Apple Watch steps

TheresaM787
TheresaM787 Posts: 751 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Quick question, has anyone noticed their Apple Watch counting random activities as steps? For example, I was standing still, folding laundry and noticed my steps increasing.

Replies

  • idontcarroll
    idontcarroll Posts: 216 Member
    Never noticed, but I don’t really track my steps. I really only track my calories burned.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited May 2021
    These devices use an accelerometer to recognize "steps"...meaning repetitive arm movements will get recognized as steps if the arm is accelerating and then decelerating. Unless you're wearing it on your ankle, the watch doesn't actually see your feet or know that you're actually walking or if you're just waving your arms around.

    I notice it with my Garmin sometimes as well...but ultimately, it's a very small number of non-step steps relative to my total.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,439 Member
    Certain moves affect it. I got 40,000 steps one time while on an international flight. I was crocheting a doily (yeah I know, but look at my age and give me a break) The crocheting motion causes your wrist to turn to and fro enough to read as steps.

    That’s the only activity I’ve found that does. I do a lot of needlepoint and other needlework and they don’t register that way.

    I did see an article the other day that says most Apple Watch wearers are wearing their watches incorrectly. Most wear it like a wristwatch, resting on their wrist bone. For the most accurate reading it should be an inch or two further up your arm.

    Something to do with the light on the back, there’s a gap if it’s resting on the wristbone, which causes light leakage, resulting in inaccurate data recording.

    I’ve always worn my watches halfway up my arm, and on the “wrong” arm to boot. I wondered when I read this if this wasn’t the reason some here complain about their watches not recording burns accurately. I’ve always felt mine was really accurate.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    My phone will count "steps" if I put it in my back pocket while cycling but not if I put it in a bag on the bike.
    Presumably the gentle hip rocking while riding is being interpreted as walking.

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