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Apple Watch not a step counter?

F

FortWorthMac

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 29, 2008
708
36
the parched earth of North Texas
Well I got my Watch last week for my birthday to replace my Fitbit. While I think one's "step count" is partly a marketing gimmick, it does hold some merit in that obviously, the more steps one takes the better. But I digress.

I'm I correct in that the watch itself is not a true step counter? That's what I appear to be finding out and I'm a little disappointed. I'm a cop and as such can't/don't carry it on my person all day (for obvious reasons). I'm not saying that it's a deal breaker, but it is disappointing. I'm hoping that someone will correct me.

Thanks
 
I'm not sure how accurate it is on a scientific level but based on my estimates it does the job for casual use. Meaning I'd say it's 95% accurate,p. Maybe not good enough for pros but ok for anyone just trying to track exercise.
 
There's also the fact that Apple does not rely solely on the steps to measure your activity. For Fitbit that's the main metric it uses, for apple its but one metric. For Fitbit, steps is everything you're primiarly rewarded by how many steps you take. With the apple watch its more holistic in it takes a more general approach to measuring your activity.

It was an adjustment for me, but I no longer even look at how many steps I take with the AP, where as with the fitbit, I made sure I always hit my goals.
 
FortWorthMac said:
I'm I correct in that the watch itself is not a true step counter? That's what I appear to be finding out and I'm a little disappointed.
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What were you seeing or doing with your Fitbit that you are not seeing with the Apple Watch? The AW does a great job counting steps, just like a FB. It just presents the information a little differently.
 
Gregintosh said:
I'm not sure how accurate it is on a scientific level but based on my estimates it does the job for casual use. Meaning I'd say it's 95% accurate,p. Maybe not good enough for pros but ok for anyone just trying to track exercise.
Click to expand...
I remember this past summer when I borrowed a Fitbit and compared it to the Apple Watch when I golfed and when I mowed the lawn on a riding lawn mower. I had a huge difference in steps when golfing but I carry my clubs on my left shoulder where I had the Apple Watch and the Fitbit was on my right. The arm that had more swings back and forth had a further distance walked.

The Fitbit had me walking 2 miles while mowing the lawn on the riding lawn mower and the Apple Watch had close to a mile. My old up24 said I walked 5 miles. :)

The only point is the scientific level can be tricked by arm movement and vibrations. Otherwise, the Apple Watch and Fitbit are both good for step counting. As best you can expect.
 
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Last Saturday, I left my phone at home all day, and my Fitbit app thinks I walked zero steps. My AW tracked what few steps I took, though.

Unless you're wearing a Fitbit gadget, Fitbit's app relies solely on your phone for its step count. Fitbit chose not to read step data in Health gathered from the AW.
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BarracksSi said:
Last Saturday, I left my phone at home all day, and my Fitbit app thinks I walked zero steps. My AW tracked what few steps I took, though.

Unless you're wearing a Fitbit gadget, Fitbit's app relies solely on your phone for its step count. Fitbit chose not to read step data in Health gathered from the AW.
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This is correct, but I think that you might have intended this post for another thread. FB gets its step data directly from the motion tracking chip on the phone and not the health app.
 
I have a predictable walking path for exercise, and I feel like the counts roughly match te distances I know. Yeah, moving your arms a lot will mistakenly add miles. But there's little danger real walking won't count.

My advice would be to remove the watch if you're doing sports that involve lots of hand action and you want to keep distance counts accurate.
 
convergent said:
If you ad the free app, Pedometer++, it will give you an easy to see "step count" that might help fill the gap. It also has a complication and glance.
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Yep.

The watch will count steps. Your step count is in the activity app.

It doesn't update very often, which was annoying to me, so I use Pedometer++ also. The watch will count steps straight out of the box, though.
 
exxxviii said:
This is correct, but I think that you might have intended this post for another thread. FB gets its step data directly from the motion tracking chip on the phone and not the health app.
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Nah, I intended this post for this thread, because maybe the OP was comparing his Fitbit progress to what the FB app is not getting from the AW.
 
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The easiest way to see steps on the Apple Watch (without any special apps) is to open the activity app then swipe up, 'Total Steps' will be displayed with current steps tracked on the watch. You need to have enabled activity from the iPhone first, if you've never done that. Then you can swipe up on the watch face, then back and forth to find the activity rings. One more tap to make that jump in to the app, then one more swipe up...

Maybe someday we'll have a native complication. Some apps you add can do it but don't seem to update that often.
 
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I wore my Fitbit one along with my Apple Watch for several months. For a roughly 10,000 step day both devices would usually be within a few hundred steps of each other.
 
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maflynn said:
There's also the fact that Apple does not rely solely on the steps to measure your activity. For Fitbit that's the main metric it uses, for apple its but one metric. For Fitbit, steps is everything you're primiarly rewarded by how many steps you take. With the apple watch its more holistic in it takes a more general approach to measuring your activity.

It was an adjustment for me, but I no longer even look at how many steps I take with the AP, where as with the fitbit, I made sure I always hit my goals.
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Do have to have your iphone on your person for this "holistic" approach to work?

Unless I'm out or exercising, I don't keep my phone on me now that I have the watch.
 
I never leave my phone and it is seldom not on my person. It is not my choice but it keep me in contact with all of my customers and security for both my house, car and office. I feel naked without my phone and the watch does not replace that for me.
 
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Another for Pedometer++, it is a great app. The developer spent a lot of time working out how to calculate the optimum number of steps taken between phone and watch.
 
FortWorthMac said:
Ok, thanks. So I can go bike riding, or running, leave the device at home and the watch will monitor the activity....Thanks.
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Right, but again, if you're also using the Fitbit app and social network, Fitbit will ignore data from the AW.

If this doesn't matter, though, then you're fine.
 
The Watch is a great step counter by itself, but you have to carry your phone to get accurate distance and calories. Also, do not believe the marketing hype around "calibrating" the Watch. It does not work today.

TxWatch
 
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