Using the cellphone to count your steps

Recently I found a friend of mine counting her steps on daily basis.

As a company challenge, each employee was given a step counter to see for themselves how many steps are done per day. The recommended average for an healthy living are 10 000 steps per day and I kind of liked this initiative, deciding to try it for myself.

I didn't wanted to spend any money for an extra gadget and decided to look around the android marketplace, discovering this nice one: Accupedo

Some years ago I had bought a simple/cheap device to keep track of steps, it was fun that nowadays one can use the cellphone for this task.

I've been using it for the past week and it is fairly accurate once you setup with your details (height, weight, step length). If you are a person like me that likes to look at statistics and keep track of results, then this type of application can give you a real result of how many steps are made across each day.

For me, one of the best features is that I already carry the cellphone on the pocket across the whole day and so nothing special changed on my daily routine. My cellphone is a Samsung Galaxy S, not a high-end device on the current days but it is nevertheless filled with nice features and affordable enough for my use.


As defects, I need to point out that vibrations are sometimes erroneously interpreted as steps. For example, if you are riding the bus/car then you will need to deactivate the application to keep these things from getting counted as steps.

Other than that, it does help me to work my way to reach 10 000 steps each day. Lately I notice that working in an office for 10 hours and feeding yourself with french-fries and meat every day is taking a toll on the size of the belly, so this app is welcome to remember that time/effort for sport is very much needed.. :)

Have a nice (and healthy) week!
Nuno Brito