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PedometerPod

Count steps with your AirPods, from the Mac menu bar.

The PedometerPod app icon
PedometerPod macOS menu bar app
PedometerPod dashboard showing daily goal progress and weekly steps
PedometerPod history of walking sessions synced to Health
PedometerPod shareable step card
PedometerPod daily step goal editor

Why I built it

I walk on a treadmill at my Mac a lot. It's a great way to get steps, except nothing counted them.

When I sit down at my Mac, everything comes out of my pockets and goes on the desk. I hate walking with a phone on me. A watch on my wrist hardly moves when I'm on a walking desk. Fitness trackers have a weak spot here: most of them just don't count this kind of walking. I kept seeing people try to work around it in ridiculous ways: ankle straps for an Apple Watch, or keeping a phone in their pocket all day just so the steps count. What I always had on was AirPods.

AirPods don't count steps. But they do measure motion. So I wrote an app that turns that motion into a step count.

How it works

You start a session from a menu bar app on the Mac. It watches your AirPods and counts steps as you walk. When you stop, the session syncs to your iPhone over iCloud, and the iPhone writes it to Apple Health as an indoor walk.

Mac for recording. iPhone for Health. That split is forced by the platforms, so the app just accepts it.

How it's built

Built with SwiftUI, SwiftData, CoreMotion, CloudKit, and HealthKit.

Privacy

Sessions live on your devices and in your private iCloud. No account of mine, no server of mine.

Made with intent

Life is too short for bad software. Especially for something as simple as taking a walk at your desk.