Browse documentation
Documentation
Everything Steps Widget does, explained.
Reference pages for every feature, surface, and setting. Start at the top if the app is new to you, or jump straight to the page you need.
Getting started
Install Steps, grant Health access, and set the daily goal everything else is measured against.
- Install and set upInstall Steps, allow Health access, set your daily goal, add a widget, and turn on goal reminders. About five minutes, start to finish.
- Connect Apple HealthThe three read-only Health types Steps requests, how to grant access after declining, and the system switches step counting depends on.
- Set your daily goalThe goal drives every progress ring and the reminder model's projection. How to set it, what the research says, and how to pick a number you will hit.
Goal reminders
The on-device model that projects your end-of-day steps, when it decides to nudge you, and how the message gets written.
- How goal reminders workAn on-device Core ML model projects your end-of-day step total, and a reminder fires only when that projection falls short of your goal.
- Reminder messagesDescribe how your reminders should sound and Apple Intelligence rewrites them on device, in your language, with a live preview in Settings.
- Reminder timing and devicesThe hours reminders are allowed, the once-per-hour limit, how Local Sunset lowers the bar in the evening, and why only one of your devices sends.
Widgets
Every widget in the gallery, how to style each one, and the Lock Screen, StandBy, Live Activity, and Apple Watch surfaces.
- The widget galleryAll eight Steps widgets — Steps Ring, Timeline, Prompt, Goal Progress, Minimal, and the three Lock Screen accessories — with sizes and what each one shows.
- Styling widgetsPer-widget colour palettes, gradients, appearance, chart type, timestamp format, milestones, and exactly what the Customization purchase covers.
- StandBy and Live ActivityTurn a charging iPhone into a desk step display, and put a live-updating count in the Dynamic Island and on the Lock Screen while you walk.
- Apple WatchThe standalone Watch app, its three complication styles, the settings you can change from the wrist, and why the Watch is the best device to send reminders.
Steps and data
Where your step count comes from, how to reshape the day it measures, and what stays on your device.
- The step windowChange what "today" means — push the day boundary up to six hours past midnight for night owls, or drop the calendar day for a rolling 24-hour window.
- Motion SensorFill the gap between Apple Health's last step sample and now by reading the iPhone pedometer, so your count moves while you are still walking.
- InsightA month of daily steps as a chart with a draggable goal line, plus one chosen insight from your week that you can share.
- Privacy and syncWhat Steps reads, what stays on your device, what iCloud carries, and why there is no account, no leaderboard, and no server holding your steps.
Troubleshooting
Fixes for a widget that will not update, missing steps, and reminders that never arrive.
- Widget not updatingThe three-stage chain from Health to widget, what counts as normal lag, and the checks that fix a widget genuinely stuck or reading zero.
- Steps not countingWork through the recording chain — motion tracking, Health permission, data sources, and where you carry the phone — when your count stays at zero or reads low.
- Reminders not arrivingThe reminder window, the elected sending device, notification permission, Focus modes, and Scheduled Summary — why a goal reminder stays silent.