Walking is one of the easiest ways to become more active, but a little feedback can make it much easier to stay consistent. Whether you want to hit a daily step goal, record a weekend walk, explore new routes or simply see how active you really are, a good walking app can turn your phone into a surprisingly useful fitness companion.
There are plenty of apps that count steps, but they aren't all designed for the same type of walker. Some are deliberately simple, while others are packed with GPS tracking, challenges and workout statistics. After looking at how these apps actually feel to use, here are five of the best walking apps you can use to stay active and fit.
ActivityTracker
ActivityTracker should be at the top of your list if your goal is to walk more every day. With clear visuals, flexible targets, progress notifications, daily and weekly summaries and celebratory animations, this iPhone and Android app turns step tracking into a useful motivational tool to help you keep moving and reach your goals.
ActivityTracker is designed to work in two different modes. In the default mode, it functions as a classic pedometer app. It uses your phone's motion sensors to automatically track your steps in the background, with minimal impact on battery life. If you want to go beyond basic step counting, the app also includes GPS tracking for activities such as walking, running, hiking and cycling. This allows you to manually record a specific outdoor workout and get additional fitness stats, including speed, pace and elevation.
ActivityTracker lets you set a weekly target for steps, distance or calories, removing the pressure of having to meet a daily goal. You can also see your current step count without opening the app by taking advantage of the app icon badge, which updates directly on your home screen, or one of the many customisable widgets. ActivityTracker provides detailed hourly, daily, weekly and monthly bar charts, giving you a clear overview of your progress. You can also share your daily results with friends and followers.
- Download: App Store, Google Play
Pacer
Pacer can be considered an all-round fitness app. It offers automatic step counting, GPS mapping, audio- and video-guided workout programmes, weight and health tracking, and social features. If you want an app that does more than simply track your walks, this can be a good choice. However, if you're looking for a straightforward walking app, Pacer may not feel as intuitive as some of the alternatives. Because it incorporates so many functions, its interface can sometimes feel overwhelming and visually busy.
The app tracks outdoor walks, runs, hikes and cycling with real-time route mapping, live speed and pace metrics, and GPX export. To help you feel safer while exercising outdoors, it also allows you to share your live GPS location with family or trusted contacts. Pacer stands out for its social features, offering virtual distance challenges, daily step streaks and leaderboards. You can join or create walking groups and use the app's database to find local walking routes.
When it comes to fitness data, there's plenty to explore. The app provides long-term trend reports analysing historical step counts, weight changes and active times over weeks, months or years.
- Download: App Store, Google Play
Map My Walk
Map My Walk works best if you view walking as a dedicated workout rather than a passive daily activity. With this app, you manually start walking sessions, after which it uses GPS to record your route and provide workout statistics. This is particularly useful if you regularly go out for specific walks — perhaps a 5 km route around the neighbourhood or a longer weekend walk — and want to keep a record of them. The app can display a daily step count, but it typically gets that data by syncing with external apps and devices.
So, Map My Walk isn't necessarily the best choice if your only question is, "How many steps did I take today?" Its strength is recording individual walks. That's also why it can be more appealing to people who like exploring new routes or gradually increasing the distance they walk. There are social and challenge features too, which can add a little competitive motivation. If you're the type of person who likes looking at a map afterwards and seeing exactly where you've been, Map My Walk has a clear advantage over a basic pedometer.
- Download: App Store, Google Play
Walkmeter
Walkmeter is an option to consider if you've progressed from casual walking to treating your walks more like structured workouts.
This app focuses heavily on GPS tracking and provides detailed information about your activity. Its extensive feature set ranges from turn-by-turn navigation to detailed fitness statistics, including steps per minute, average speed and calorie expenditure. For longer walks, hikes and training sessions, that makes the app feel much more purposeful than a simple pedometer.
The trade-off is that Walkmeter may offer more than the average casual walker needs. If your goal is simply to reach 7,000 or 10,000 steps each day, all those workout-oriented features may not add much value. But if you regularly go on long walks and want to analyse them afterwards, the additional detail can be useful. Think of it as the choice for someone who has started asking not just, "How much did I walk?", but "How did I perform on that walk?"
- Download: App Store, Google Play
Charity Miles
Charity Miles is a completely different type of walking app from the others in this article. It's tailored for purpose-driven walkers who want to turn their daily movement into a force for good. What sets it apart is its unique sponsorship model: instead of simply collecting personal stats or competing on leaderboards, users can earn money for more than 40 non-profit organisations every time they move. The app essentially turns routine dog walks or daily commutes into meaningful philanthropic acts.
To log your movement, Charity Miles relies on your phone's sensors to record activity whether you're indoors or outside. When moving outdoors, the app uses your phone's built-in GPS to map distance and speed. For indoor treadmill sessions or casual step counting, it pairs with your device's accelerometer or syncs directly with health platforms such as Apple Health, Google Fit and Garmin.
So, if you want to add extra meaning to your daily walks, Charity Miles is worth a try.
- Download: App Store, Google Play
