How to count steps without installing an app

Most modern phones count steps already, even if you never opened a fitness app.

On iPhone, the Health app comes preinstalled. It records steps in the background using the phone's motion sensors whenever you carry it. Open Health, tap Browse, then Activity, then Steps to see daily and weekly totals. An Apple Watch adds steps when the phone is left behind.

On Android, it depends on the phone. Samsung phones usually include Samsung Health, which shows a daily step count on its home screen. Many other Android phones include, or offer, Google Fit, which counts steps from the phone's sensors. Some makers have their own health app instead, so check what is already installed. Google Fit and Samsung Health usually ask you to sign in and can back up your history online. The iPhone Health app keeps data on the phone, with optional iCloud sync.

If you do not want an account, or are on a shared or work phone, a browser step counter is an option. Our step counter opens as a web page, asks for motion access on iPhone, and reads the same accelerometer a native app uses. Steps and history are saved in your browser's local storage on that phone, not uploaded.

The trade-off is honest: a web page can only count while it is open and the screen is on. Browsers stop sending motion data when the phone sleeps or you switch apps. It also cannot tell vehicle vibration from walking, so pause it on a bus or in a car. It is best for a walk you deliberately start and stop, not all-day tracking.

A clip-on pedometer is cheap, needs no phone and no account, and runs for months on a battery. Clip it to your waistband in line with your knee. Good basic pedometers count well at normal walking speeds but often miss steps when you walk very slowly. They do not store much history, so write your daily total down.

Counting every step of a walk is tiring, but counting short samples is easy and accurate, and it is how researchers check cadence.

• Pace: count steps for 15 seconds and multiply by 4 for steps per minute.
• Walk: count steps for one minute, then multiply by the minutes you walked.
• Distance: count the steps over a known 100 m, then work out steps per km.
• Tip: counting only your left foot halves the effort; double it at the end.

If you know how long you walked, you can estimate steps. At a brisk 100 steps a minute, 30 minutes is about 3,000 steps. If you know the distance, an average adult, 0.75 m step takes about 1,333 steps per km or 2,146 per mile. These are rough, but fine for a daily log.