This guide will show you how to track steps on iPhones so you know how much you walk and run each day and how many stairs you climb. You can track steps on iPhones without the need for an Apple Watch, Fitbit, or fitness tracker, as long as you usually carry your iPhone with you.
You don’t need a pedometer app for iPhone to track steps on iPhone, but you’ll need to turn on options to see your steps. You can share this data with other apps if you prefer to track your health and fitness in one place instead of multiple apps.
Unlike an Apple Watch, a Fitbit, or other fitness and weight loss accessories, you don’t need to wear the iPhone, but you will need to keep it in your pocket for it to work. If you don’t always have your iPhone with you at work or when you exercise, it won’t give you a complete picture of your steps, miles walked and stairs.
What you need to track steps on iPhone
How to track steps on iPhone using the Health app in iOS 8 and iOS 9.
For this to work, you need a fairly recent iPhone, and you need a version of iOS 8 or iOS 9 installed on your iPhone.
Specifically, you need one of these iPhone models to track your steps without additional apps or accessories;
On newer devices like the iPhone 6 and newer, there’s a sensor that can track the flights of stairs you climb to give a better picture of your activity.
How to track steps on iPhone
Once you know you have the right iPhone and operating system, you’re ready to learn how to track steps on iPhone using the Health app in iOS 8 and iOS 9.
It’s already installed on your iPhone and it’s free to use. Best of all, when you turn it on, you should be able to see some data on what the iPhone’s motion sensor has been tracking since you started using it.
- Go to the health app on your iPhone.
- Tap the Health Data tab at the bottom of the screen.
- On the next screen, tap Fitness to see the things you can track.
- We need to activate Walk + Run Distance, Steps and Flights climbed. To do this, tap each and then tap Show in panel.
Once you’ve completed this, you can view the main dashboard in the Health app to see current data and see future results.
We like to use it alongside some of the best weight loss apps to track iPhone steps towards daily movement goals and calories burned. Many apps like My Fitness Pal can connect to your health app to view data and integrate it into the app with your nutrition or share data with the health app so you can see your information in one app.