You Can Track Plenty of Fitness Stats With Just Your Phone—No Wearables Required

When you think of counting your steps or tracking your sleep, you’re probably going to think of attaching a smartwatch or some other wearable to your wrist—but you can actually monitor a bunch of metrics using just your phone.

Your phone has the ability to automatically track the number of steps you’re taking, for example. As long as you’ve always got it with you, it can tell you whether you’re reaching that daily step count, with no other devices required.

For tracking other stats, including diet and sleep, you need a third-party app as well—but there are lots to choose from, and you don’t have to buy an extra fitness tracker to set your health and well-being goals.

Of course there are benefits to wearables: They can constantly monitor data such as heart rate, and they’re easier to strap on for a morning jog. But it’s worth being aware of what your phone can do on its own—and weighing whether you need a smartwatch or fitness tracker before investing in one.

Built-In Tracking Features

If you’re an iPhone owner, open the Health app to see all the various bits of data it can log, from the number of minutes you’ve been moving per day to the amount of sugar in your diet. You can enter readings for all of these categories manually, so if you’re prepared to put in the time, you can build up a comprehensive picture of your health.

The number of steps you take each day is something your iPhone can track using its built-in motion sensors. It’s able to do this tracking automatically as long as you keep your phone on you, and there’s nothing to enable here, as it works by default. To see the data being pulled in by your iPhone, which can also include walking speed and walking distance, tap your profile picture (top right), then Devices, then select your iPhone from the list.

The iPhone Health app can track steps and distance.David Nield