iPhone App Review: Pedometer FREE

Pedometer FREE

Free

iPhone/iPod Touch
Category: Healthcare & Fitness

Version: 2.1.1

Tested on: iPod Touch 4G (iOS 4.3.1)

Rating: 4 of 5

Pedometer FREE is an application that will help you to measure the number of steps, the exact workout time, the estimated calories burn, distance and speed, while you are walking, jogging, running or on the treadmill. The application is able to detect the movement of the device using the accelerometer, and try to use that information to simulate a human footstep. And, by using the iPod playlist, the application can still be used while listening to your favorite songs or podcasts.

I use it to measure my jogging this afternoon. I really like how the application is able to show me how many steps I've taken and how long I've been jogging. I know that it would be very difficult to get the exact number of steps (even when you've calibrated it) along with other data, such as calories burn, distance and speed, but overall I think the application has done quite a good job. After learning more about pedometer or manpo-meter (the original Japanese term), I think this application is very good for my health as I'm trying my best to achieve the ideal 10,000 steps a day.

The application also has the feature to track your body parameters, which might be a nice feature for people who really want to measure how their workout/exercise have progressed. But for me, a good jogging companion application doesn't really need that feature. Instead, it should only need to focus on how to get the core features right. Here are some suggestions I have for future improvements:

1. Allow the user to set where he/she would put the iPod/iPhone (waist line, arm band, pocket, etc.) and adjust the accuracy accordingly
2. Use the number of steps as the daily achievable target, rather than the body measurements, because it's too troublesome for most users to measure their body on a daily basis. But, the number of steps data is already available for the application without asking anything from the user. An idea would be to create a daily target of 5% increase in the number of steps compared to the previous day's achievement.

What features would you like to have in an iPhone app that accompanies your jogging?


Check out my other iPhone app/game reviews here.