Why is my fitness app not tracking my steps?

Phones count steps with a motion chip, and watches with the accelerometer on your wrist. Your fitness app usually does not count anything itself: it reads the number from Apple Health or, on Android, from Health Connect, Google Fit or Samsung Health. So when steps go missing, the break is almost always in one of three places: the phone is not counting, the app is not allowed to read the count, or the phone was not on you.

iPhone: check these in order

1. Fitness Tracking is on. Settings › Privacy & Security › Motion & Fitness › turn on Fitness Tracking, and make sure Health and your fitness app are switched on in the list below it. If it already looks on, turn it off, restart the iPhone and turn it back on.
2. The app can read Steps in Health. Open the Health app › tap your profile picture › Apps (under Privacy) › choose your fitness app › turn on Steps (and Walking + Running Distance). An app only sees what you allow here.
3. Health has the steps at all. In Health › Browse › Activity › Steps. If today is empty here too, the iPhone itself is not counting: go back to step 1.
4. The right source wins. When an iPhone, an Apple Watch and other apps all report steps, Health ranks them. Steps › Data Sources & Access › Edit, then drag the device you wear most to the top. New apps are added at the top automatically, which can push a wrong source first.
5. Apple Watch is allowed to count. Health › profile picture › Devices › your watch › Privacy Settings › turn on Fitness Tracking.
6. Motion Calibration is on. Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services › System Services › Motion Calibration & Distance.
7. The app can refresh in the background. Settings › General › Background App Refresh › your fitness app on. Some apps only update steps when you open them; open it once and pull to refresh.
8. Update and restart. Install the latest iOS and app update. Some users also report that Low Power Mode delays step updates, so try a day without it if counts lag.

Android: check these in order

1. Physical activity permission. Settings › Apps › your fitness app › Permissions › Physical activity › Allow. Since Android 10, apps cannot read the step counter without it.
2. Battery set to Unrestricted. Settings › Apps › your fitness app › Battery › Unrestricted. Battery savers stop background counting and syncing.
3. Health Connect permissions. On Android 14 and later, many apps get steps through Health Connect (in Settings). Open it › App permissions › your app › allow Steps.
4. The step source is counting. In Google Fit, check that activity tracking is on in your profile settings. In Samsung Health, make sure step counting is not paused on the Steps card.
5. One counter, not two. If Google Fit and Samsung Health both count the same walk, totals can double or clash. Pick one as the source your other apps read from.

Why two apps show different step counts

• Different sources. One app reads your watch, another reads your phone; on a day you left the phone on a desk, the phone shows far fewer.
• Wrist vs pocket. Pushing a cart or stroller, or holding a treadmill rail, stops the arm swing a watch counts. A phone in a bag or on a treadmill console counts little or nothing.
• Different math. Each maker filters out small movements differently, so a few hundred steps of difference a day is normal.
• Duplicates removed or not. Apple Health removes overlaps between iPhone and Watch; some third-party apps add them up.

Workouts that steps miss

Strength training, cycling and swimming barely move a step counter. A hard leg day might show 1,500 steps. That is not a tracking bug: steps measure walking, not effort. For lifting, track sets, reps and weight instead, and let your workout app save the session to Apple Health so it counts toward your activity. Log your lifts in GymAdapt →