Phone won’t count steps without watch

[Cunir]

Hello. Before I had my Apple Watch my iPhone used to count my steps and fill in my fitness rings without problems, but as soon as I paired my watch it seems to have stopped.

My watch counts my steps fine, but on the days I leave it at home (sometime I wear a normal watch) and just take my phone out then nothing gets recorded.

I know there’s probably no easy fix, but it’s frustrating that it doesn’t recognise you’re still out and about with your phone

 

[MacCheetah3]

The workaround would be to find a pedometer app that integrates with Apple Health. For example:

Sync Apple Watch and iPhone pedometer using Pedometer++ app​

Iltifat Husain, MD • February 10, 2016

One of my favorite health apps for the past year has been Pedometer++. It’s a free pedometer health app that has robust support and has received multiple updates that keep increasing its functionality. I love the simplicity of this health app. It simply measures your step count and how many flights of stairs you have climbed — all represented in a simple bar graph. No menus to click through, no add on features to distract you. I recommend this health app to patients frequently, even helping them download the app at bedside.

Recently Pedometer++ tackled an issue for those who use their iPhone and Apple Watch to count steps. The Apple Watch and iPhone have their own respective motion sensors. For those who don’t wear their Apple Watch at all times, how do you keep the number of steps walked in sync? A recent update from Pedometer++ now syncs the number of steps from your Apple Watch to your iPhone, and vice versa. The following screenshot shows how to turn this feature on.



While there are other health apps that offer this functionality as well, I’ve found Pedometer++ to be the easiest to use, and it’s free.

Sync Apple Watch and iPhone pedometer using Pedometer++ app - iMedicalApps

Pedometer++ is a pedometer app that syncs the step count between your Apple Watch and iPhone.

www.imedicalapps.com

Pedometer++

pedometer.app

I’m not affiliated with nor have I used this app.

 

[Cunir]

thanks, I tried that app but it doesn't seem to synch the numbers to the fitness app anymore - that article was from 2016.

If you leave your watch at home and just take your iPhone out, then there doesn't seem to be a way to get the fitness app to fill in your rings, or count your steps.
It's seems like it should be an easy fix because all the data is recorded correctly in the phone's health app, it just doesn't synch to the fitness app. frustrating!

I tried a few other pedometer apps as well, but they don't seem to synch the numbers either.

 

[Bichon]

It's probably just to make sure your steps aren't inadvertently double counted. If I told you that I have 5,000 steps on my watch and 7,500 on the iPhone, you wouldn't be able to tell me how many steps I actually took unless you knew how many of those steps were taken while wearing both devices.