What is on the card
From the top:
- The run's name, and the step's timer if it has one.
- The step, between two buttons. On the right, Next: an arrow, or the word Finish on the last step. On the left, Again, only where going round the step again means something.
- A row of beads, one per step, with yours ringed.
- The step's buttons. The note button opens the app at the run's note. Then what the step is waiting for you to press: a link, a shortcut, or another action set to wait for a tap, up to two of each. On the right, Decide later (a clock with a question mark).
Tap anywhere else and the app opens on that run. Press and hold the Dynamic Island for the same buttons.
Which buttons, and when
| Button | When it is there |
|---|---|
| Next or Finish | Always, unless switched off for the routine or the step |
| Again | Where going round the step again means something |
| Decide later | While the run is going |
| Resume | On a paused run, in place of everything else |
| Again, as a new run | On the card a finished run leaves for a few minutes |
Decide later sends the step to the end of the run and puts a question about it in In hand. Answering it there brings the step back: now, next, or later. See Pause, Later and Last.
Back and Stop are never on a card. Stop is on the run's page.
Choosing them
Open the routine, then Settings. Under Live Activity, switch Next, Repeat (the Again button) and Decide later on or off. A run's own Settings has the same switches, for that run. A step can have its own: the step's Settings, Buttons on this step, Its own buttons.
Turn Next off for a step that something else finishes, such as a shortcut writing a value.
A red button was marked to think about first. A small badge means the Action button may do it too.
When it goes wrong
Next did nothing. The step is not finished yet. A notification says why, and the run stays where it is.
The card says Out of date. The step's timer ran out, or nothing has happened to the run for four hours. Open the app and the card is drawn again.
A press takes a few seconds on iOS 26. If the app was closed, iOS starts it first.
There is no card at all. See Nothing on the Lock Screen.