When you think of counting your steps or tracking your sleep, you’re probably going to think of attaching a smartwatch or some other wearable to your wrist—but you can actually monitor a bunch of metrics using just your phone.
Your phone has the ability to automatically track the number of steps you’re taking, for example. As long as you’ve always got it with you, it can tell you if you’re reaching that daily step count or not, with no other devices required.
For tracking other stats, including diet and sleep, you do need a third-party app as well—but there are lots of apps to choose from, and you don’t have to buy an extra fitness tracker to set your health and well-being goals.
Of course there are benefits to wearables: They can constantly monitor data such as heart rate, and they’re easier to strap on for a morning jog. But it’s still worth being aware of what your phone can do on its own—and weighing whether you need a smartwatch or fitness tracker before investing in one.
Built-In Tracking Features
If you’re an iPhone owner, open the Health app to see all the various bits of data it can log, from the number of minutes you’ve been moving per day to the amount of sugar in your diet. You can enter readings for all of these categories manually, so if you’re prepared to put in the time, you can build up a comprehensive picture of your health.
The number of steps you take each day is something your iPhone can track using its built-in motion sensors. It’s able to do this tracking automatically as long as you keep your phone on you, and there’s nothing to enable here, as it works by default. To see the data being pulled in by your iPhone, which can also include walking speed and walking distance, tap your profile picture (top right), then Devices, then select your iPhone from the list.
To review any of the data on your iPhone, type the data type on the Summary screen (or choose Show All Health Data if you can’t see it), then select Data Sources & Access. The next screen shows you the devices and the apps contributing to this particular series of stats. Select any item in the list to see the data that’s been pulled in, and tap Edit if you need to delete some or all of it.
The situation on Android phones is a little more complicated. There is a built-in tracking tool called Health Connect but it’s rather buried. You can find it from Settings by tapping Security and privacy > Privacy controls > Health Connect. However, it can’t track anything on its own—it needs to interface with other apps.
Considering Google owns Fitbit, and the Fitbit app comes installed on many Android phones, it can be thought of as a native app at this point. It can interface with Health Connect, and count your steps without a separate tracker. From the Today tab in the Fitbit app, tap the devices icon (top left), then Add phone if it isn’t already connected. You can manage Health Connect links from the same screen.
Once your phone is added, it will start logging steps and distance, and piping the data into your Fitbit app. You can also log lots of different stats inside the Fitbit app manually, by tapping the + (plus) button in the bottom right corner of the Today tab, then choosing from the list (tap Water, for example, to log how much you’re drinking).
With Samsung Galaxy phones, you can use the Fitbit app, or you can use the Samsung Health app, which comes preinstalled. As far as automatic tracking goes, this is mainly for steps, but other data can be added manually too (and the app can send data to Health Connect). Tap on the steps widget from the Home tab to see the data being collected and to manage the devices doing the collecting.
What You Can Add Using Apps
The Health app in iOS and the Health Connect tool in Android are built to accept submissions from third-party apps in a whole host of categories. So while your phone can’t track these metrics on its own, all you need is another app to do the job—and you still get all your health and fitness data in one place on your handset.
Take sleep, for example. Sleep as Android (for Android, natch) can track your sleep if you place your phone on your mattress at night, based on the movements and noises you’re making. You get detailed read-outs of sleep stages and timings, and it’s another app that can pipe data into Health Connect.
For something similar on iOS, there’s Sleep Cycle (which is actually on Android as well). The idea is the same: You put it on your mattress near to you while you sleep, and the mic and accelerometer in your iPhone rate your sleep quality—no wearables needed—with everything optionally fed back into the Health app.
For more advanced tracking for walking, running, and cycling, the well-known Strava app (for iOS and Android) doesn’t need a wearable to work. It can grab all the data it needs from your smartphone, if required. It’ll work with your phone by default, and you can just tap Record from the main screen to start an exercise activity.
To manage the devices and other apps connected to Strava, head to the You tab, then tap the gear icon (top right) and Manage apps and devices. Strava will sync with the Health app on iOS, so you can view all your Strava data through that way too, though at the time of writing Strava hasn’t added support for Health Connect on Android.
Even something like heart rate can be monitored, through apps such as Cardiio (iOS) and Heart Rate Monitor (Android). These apps work by taking readings through your skin using the camera on your phone. Obviously it’s not as comprehensive as a tracker doing real time monitoring, but it does mean there’s no need for an extra device.
If there’s a metric that you’re particularly interested in monitoring, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to find an app for it, and most of them will work with the built-in tools on your iPhone and Android phone. You also have the option of using a wearable in tandem with your phone and its apps, if you only want to wear one some of the time.
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