How does a pedometer work in your phone?

Most smartwatches and fitness trackers have a built-in pedometer to help you better record a day's worth of movement. However, some smartphones now also have a pedometer built in. The way it works is kept pretty simple.

How a pedometer in your phone works

If you want to keep track of your steps in a day, you don't necessarily need a smartwatch or a fitness tracker. Via various apps, your smartphone can also quickly become a pedometer.

1. A pedometer in a smartphone uses MEMS. The microelectrical-mechanical system is a sensor that registers various movements of your smartphone to the right, left, front and back.
2. With a suitable app, the data from the sensor is read out and can thus be interpreted and displayed.
3. This makes it possible to analyze the movements you make with your smartphone while walking and then count the individual steps you take throughout the day.
4. In older devices, the gyro sensors in the device are usually used to detect the steps. Das Problem hierbei ist, dass bei jedem Kippen Ihres Smartphones ein „Schritt“ registriert wird und somit die Zahl schließlich sehr ungenau ist.
5. Die Schrittzähler älterer Geräte sind deshalb eher weniger dazu geeignet, Ihre Bewegung an einem Tag festzuhalten. Hier lohnt sich doch eher ein Fitnesstracker als Ersatz.