This Long-Awaited Feature Is Finally Coming to the Apple Watch

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Credit: Apple

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We expect fitness wearables to count our steps—an idea that Fitbit borrowed from pedometers forever ago. In recent years even Oura and Whoop have added step tracking. But the Apple Watch has never made it easy to see your step count, even though it’s been keeping track in the background all along. Apple is finally changing that. 

On the product pages for the Series 12 and the Apple Watch Ultra, Apple boasts that the new watches give you a more accurate step count—interesting, because step count hasn’t been a selling point in the past. And then comes the big news: “And now you can more easily check your step count, right from your watch face.” 

So far, it has been frustratingly difficult to get a step count on your watch. You would think you could easily add that number to a watch complication (a complication being a mini data field for the watch face), but nope—if you want a little counter of your steps on the watch face, you have to install a third-party app to provide that. 

I kind of understand why: Apple wanted to set itself apart from the Fitbits of the world. You’re supposed to close your rings, and rings are based on movement, exercise, and stand hours. I can imagine somebody at Apple saying “no, step counting is dumb” and they were arguably right. But the idea has stuck in the public consciousness; we now expect step counts, and Apple is finally going to deliver. 

How to get step count on your Apple Watch

First of all, the Apple Watch already counts your steps. You can see your step count by going to the Health app on your phone and searching for Steps. Scroll to the bottom of the Steps screen and tap Add to Pinned. Now it will be the first thing you see when you open the Health app. (Surprised the Health app can do this? You have no idea of the hidden gems in that thing.) 

To get a step count on your Apple Watch right now, without upgrading anything, you’ll need to install a step counter app. Duffy is a popular (free) one; there are plenty of others out there, so choose one you like. These apps typically provide a complication, so you can add your step count to your favorite watch face. 

But what about taking advantage of Apple’s new embrace of the step count? Apple says the feature will be available on the Series 12 and Ultra 4 watches. That said, this seems like a very simple software change, so I’d bet money that step count will become available in WatchOS 27, which is due out any day now, and which will run on Series 9 and newer, Ultra 2 and newer, and the SE 3. I’m currently using the WatchOS 27 public beta, and there’s no step count feature yet, but I’m watching for it.  

I also spied step counts in Apple’s screenshots of its upcoming redesign of the Health app. This is an app that lives on your phone, and in the screenshot there was a little tile with your Apple Watch rings, and underneath the rings, the step count. Apple says the Health app redesign will be available on devices that support Apple Intelligence, which means the iPhone 15 Pro and newer.

Once you have the feature on your watch, it looks like step counts will be available on the cards you see when you swipe up from the main watch face. Currently you can pin a card there with your step distance for the day (I’ve covered 0.65 miles between waking up and making my way to my home office) but steps aren’t available there yet.