How to Count Steps on a Walking Pad While Typing (and Close Your Rings)

You bought a Walking Pad. You set up your standing desk. You felt great about walking 5 kilometers during that two-hour Zoom meeting.

Then you looked at your Apple Watch.

Steps: 142. Move Ring: Unchanged.

If you are a remote worker or developer using an under-desk treadmill, you know this pain intimately. You are doing the work, but your technology thinks you are sitting on the couch.

Here is why this happens, and the three ways you can fix it (ranked from "free and annoying" to "the pro solution").

The Problem: It’s Not You, It’s the Accelerometer

Your Apple Watch (and most wrist wearables like Fitbit or Garmin) relies heavily on arm swing to detect steps. When you are walking down the street, your arms swing naturally. The accelerometer detects this rhythmic motion and counts a step.

But when you are using a treadmill desk, your hands are anchored to the keyboard. Your upper body is statistically stationary while your legs are moving.

To the Apple Watch algorithm, stationary hands = stationary person.

So, how do we get the credit we deserve?

Solution 1: The "Phone in Sock" Hack

Go to any Reddit thread about this topic, and this is the top comment.

How it works: You take your iPhone, put it inside your tube sock (against your ankle), and let the phone’s internal pedometer count the steps. Since the phone is on your moving leg, it counts accurately.

• Pros: It costs €0.
• Cons:
  • It’s gross. Do you really want your €1,200 device sweating against your ankle?
  • It stretches your socks.
  • You disappear. You can’t see notifications, answer calls, or use 2FA apps while your phone is in your sock.
  • The "Pocket Launch": I once accidentally called emergency services because my sock pressed the side button.

Solution 2: The Ankle Strap for Apple Watch

You can buy a velcro extension strap to move your Apple Watch from your wrist to your ankle.

• Pros: It counts steps accurately.
• Cons:
  • No Heart Rate Data: The watch sensors are tuned for wrist skin, not the bony part of your ankle (or through a sock).
  • No Mac Unlock: You lose the ability to unlock your MacBook with your watch.
  • The "Dignity" Factor: You have to take your watch off and strap it to your leg every time you start working. It’s a friction point that breaks your flow.

Solution 3: A Dedicated Foot Sensor (The "Set and Forget" Way)

This is why I built StepSprite.

I am a web developer from Bulgaria. I spent months frustrated by the options above. I didn't want to put my phone in my sock, and I didn't want to install sketchy apps from treadmill manufacturers that ask for my GPS location just to track an indoor walk.

I needed a device that was:

1. Passive: Put it on the shoe/ankle once and leave it there.
2. Privacy-First: No accounts, no cloud, no GPS.
3. Native: Writes directly to Apple Health (or Health Connect on Android) so my rings close automatically.

Meet StepSprite

StepSprite is an Open Hardware Development Kit designed specifically for the "low impact shuffle" of treadmill desk users.

It clips onto your shoe or ankle. It talks directly to your phone via Bluetooth Low Energy. It backfills your step data into HealthKit every time it syncs.

• Accuracy: It uses a specialized IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) to detect leg movement, even at slow walking speeds (1-2 km/h) where other trackers sleep.
• Battery: Lasts about a week on a single charge.
• No Subscription: You buy the kit, you own it. The firmware is open source.

Stop Cheating Your Health Data

If you invested in a Walking Pad, you care about your health. Don't let the limitations of wrist-based tracking discourage you.

You can stick your phone in your sock, or you can grab a dedicated tool for the job.

Pre-order the StepSprite Dev Kit here .
(Currently shipping Batch 1 to EU/UK/CH only).