6]

How does the MoveMonkey stand-up reminder app remind you, and what does it cost?

MoveMonkey is the stand-up reminder app we make. It counts from when you last got up: stand and step data from Apple Watch, steps from iPhone, or a tap on Just Moved all start the timer over, and you get a reminder on iPhone and Apple Watch only after you’ve sat for the time you set in Remind After (30, 45, 60, or 90 minutes). With iPhone alone, it only sees the steps you take while carrying your iPhone. Its core features are free forever, with no ads, and it comes in English, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese. It’s now available on the App Store; see more below.

Do you still need a stand-up reminder app if you have Apple Watch?

It depends on how you want to be reminded. Apple Watch’s built-in stand reminder is free, but it works by the clock hour, and you can’t change the interval or set the hours it’s on.

Apple Watch tracks standing by the clock hour: if you stand up and move for at least a minute during an hour, that hour counts as a stand hour.^[8] Your stand goal is how many stand hours you aim for in a day, and you can set it anywhere from 6 to 16 hours.^[9] If you haven’t stood by minute 50 of an hour, you get a stand reminder.^[10]

So you might sit for up to 1 hour 49 minutes before it reminds you; for what it can and can’t do, see Apple Watch’s Stand Reminder: What It Can and Can’t Do. If you just want a nudge every 30 minutes, you can borrow Apple Watch’s Chimes, though they’re meant for telling the time and don’t care whether you stood; see Can You Set the Apple Watch Stand Reminder to Every 30 Minutes? If you’d rather have the reminder hold off when you just moved, consider one of the apps above that use your activity data.

Without Apple Watch, which stand-up reminder apps work with just an iPhone?

Stand Up! has no Apple Watch app, so it doesn’t need an Apple Watch; Wakeout is iPhone-first, with a companion Apple Watch app; MoveMonkey works with just an iPhone too. Moova runs on iPhone and also has an Apple Watch app.^[1]^[2]^[3]

With iPhone alone, an app that uses your activity data can see only the steps you take while carrying your iPhone.^[11] If your phone stays on the desk, it can’t tell you got up. For how to use iPhone’s built-in Reminders, Clock, and more to remind yourself, see How to Remind Yourself to Get Up with Just an iPhone, No Apple Watch.

Are there free stand-up reminder apps?

Yes. Apple Watch’s built-in stand reminder is free; Stand Up! The Work Break Timer is free and fully functional; MoveMonkey’s core features are free forever.^[1]

Standland is free too, with ads, though some lands, missions, and reports cost extra.^[6] The others are free to download but charge for the full experience: Moova comes with a 7-day free trial of its premium subscription^[2], and Wakeout comes with a 7-day free trial, then needs an active subscription.^[3]

Are there any fun stand-up reminder apps?

Yes. Wakeout has AR games where your body is the controller; Standland has 15 little companions who wake up when you stand and fall asleep while you sit; the stand-up reminder app MoveMonkey has a little monkey who cheers for you every time you get up. Hit your daily goal, and you’ll earn a banana award, too.

Wakeout also has a new challenge every day, so you can build a streak and collect trophies.^[3] More about MoveMonkey below. Apple Watch’s Activity app has awards too, for personal records, streaks, and major milestones.^[8]

Are there stand-up reminder apps for your computer?

Yes: Stretchly and Workrave, and on Mac, Time Out. They remind you at set intervals to step away from your computer for a break.

Stretchly is open source and runs on Mac, Windows, and Linux; if you haven’t used your computer for 5 minutes, it pauses until you’re back.^[12] Workrave is free and runs on Windows and Linux; it watches how you use your keyboard and mouse and reminds you to take a short break or step away for a longer rest.^[13] Time Out has two kinds of break, 10 minutes every hour and 15 seconds every 15 minutes, and you can change how often and how long each one is; it can also count the time you’re away from your computer as a break.^[14]

How did we check this stand-up reminder app comparison?

Everything here comes from each app’s App Store listing, including its Information section, the developers’ websites, and Apple’s documentation, checked on October 31, 2026; we didn’t test the apps ourselves.

We chose the apps that have the most ratings on the App Store or that AI assistants often name when asked to recommend a stand-up reminder app, plus Apple Watch’s built-in stand reminder and our own MoveMonkey. Apps change, so check the App Store listing before you download.