The short answer: you may not need to install anything. Your phone already counts steps for free: Apple Health does it automatically on an iPhone, and on Android 14 and newer, Health Connect starts counting steps on the device once any app has permission to read them. We also run a step counter app, StepMax, so we have a stake in this question. We haven't tested apps head to head, so we won't rank them. Below is what the evidence supports about accuracy, battery and privacy, and a checklist you can apply to any app, ours included.
| Claim on the earlier page | What we found |
|---|---|
| Walk 100 steps; 95 to 105 is excellent, under 90 is bad | A JAMA test found phone apps within about 7% on a treadmill; the cut-offs were not from research |
| Pedometer should use under 2 to 3% battery; GPS drains 10 to 20 times more | No source for the figures; Android describes its step sensor as low power |
| Many free apps make money by selling your data | A BMJ study found 88% of health apps had code that could collect data; few were observed sending it |
| Apps with no ads are probably selling your data | No evidence; we have removed this claim |
| Gamification dramatically improves adherence | A meta-analysis found about 1,600 more steps a day on average, with large variation |
Start with what's already on your phone
On an iPhone, the Health app records steps from the phone's motion sensors automatically, with nothing to install, and apps read from it. On Android, Android's developer documentation says Health Connect provides on-device step counting on Android 14 and higher (with a recent enough system update, SDK extension version 20 or higher): once any app has been granted permission to read steps, it starts capturing steps from the device, using the step counter sensor, which is described as optimised for low power use. Samsung phones usually include Samsung Health, which counts steps and is free; we take that from 2026 summaries by app publishers, so check your own phone. If you used Google Fit, note that Google's developer documentation says the Fit APIs, which apps use to read and write Fit data, are supported until the end of 2026, and recommends Health Connect for step tracking, so it's worth checking where your history is going and which apps still depend on it. We re-checked this against Android's documentation on October 2, 2026.
Accuracy
In a 2015 JAMA research letter (Case and colleagues), 14 adults walked on a treadmill at 3.0 mph for 500 and 1,500 steps, twice each, and ten apps and devices were compared with an observer's tally. Smartphone apps were within -6.7% to +6.2% of the observed count, while wearable devices ranged from -22.7% to -1.5%. A later comparison of six Android apps and three wristbands over long-term use found the phone apps recorded about 30% fewer steps on average than the wristbands (Sensors, 2020), so differences between methods can be large in everyday life. A reasonable check is to count 100 steps yourself and compare, ideally repeating it with the phone where you normally carry it. The earlier page's thresholds (within 95 to 105 is excellent, under 90 means switch) were not from research; given the JAMA result, a difference of a few percent is normal and one of 10% or more is worth investigating. The earlier page also said apps should filter out car vibrations; we couldn't verify how apps handle that, so test it yourself.
Battery
Counting steps with the phone's step sensor is designed to use very little power, which is how Android's documentation describes it. The earlier page said a good pedometer uses under 2 to 3% of battery and that GPS uses 10 to 20 times more than the step sensor. We couldn't source those figures, though it is true that continuous GPS tracking is a heavy battery user. The practical test is your own phone's battery settings, which show how much each app has used.
Privacy
A 2021 study in the BMJ (Tangari and colleagues) analysed 20,991 health-related apps on Google Play. It found that 88% included code that could potentially collect user data, that 3.9% were observed transmitting user information, that most collection involved third parties, that 28% provided no privacy policy and that 23% of the data transmissions used insecure protocols. It also found that health apps collected less data than other kinds of apps. That supports checking permissions and the privacy policy before you install anything, and our checklist is below. The earlier page said that if an app has no ads you are "probably the product." We found no evidence for that, and an app with no ads may simply be funded another way, so we've removed it.
A checklist for any app
This is our practical advice, not research. Does it ask only for the permissions it needs (activity recognition, not contacts, camera or microphone)? Is there a readable privacy policy? Does it need an account just to count steps? Does it keep working without an internet connection? Does it let you export or delete your data? Is the number on the screen close to your manual count? Do the extras it offers (charts, widgets, goals) matter to you, and does it have the language you need? The best app is the one you'll keep using.
Do motivation features work?
A 2022 meta-analysis in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (Mazeas and colleagues) of 16 randomised trials with 2,407 participants found gamified interventions had a small to medium effect on physical activity, with about 1,600 more steps a day on average and a lot of variation between studies. That supports goals, challenges and rewards in general; we haven't found trials of streaks, leaderboards or collectible characters specifically, and "dramatically" overstated it. For step goals themselves, see how many steps you need.
About StepMax
StepMax is our own app: Android, iPhone. It counts steps with the phone's built-in step sensor. Version 4.0 on Android also maps walks with GPS, showing your route, live distance and pace, which uses more battery while a walk is being recorded. It adds hourly activity charts, streaks, levels, 172 achievements, 30 collectible characters, friend challenges, leaderboards, community events and six languages, and it is free to download with ads and an optional paid VIP tier. Those are the developer's descriptions, not independent test results.
Apply the checklist above to it as you would to any other app. Its Google Play data-safety section, checked on October 2, 2026, says it may share device or other IDs with third parties and that data can't be deleted. We haven't tested its accuracy against other apps. If your phone's built-in tracker is enough for you, you don't need any app, including ours.
Sources
- Case MA, Burwick HA, Volpp KG, Patel MS. Accuracy of smartphone applications and wearable devices for tracking physical activity data. JAMA. 2015;313(6):625-626. jamanetwork.com
- Accuracy of mobile applications versus wearable devices in long-term step measurements. Sensors. 2020;20(21):6293. doi
- Tangari G, Ikram M, Ijaz K, Kaafar MA, Berkovsky S. Mobile health and privacy: cross sectional study. BMJ. 2021;373:n1248. PMC
- Android Developers. Track steps with Health Connect (on-device step counting on Android 14 and higher; Google Fit APIs supported until the end of 2026). developer.android.com
- Mazeas A, Duclos M, Pereira B, Chalabaev A. Evaluating the effectiveness of gamification on physical activity: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2022;24(1):e26779. PubMed
- Fitness tracker app: 7 best apps beyond step counting (2026). A publisher summary of built-in options: Apple Health and Fitness, Samsung Health, Health Connect. habitbox.app
Correction note: an earlier version of this page gave cut-offs for a 100-step accuracy test, said a good pedometer uses under 2 to 3 percent of battery and GPS uses 10 to 20 times more, said many free apps sell your data and that apps without ads are probably selling it, and said gamification dramatically improves adherence, and it described StepMax only in a one-line note. We replaced the cut-offs with the published accuracy findings, removed the unsourced battery and advertising claims, replaced the privacy claim with the BMJ study, and described StepMax's features as the developer's own claims. StepMax is our own app; we have not tested it against other apps and do not rank apps here. App availability and policies change, so check each app's current store listing. The built-in options are described from Android's documentation and publisher summaries. This article is for informational purposes. This is general information, not medical advice.