Simple WalkerSupport
Questions about Simple Walker, by topic.
Getting started
Is it really free?
Yes. No purchases, no subscriptions and no ads. If you like it, a kind review on the App Store helps other people find it.
Do I need an Apple Watch?
No. Your iPhone counts steps, distance and floors on its own. If you wear an Apple Watch, Today shows your heart rate for the day on one bar, lowest, average and highest, and each walk shows your heart rate during it. Without one, the heart rate card doesn't show and everything else still works.
Nothing shows at all
Simple Walker needs to read Apple Health. Open the Health app, tap your picture, then Apps (or Sharing, Apps), Simple Walker, and turn on every type.
Changing Apple Health access
Simple Walker only reads from Apple Health and never writes to it. You choose what it reads in the Health app: tap your picture, then Apps (or Sharing, Apps), Simple Walker.
My older steps are missing on a new iPhone
The Health app shows your older years, but Simple Walker starts later. On a new iPhone, Apple Health can keep older history from an app until its access is turned off and on again. Open your iPhone's Settings, then Health, Data Access & Devices, Simple Walker. Turn every type off, then on, and open Simple Walker again: your older days come back.
Miles or kilometers
Simple Walker follows your iPhone's region settings.
Walks
How does it find my walks?
Your iPhone already counts your steps minute by minute in Apple Health. Simple Walker looks for stretches of five minutes or more at walking pace, allowing short stops like a traffic light, and shows each one as a walk.
A walk didn't show up
It needs your iPhone with you (a pocket or bag is fine) and five minutes or more at walking pace. A slow stroll around a shop counts as steps, not as a walk. Pull down on Today to refresh.
Why isn't climbing stairs a walk?
On stairs you climb floors quickly while your steps stay slow, which isn't walking. Those minutes still count in your steps and floors, and show as moving about on the day strip. From version 1.1, stairs no longer show up as a walk.
My steps are higher than my walks
That's expected. Steps, distance, floors, energy and heart rate count your whole day, so they match the Health app. Walking time counts only your walks: five minutes or more at walking pace. Moving around the house adds steps, not walking time. Each walk's own heart rate shows when you tap that walk.
Can it show a map of my walk?
Not yet. It shows when and how far you walked, not where. A map is on our list of ideas; tell us in an App Store review if you'd use it.
Days, weeks and records
Looking back at earlier days
The arrows next to the date, or a swipe left or right, step through past days. The arrow with a line, after the forward arrow, jumps straight back, and so does tapping the Today tab again. The date says Today only when it is. Past days show the same numbers, compared with the day before. In Week, the arrows and swipes move seven days at a time, and tapping a bar or a day on the strip opens that day on Today. In Week, the same arrow with a line, or tapping the Week tab again, goes back to this week. Back stops at the first day Apple Health holds.
A day says No steps recorded
Apple Health holds nothing for that day: your iPhone counted no steps, or your history in Apple Health starts later. Back stops at the first day Apple Health holds.
Where are my records?
In the Bests tab: most steps in a day, best week, best month, best year, farthest in a day, most floors in a day, and every step you've taken, from every day Apple Health holds. Tap a one-day record to open that day, or your best week to open that week. There are no streaks: a streak that ends is bad news.
Farthest in a day looks wrong
Apple Health sometimes holds a day with a distance far too long for its steps, such as hundreds of kilometers on an ordinary day. From version 1.3, Farthest in a day leaves out any day with more than 3 meters a step, so a bad record can't stand as your best.
Your year and its sound
Does it make sound?
Only in the Year tab, and only when you want it. The Year starts with its sound off; the speaker button on the calendar turns it on, and Play walks through your year with a note for each day. Pick the sound in Settings: Tone, Piano, Keys or Box.
The Year plays with no sound
The Year's sound starts off. Tap the speaker button on the calendar's corner to turn it on, then Play. The first time you open the Year in a new year, it plays once by itself; then the Ring/Silent switch keeps it quiet too. Pick the sound in Settings, under Step Concerto.
Notifications and battery
Notifications don't arrive
Open the Settings tab in Simple Walker, turn on "Tell me when I beat my usual", then allow notifications. If you said no before, turn them on in your iPhone's Settings, Notifications, Simple Walker. The app checks your steps, walking time, distance, floors and longest walk against your usual (your last four weeks, up to the same time of day). A notification comes within about an hour, at most once a day, and only for good news.
Does it run in the background or drain my battery?
No. It reads Apple Health when you open it. If you turn on good-news notifications, Apple Health wakes it at most once an hour when new steps arrive, so it can check.
Privacy and safety
What does it read, and where does it go?
Steps, walking distance, floors, heart rate and active energy, read from Apple Health on your iPhone. It writes nothing to Health, makes no internet connections and has no account. Nothing leaves your iPhone unless you share a picture or video yourself.
Is it a medical device?
No. It's for everyday fitness only and shows numbers your iPhone and Apple Watch already measured.
Still need help?
Leave a review or report an issue through the App Store. We read every one.
How walks are found, step by step: How it works. Privacy: see the Privacy Policy.
