Smartphones no doubt have made life much easier for us. It has brought the world into our hands, and replaced many classic gadgets, such as a watch, alarm clock, calculator and much more. Some of you may not be aware that your iPhone can also perform some functions as a fitness tracker, mainly, tracking steps. If you don’t know about it, then detailed below is how to use your iPhone as a pedometer.
iPhone or fitness tracker
Many fitness products are available in the market that could help you to stay fit. Moreover, there are many apps in the App Store that allow you to track your steps. However, instead of buying expensive fitness trackers or installing any apps, you can use your iPhone’s built-in step tracker to keep track of your daily steps.
Your iPhone is equipped with an accelerometer and a few more sensors that help to detect when you are walking and how much. Basically, the phone uses speed and movement data to count the steps. Moreover, your iPhone can even detect whether you are walking on an incline or decline.
“Health automatically counts your steps, walking, and running distances. And, if you have an Apple Watch, it automatically tracks your Activity data,” Apple says.
Your iPhone will keep track of how much you walk and run, as well as your overall movement provided the iPhone is with you or in a bag you are carrying. Even if you have never used the built-in pedometer, you will be surprised to know that your iPhone has been tracking your steps from the time you purchased it.
Now that you know what your iPhone is capable of, let’s see how to use your iPhone as a pedometer.
How to use iPhone as pedometer
Follow the below steps to use iPhone as a pedometer:
Step 1: Go to the Settings app on the iPhone.
Step 2: Search for the Health menu, and tap on it.
Step 3: Tap on the Notification Settings button.
Step 4: Now enable all three options or any one.
Step 5: To activate the function, tap the Walking + Running Distance button. Toggle the star button to On.
Step 6: Now select the Steps button and then toggle the star button to On.
Step 7: Next select Flights Climbed button and toggle the star button to On.
Step 8: To review the fitness data from these three functions, go to the Summary tab in the Health app. To track your current progress, go to the Today tab in the Health app. Tap on the metrics to get detailed information.
That’s it!
Apple’s built-in systems will also help you track changes over time. To check such changes, follow the below steps:
Step 1: Go to the Health app and tap on the Summary tab.
Step 2: Scroll to the Highlights.
Step 3: To see more data of a category, tap the relevant highlight or tap Show All Highlights.
That’s it!
After an iOS update, it may happen that the tracker may not show any data in the Health app. If such is the case, then don’t worry, you can fix this issue easily by following the below steps:
Step 1: Go to the Settings app on the iPhone.
Step 2: Tap on Health, and then go to the Health Data section.
Step 3: Tap on Fitness and then tap the Walking + Running Distance button.
Step 4: Toggle the Walking + Running Distance off and on.
That’s it! The Health app will now show all the data. If this does not work, you will need to contact Apple Support.
Add third-party apps to Health
You can also add data from other health or fitness apps to Apple Health. However, not all third-party apps are supported. To check if any apps that you have already installed work with Health, open the Health app and go to the Sources tab. If that app is listed under the Sources tab, it means you can integrate its data. You can also enable or disable the categories that the third-party app tracks.
“If you’re using multiple apps to track different things, the Health app can keep it all in one place,” Apple says.
You can also install new third-party apps through Health. To do so, follow the below steps:
Step 1: Tap on the category for which you want to install the app, such as sleep.
Step 2: You will now get a list of recommended apps.
Step 3: Tap on the app you want. You will be taken to the relevant App Store page to install the app.
Step 4: After you have installed the app, you need to set it up with Health. To do so open Health > Sources and then tap the name of the app from the list. Now enable the health categories that you want to track.
That’s it!
