How-To

How to Use Apple Watch as a Pedometer Without Your iPhone

You might think that to use your Apple watch as a pedometer you need to lug your iPhone with you, but you don’t. You can view your total steps just by wearing the watch solo.

There are many different apps you can run on your Apple Watch to achieve your health and fitness goals. But sometimes you just want the basics like a pedometer. But for most apps and many built-in features, you need to have your iPhone with you. And both devices need to be paired with each other.

However, for the pedometer feature, the watch can track your number of steps on its own. In fact, it’s more than a steps counter. The built-in pedometer feature will track total steps, total distance walked, flights of stairs climbed, and calories burned. Here’s how to set it up on your watch and view your results.

Use Apple Watch as a Pedometer Without an iPhone

Bring up your apps list and open the Activity app on your watch. If this is the first time setting it up, it will ask you some basic questions like sex, age, and weight. Your Apple Watch uses the data you enter to calculate how many calories you burn and other fitness goals.

If you only want to use the pedometer to monitor your steps, you can skip these questions. After going through the basic questions, including the calories goal, tap the “Start Moving” button and start walking while wearing your watch.

Once you’ve been on the move for a while you can check the pedometer to see the number of steps you’ve walked. Open the Activity app again and swipe down on the screen or turn the digital crown. Scroll past your calories burned and other health and fitness info. There you will see the pedometer feature that reveals your total number of steps, total distance, and even how many flights of stairs you have climbed.

When it comes to monitoring your health, using your Apple Watch as a pedometer is just a small part of what it can do. But it’s nice to have the basics without extra apps or carrying your phone around all day.

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