Step counter on my cell phone

[lowell holmes]

I have one and I walk 1/2 mile to a mile each day.
I have decided to wear it all day and see how far I walk.
Have any of you done this?

[Matt Day]

Many many people have pedometers. On their watch, phone, or small device. Some people make a competition out of it. I had to use one to get the best rate on my insurance. It was a nuisance to me.

[J. Greg Jones]

I use the pedometer app on my phone, and I try to get in 7,500 steps every day. My biggest day ever was over 30k steps, 54k steps for a two-day marching band event I worked. I don’t know when my phones started tracking, but my total recorded distance is 6.4 million steps for just under 3,000 miles.

[Lee Schierer]

I used a pedometer app on my phone for a while. It seemed to be fairly accurate but the app ran all the time and consumed a lot of power from the battery.

[Pat Barry]

Yes. Samsung Health app. 1791 steps recorded today vs 6000 goal (forgot to take my phone with me this morning for a 2 mile walk with my dog though)

[Lisa Starr]

I use the one on my phone and it seems fairly accurate. I aim for 10,000 steps per day, which I probably average. I tend to have 22,000 and then 5,000...yep. I'm very erratic in my activity level.

[Frank Drackman]

I have a medical issue that is slowly destroying my muscles. When I was first diagnosed I asked my doctor what I could do to slow the progression. He said two things. The more you move the more you will be able to move & disease never takes a day off.

In 2018 I walked 4,152 miles, 11.3 per day. There were only two days that I walked less than five miles.

[Thomas L Carpenter]

For you guys that walk a lot. Do you walk around where you live or do you have to drive somewhere that's is more conducive to walking? Treadmill maybe? I used to walk much more but had to drive to a safe walking area as the road in front of my house is full of 65 mph tractor trailers. Tried joining a health club to use their treadmills - waaaay too boring. I need to pick back up on walking - "one of these days".

[lowell holmes]

Today, I did .69 miles, 1,641 steps. I really recommend this, I am 82, had a heart attack 15 years ago. I read a book on fitness walking and started doing it. I do it every day, I feel fine and have no health issues. If you have health issues, see your doctor and google fitness walking.

[Matt Day]

Thomas, sounds like you should drive somewhere. Maybe a local park or some kind of walking/biking path.

[Ole Anderson]

I have an app (GlucoseBuddy) on my phone that is used to track my glucose levels, but also has inputs for other health monitors such as blood pressure. It includes a step monitor. It seems the days I golf (even riding a cart) I can get 10,000 steps looking for errant balls. Otherwise I consider it a good day if I get half that. When I visit my doctor, I hand him my phone so he can scroll down to get my history. I also keep a list of meds and procedures on my phone for reference. I just hand it to the nurse when she asks for a list of my meds.

[lowell holmes]

I walk on the street in front of my house.

If that is not something you can do, look for a near by park. I am 20 pounds lighter than when I started and have no health issues.

Again, google "Fitness Walking".

[Jason Roehl]

iPhones have a built-in pedometer in the Health app (part of iOS--comes on the phone). I suppose if I disabled it, I would get more battery life, but my battery usually ends the day at 50% or more unless I used the phone a lot for other things. I charge every night regardless, so the pedometer's effect on battery is irrelevant to me.

During the work-week, I get about 7,000 steps/3 miles per day, but it also tracks the number of floors I climb, which averages about 12-13, including weekends, when I don't climb nearly as many flights of stairs.

I've climbed as many as about 60 in a day at work, but when I go on my week-long bicycle trip, it will record upwards of 200 for the hilliest days (3200' of climbing in 45 miles is the hilliest day, another day we climb that in about 63 miles).

[lowell holmes]

I would try a different pedometer. Mine does not use much battery. My black lab Madison and I just walked .78 mile, 1,760 steps.

[Brian Elfert]

The iPhone uses a built-in motion chip to track movements of the phone. This motion tracking is used by apps to convert the motion into steps walked. The motion data is constantly collected by the phone and doesn't require an app to be running. Apps convert the motion data into steps walked. Some Android phones also have motion chips built-in. I suspect if an app needs to be running to collect the data that the app is using GPS which can be a battery drain.

The whole 10,000 steps movement started before Fitbit, action trackers, and smartphones. My employer started handing out the little clip-on pedometers and was encouraging 10,000 steps before Fitbit and smartphones.