Steps and HealthExplained
How Mova counts your steps
Mova uses the daily step total your phone already keeps in Apple Health or Health Connect, and adds any part of a Mova walk that Health hasn't counted yet. Nothing is counted twice.
Where your steps come from
Your phone counts your steps all day, and so does a watch if you wear one and it’s connected to your phone’s health app. Apple Health (iPhone) or Health Connect (Android) combines those into one daily total. Mova reads that total; it doesn’t run a second step counter in the background.
When you record a walk in Mova, Mova counts the steps of that walk too, using your phone’s motion sensor. Health usually adds those steps to its own total a little later. Until it does, Mova adds the part Health hasn’t counted yet, so your total on Today is right away up to date and a walk is never counted twice.
If you haven’t connected Health, Today shows Mova isn’t counting your steps yet; your Mova walks are still saved. See Connect Apple Health or Health Connect.
When the numbers update
- Each time you open Today, Mova reads Health again (at most every 10 minutes, and always straight after a walk you finished in Mova).
- Pull down on Today to read Health right now.
- Some activity may still be syncing means the last read was a while ago, or didn’t work. Pull down to refresh.
Your phone may take a few minutes to add new steps to Health, especially steps from a watch.
Your days
Days follow your phone’s own date and time zone, from midnight to midnight. If you travel, recent days are recalculated in your new time zone.
Each time, Mova reads about the last two weeks (or back to the start of the month, if that’s earlier). That includes the first time you connect, so your recent days appear straight away. It doesn’t import anything older.
What Mova shows besides steps
| On Today | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Steps | Health’s daily total, plus Mova walks Health hasn’t counted yet |
| Distance | Health’s distance. From Health. May include running or other activities. |
| Walking time | Mova’s estimate: minutes with a walking rhythm in Health’s step data |
| Active calories | Mova’s estimate from your walking and the weight in your profile |
More in How distance, walking time and calories are worked out.
Days without data
If Health has nothing readable for a day, for example when your phone stayed at home, Mova shows No step data for this day. It doesn’t count against you: the day isn’t treated as zero steps. See Days marked “No step data”.
More than one phone
Today always shows the steps on the phone you’re holding. For past days, Mova uses the best data from your phones without adding them together; a day that came from another phone says Synced from your Mova account.
Didn’t solve it?
Email support@movawalk.com. From the app, Profile & settings › Help & support › Contact support adds your app version and support reference.