Comparison

Steps Widget vs Stepwise

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Steps Widget

Track your daily steps with customizable widgets for your iPhone and Apple Watch. Get smart nudges to help you reach your goals, with all data processed on-device for privacy and zero battery drain.

Highlights
  • Customizable widgets for iPhone and Apple Watch
  • Integrates with Apple Health
  • On-device intelligence for goal prediction
  • Smart notifications and nudges
  • Real-time step count display
  • Privacy-first data handling
  • Zero battery drain
Features
Read full description

You spend most of your day sitting. You know walking is good for you, but between work, meetings, and life, it’s easy to forget. And most fitness apps ask for a big commitment: workout plans, memberships, calorie counts. Steps Widget asks for much less. It puts your step count where your eyes already go, on your Home Screen, Lock Screen, and StandBy, and gives you a gentle nudge only when you’ve been sitting a little too long. Not every hour. Not on a fixed schedule. A few hundred extra steps here and there soon become part of your day, and those small moments add up. You don’t need to become a different person. Just move a little more today than yesterday. That’s how habits begin. DESIGN IT YOUR WAY A step counter you find ugly ends up on page three, and a buried reminder is no reminder. The style editor lets you pick colors, gradients, and layouts, give light and dark mode their own look, and save your favorite styles to reuse on any widget. Or pick a photo you love: Steps Widget can pull a matching palette from it, or place the photo right behind your step count. THE SMART NUDGE When glancing isn’t enough, Nudge steps in. It learns your routine right on your device and shows up once, only when you’ve actually gone still. One nudge, when it’s earned, and nothing otherwise. Don’t like how a reminder reads? Rewrite it yourself, or let Apple Intelligence reword it on your device. WHEN YOU WANT THE LATEST NUMBER iOS decides when widgets refresh, so your widget catches up through the day rather than the second you walk. When you want to watch the number climb, open the app for a count straight from your iPhone's motion sensor, or use the Apple Watch app to follow your steps as you go. NEW: SHARE YOUR STEPS AND YOUR STYLE Send today’s steps, your widget, or a style you made into any conversation, with a note of your own. In Messages, a step ranking shows who has walked the most today. KEY FEATURES • Beautiful Widgets: Home Screen, Lock Screen, and StandBy, with ring, chart, gauge, and compact layouts. • Style Editor: Colors, gradients, and light and dark looks, saved as your own styles. • Photo Styles: Turn any photo into a palette or a widget background. • Smart Nudges: Learns your routine, alerts you only when you’re inactive, in wording you can edit. • Motion Sensor Count: The app reads your iPhone's sensor for a fresher number. • Standalone Apple Watch App: Runs on its own, with complications and move reminders on your wrist. • Insights: Your week, your past year, your best day, and where today will land. • Siri and Shortcuts: Ask whether you’re on track, or drop your steps into a shortcut. • Guilt-Free Tracking: No streaks to lose, no maps, no noise. Just a clean step counter. NO GPS. BARELY ANY BATTERY. Your iPhone already counts steps with its built-in motion sensors through Apple Health. Steps Widget simply shows that data—no background GPS tracking, no constant polling, no battery drain. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your health data stays on your device. The app collects no personal identity information. FREE TO START Default widget styles and goal reminders are free. A subscription is only needed to change your style with the style editor or photo styles, and the style you built stays on your widgets when a subscription ends. See your steps, get a gentle nudge. Move a little more every day. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Can I set my own daily walking goal? Yes. Pick the number of steps a day that suits you, and the progress ring fills as you walk toward it. Why doesn’t my widget update the moment I walk? iOS schedules widget refreshes, so the number catches up through the day. For an up-to-the-minute count, open the app or use the Apple Watch app. Do I need an Apple Watch? No. Steps Widget works on iPhone alone using Apple Health step data. With an Apple Watch you also get complications and move reminders on your wrist. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Stepwise

Features
Read full description

Your steps. One huge number. Nothing else in the way. Stepwise is a step counter for people who just want to know how far they have walked today — without dashboards, feeds, sign-ups, or a tutorial to sit through. Open it and the number is already there, big enough to read at arm's length. WHAT YOU GET • Today's steps, huge and instant Your step count fills the screen in a clean, rounded typeface you can read in a glance while walking. The number animates as it climbs, so you can watch it move. • Draw your steps on your own map Tap the orange Record button and a blank map fills in behind you as you walk, one road at a time. It keeps recording with the screen locked, and a Live Activity on your Lock Screen shows your time, distance and steps, with a Stop button. See how many new roads you have found, save the walk to My map, and watch it grow. Show faint streets or a colorful map under your trail, or keep it blank. • Distance, automatically in your units Right below your steps you get the distance you have covered, in kilometres or miles depending on your region. No settings to dig through. • A daily goal that actually celebrates you Set any goal from 1,000 to 100,000 steps. Hit it and the screen bursts into confetti — once a day, when you have earned it. Not a badge buried in a profile tab. • Home Screen widget Small, medium, or large. Your step count sits on your Home Screen and stays current, so most days you never need to open the app at all. • Hour-by-hour stats Tap Stats for a clean bar chart of today and yesterday, broken down by hour. See when you actually move — the morning commute, the afternoon slump, the evening walk — and compare today against yesterday at the same hour. • Light and dark, your call Follow your system appearance or lock it to light or dark from the menu. BUILT ON APPLE HEALTH Stepwise reads your step count from Apple Health, so it counts the steps your iPhone is already recording — including the ones you took before you installed it. There is no separate tracker running in the background and no extra battery drain from a second counter. If you carry your phone, your steps are counted. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • No account, no sign-up, no email • Your step history stays on your device • Location is used only while you record a walk, and your trails stay on your device • Read-only access to Health — Stepwise never writes to your Health data • Everything is saved only on your device, and ads follow your tracking choice WHO IT IS FOR If you have tried a fitness app and quit because it wanted your weight, your goals, your notifications and your subscription before showing you a single number — this is the opposite of that. Stepwise does one thing. Walk, glance, done. Whether you are working toward 10,000 steps a day, keeping a walking habit alive, getting back on your feet after an injury, or just curious how far you actually go in a day, Stepwise keeps the number in front of you and stays out of your way. GETTING STARTED Open Stepwise and allow access to your steps in Apple Health Tap the gear icon and set your daily step goal Add the widget to your Home Screen: long-press anywhere, tap +, search for Stepwise That is the whole setup. There is no step four. Requires an iPhone with step data in Apple Health. Recording a walk uses Location. Terms of Use: https://sites.google.com/view/yoav-sabag-policy-ios/terms-of-use Privacy Policy: https://sites.google.com/view/yoav-sabag-policy-ios/privacypolicy

Screenshots

Steps Widget4 screens
Stepwise4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Steps Widget at none against Stepwise's shown. Steps Widget also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 3 weeks) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, in-app purchases and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Steps Widget sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month and Stepwise sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Steps Widget ships an update every 4 days, Stepwise every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Steps Widget versus Stepwise: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSteps WidgetStepwise
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.9 (17 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews25.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings17 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS26.0 — better26.5
Further details — not scored
Size61 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCrazyLazy OUYoav Sabag

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Steps Widget

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly1 Month trial$1.491 Month
  • Yearly$10.901 Year
1 purchases

Stepwise

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$4.99

Questions

Is Steps Widget free?
Steps Widget is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Stepwise free?
Stepwise is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Steps Widget or Stepwise have ads?
Stepwise shows ads; Steps Widget does not.
Which is updated more often, Steps Widget or Stepwise?
Steps Widget ships an update every 4 days, and Stepwise every 3 weeks. Most recently, Steps Widget was updated on October 30, 2026 and Stepwise on October 25, 2026.

Other comparisons