Watch 4 classic - tracking steps

[thaKing]

I'm curious about how the watch tracks steps. Do I need to be swinging my arms as I walk to trigger the counter? If I hold my arms still and walk, should my steps be counted? I ask because I have about a third of an acre to mow. I use a push mower and was about 3/4 finished and I looked at my watch and it tracked about 200 steps. I know it took more than 200 steps to mow that much lawn! Is it because my hands/arms didn't move? Should I have manually started the walking feature to record those types of steps???

 

[ocnbrze]

Do you have samsung health setup? Is all done thru the app. There's no need to calibrate your steps. I would just walk normally.

 

[codesplice]

The step counter does need movement to happen in order to count your steps. If you're holding on to a push mower your wrist probably isn't moving enough to register the steps. I don't think it would have made a difference if you manually started recording - if the movement isn't there, the movement isn't there, and there's no way for the watch to detect the steps.

 

[thaKing]

Is, samsung health is setup and syncs properly.

So, movement is necessary. This is odd and somewhat archaic, like old step counters with a little clicker inside. I believe the apple watch uses GPS or something similar for distance walked. Oh well, I guess I know for next time.

 

[codesplice]

That's how step counting works across the board - it's all based on movement recorded by an accelerometer.

You can record distance using GPS, and make a guess on how many steps were likely taken to cover that distance in that amount of time... but the margin for error there is going to be pretty dang broad. I doubt it would have been anywhere close to your actual step count.

 

[svim]

This does bring up some interesting questions. There are various sensors involved that apply to different types of movement so while we can assume there are sensors in your smartwatch that would take into account the number of steps you take to mow a lot more accurately, there's still a question as to just which sensors actually exist in your particular watch model -- i.e.hopefully step count numbers are more accurate when you just walk or run than when mowing a lawn (intended purpose vs incidental actions).
Perhaps this article on the motion sensors that might be involved might provide some insight:
https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/sensors/sensors_motion

 

[ocnbrze]

here's another good article about it:
https://bobcutmag.com/2021/09/10/how-does-samsung-health-app-measure-steps/

according to the article it uses a combination of accelrometers and gps in your phone and watch. the app than uses that info to determine a rhythm which is in turn used to count steps......and its not very accurate. i use it to gauge how i'm doing when i go for a walk or hike.

 

[thaKing]

Thanks all for the replies. Great info and reads. Much appreciated.