I’m loving Pedometer++. If you don’t have it, get it. It is free. And, it has just seen a significant update that adds some great features and a new design.
Also worth reading is the tidbits that David Smith has learned from his development of this application and the feedback he’s gotten from those that use it. Two really stand out for me.
3. The app skews predominately male. Not because they are more interested in counting their steps but simply because they are far more likely to have their iPhone on them all day. I’ve heard from many women who wish they could use the app to count their steps but carry their iPhone in their purse so it just doesn’t work as a reliable measurement for them.
The M7 chip is fantastic but I can see this being Apple’s biggest hurdle for women to use their iPhone to track their health. Women seem to wear pants more and more these days but many of the women that I know that have iPhones keep them in their purse*. This means the M7 isn’t tracking any data for them (and if it is, it is false data for sure). So if Apple were to make a “watch” or wristband of some type I can see it being something that simply pings back to the iPhone a wearer’s data and allowing the iPhone to have the apps, do the data crunching, etc.
4. The general advice is that taking at least 10,000 steps a day is a reasonable goal for healthy activity levels. I’ve found that for someone who works a typical office job this is only possible when taking proactive steps to start moving. For me this has meant starting to use a treadmill desk for part of my workday. I’ve also heard from many people who have started adding walks and runs into their days to try and meet their goals.
I “work a typical office job” and my average daily step count is somewhere around 1,500. On days when I’m out and about it is around 6,000-7,000. I’d have to really try pretty hard to hit 10,000. Which I will (more on this soon).
What a fantastic app! I wish he charged for it.