The Best Step Counter Apps to Track Step: A few years ago, if you wanted to count your steps, you needed a physical pedometer, but today our mobile can do the job. What you need to do is bring your phone with you and download a step-counting app.
9 Best Step Counter Apps
There are literally hundreds of Best Step Counter Apps to count steps on Google Play Store, although you may already have one that does it installed on your mobile. In addition to giving you the list, we have put them to the test to see how close they are to the actual number.
The best apps to count steps on Android
We start with the list of the nine Best Step Counter Apps to count steps on Android today. The list ranges from more health-focused apps to sports-focused ones or simpler pedometers.
1. Google fit
Google Fit is Google’s all-in-one health app, which acts as a HUB to which other Best Step Counter Apps can sync their data. Among many other functions, Google Fit can record the steps you do during the day, even if you do not have a smartwatch or sports bracelet.
Google Fit centers its measurements around the minutes of activity and the cardio points, but that does not prevent it from counting other more specific data such as steps, calories expended, and kilometers traveled. Each training is also saved, and you can consult it later.
2. Samsung Health
Samsung Health is the same as Google Fit but replicated by Samsung. It is an app in which you can centralize measurements and health information, from all your exercise sessions to how many glasses of water you drink per day. One of these data, which is automatically recorded, is the steps.
Despite what its name might suggest, Samsung Health can be installed on mobile phones from other brands and is a very valid alternative to Google Fit if the measurement that Google does not convince you too much.
3. Huawei Health
Just as Samsung Health can be installed on other devices, the same happens with Huawei Health. At the end of the day, it is the Best Step Counter Apps with which you manage Huawei bracelets and smartwatches, which can be managed from any brand’s mobile phones.
Huawei Health is not as complete as Samsung Health or Google Fit, but it has its automatic step log even though it does not have a bracelet or smartwatch to take the measurement. These measurements can be consulted in the registry or shared with friends.
4. Pedometer – Step Counter Free & Calorie Burner
Already in a more specific field, we have Pedometer, an application that, unlike the previous ones, only does one thing: count steps. This program does not burden you with other features and is free to download (although, if you want, you can synchronize your data in Google).
A pedometer is a simple and easy application, but it has everything you need. It shows your steps, calories, walking time, and distance, and a good number of achievements to keep you motivated.
5. Accupedo Pedometer – Step Counter
Another simple, step-tracking-focused alternative is Accupedo, with more than 5 million downloads on Google Play. After opening it, you can see at a glance how many steps you have taken, as well as the distance traveled, calories expended, average speed, and active time.
By sliding the screen, some additional functions appear, being a summary of the fulfillment of the objectives during the week especially interesting. It is also possible to record your body weight in the Best Step Counter Apps.
6. Pacer Pedometer: Walking, Running, Step Challenges
Pacer pedometer, or simply Pacer, is visually similar to Accupedo, although the look is more polished and more features are included. For example, you can record your workouts using mobile GPS.
Of course, it also works in the background counting your steps even if you have not opened the Best Step Counter Apps, and afterward, you can check the average, calories, distance, and active time, as well as joining programs to improve your physical condition (for a fee).
7. adidas Running App – Your Sports & Run Tracker
Runtastic – now called Adidas Running by Runtastic – is one of the most popular exercise log apps and features a spin-off focused on counting your steps: Runtastic Steps.
Runtastic Steps has a simple but attractive design and stands out for showing you the statistics and history with your walks in a more visual and colorful way than other similar applications, with weekly, monthly and annual averages.
8. Step Tracker – Pedometer Free & Calorie Tracker
Another Best Step Counter Apps with which you can count your steps is Health Tracking, with an excellent design that focuses on showing your steps for the day and graphs of how you met your goals during the week.
In addition to passively counting your steps, you can record training sessions using the mobile’s GPS, marking in advance a target distance that you want to walk from the Exercises tab.
9. Noom: Health & Weight
Noom earned a certain reputation a few years ago for being an application capable of recording the steps you do with your mobile without using up much battery. This was the exception a few years ago, although today, the normal thing is that the mobile has a step-counter sensor, and the battery consumption is minimal.
Even so, Noom can be a good alternative for an old mobile in which the system cannot count the steps. Another advantage is that the app has plans to help you lose weight or live healthier, although the complete plans are paid.
How Reliable Are the Measurements
Counting steps is easy, but counting them properly is not so easy. To know how reliable the previous Best Step Counter Apps are, we have put them to the test with a simple test: walk 1,000 steps and see how many each application marks. For reference, we have included the data collected by a Mi Band 2 in the Mi Fit app, which only has steps with a device’s help.
The vast majority of Best Step Counter Apps take the step data directly from Android, so the result is the same.
While in the past, developers needed to listen to the accelerometer to count steps manually, today developers can get steps directly from Android or through Google Fit. The process is relatively simple and relies on the mobile’s step sensor, which can be virtual (software-based) or physical.
The applications use the permission of physical activity to obtain the data of Android, and hence the result is uniform.
Therefore, all apps for counting steps are just as reliable on the same mobile and as reliable as the mobile’s step sensor. In my test, the margin of error has remained around 9.10%, while the Mi Band came closer with 5.90%, and the one who almost nailed it is Samsung Health, with a 1% error.
Conclusion
Even with everything, taking into account that we are talking about an automatic count, with hardly any battery wasting, and with the mobile both in your pocket and in your hand, the truth is that a 9% error is not bad. These apps aren’t perfect, but they don’t need to be.
