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Apps Steps complication that updates live

J

johngordon

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Apr 19, 2004
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Can anyone suggest a steps / pedometer app that updates the step count on the complication in real time?

The ones I have tried don’t seem to - I always have to tap the complication to open the app for the step count to update.

First world problem I know, but it would be good to have one that updated without having to open the app.
 
Ah, I figured it was something like that. I’m not wanting to be obsessive about it, but it seems like I have to open the app for the complication to update even after pretty long periods.

I’ve looked at Pedometer++, HealthDash, Step It Up, and StepsApp.

My ideal would be the Pedometer++ small complication with steps and distance, and the Step It Up app with a ring for your steps goal.

Always the way with these apps, that it’s hard to find one with the best parts of each! Or maybe I’m just too picky!
 
When testing step apps, I often do a watch screen shot, then set a timer (10 min, 15 min, 30 min), then compare step numbers when the timer goes off. There are plenty of cases where it doesn't update and it's hard to tell if enough time elapsed. There's also plenty of buggy step apps... and I think Apple still has a few cases of update issues (and they don't guarantee apps can perform a complication update on quicker intervals...)

Oh, and I've seen a couple cases where updates seem to die and a power cycle of the watch gets it working again for a couple weeks. Not sure what the cause of those is...
 
I've tried them all and paid for a couple also and they are all slow to update. Only one that's live is the health app included with the watch. Pedometer++ is still the best 3rd party and and overall it stays mostly up to date as the day goes on.
 
OK, thanks. It’s not a big deal really, especially if I’m not missing a trick.

You wouldn’t think it would be that big an ask though if a much more basic FitBit manages it though.
 
bland1 said:
I've tried them all and paid for a couple also and they are all slow to update. Only one that's live is the health app included with the watch. Pedometer++ is still the best 3rd party and and overall it stays mostly up to date as the day goes on.
Click to expand...

The Health app doesn’t have a steps complication, does it?

Do you mean it displays live steps when you run it on the Watch, or during a workout?
 
I use Duffy, it is free and simple. Complication updates are like the rest, somewhere between every 5 to 15 minutes.
 
In the end I’m going to use FitPort. Not too fussed about the phone app, but the watch app is really nice.

The complication has a single ring for steps to show your progress towards your daily goal.

Tapping on it shows you three rings and figures for steps, distance and active calories. Tap on each of those to see a nice little bar graph for the last week, and you can use the crown to highlight each day on the graph to view the figure for each day.

It’s a small but perfectly formed little AW app.
 
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johngordon said:
Can anyone suggest a steps / pedometer app that updates the step count on the complication in real time?

The ones I have tried don’t seem to - I always have to tap the complication to open the app for the step count to update.

First world problem I know, but it would be good to have one that updated without having to open the app.
Click to expand...

I have this problem, too. Pedometer++ on the watch face shows 0 unless I touch it to open the app. The app will then show a more reasonable count. When I go back to the watch face, it will update and show that for a bit. I have to touch the count again in order to go to the app which then refreshes again. It worked fine until an update (in April, I believe) broke it. I've tried everything.
 
smiles813 said:
I have this problem, too. Pedometer++ on the watch face shows 0 unless I touch it to open the app. The app will then show a more reasonable count. When I go back to the watch face, it will update and show that for a bit. I have to touch the count again in order to go to the app which then refreshes again. It worked fine until an update (in April, I believe) broke it. I've tried everything.
Click to expand...

Have you tried to power cycle the watch? What version of watchOS are you running and what model watch is it?
 
smiles813 said:
I have this problem, too. Pedometer++ on the watch face shows 0 unless I touch it to open the app. The app will then show a more reasonable count. When I go back to the watch face, it will update and show that for a bit. I have to touch the count again in order to go to the app which then refreshes again. It worked fine until an update (in April, I believe) broke it. I've tried everything.
Click to expand...

Not to bring an old thread alive, but I am having this problem with Pedometer on my Apple Watch. I have to click on the complication for it to actually update. It does not update on its on at any interval. Has this not been fixed yet?
 
Same here -- just jumped off the FitBit ship and am acclimating to the AW. Would love to know if there are any apps that can show real-time step count as a complication.
 
Fizzyone said:
Same here -- just jumped off the FitBit ship and am acclimating to the AW. Would love to know if there are any apps that can show real-time step count as a complication.
Click to expand...

No, because third party apps are still not allowed to update complications in real time, and Apple hasn’t seen fit to make a pedometer complication of their own. Send them feedback here: https://www.apple.com/feedback/watch.html
 
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This isn't possible due to Apple imposed limitations to protect battery life.
 
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