Add treadmill steps to Apple Health on iPhone

Q: Does Also save as a walk add calories?

No. The app never writes calories or active energy. Also save as a walk only adds a walking workout over the same minutes, holding the same steps and distance, so the session also appears among your workouts in Health.

Q: Can I log a treadmill run?

Yes, with Custom Walk (PRO): set Pace to 7 km/h or higher and the running rule applies, 1,000 steps per km. 5 km at 8 km/h writes 5,000 steps over 38 minutes.

Q: Can I add a treadmill walk from yesterday?

Yes. Before opening Custom Walk or tapping a distance, change Ended at to the time you stepped off the belt. Anything up to a week old is accepted.

Does the iPhone count steps on a treadmill?

It counts the movement it feels, and that depends on where you put it. In a trouser pocket, a phone can pick up most of a treadmill session; left in the console's cup holder, the same session might log only a handful of steps for a 40-minute run. Either way, the distance Health estimates from those steps rarely matches the treadmill display.

Which option fits your session?

Distance buttons on Home: 2KM, 5KM and 7KM are free, 10KM and 12KM need PRO. Each is written as a walk at a fixed 4 km/h with exactly that distance.
Custom Walk (PRO): Distance from 0.5 to 25 km and Pace from 2 to 12 km/h, both in steps of 0.5, to match the treadmill.
Custom amount (free): type a step count if a watch or the treadmill shows one.

How to add a treadmill walk with Custom Walk

Note the distance and average speed on the treadmill before it resets.
Logging later? On Home, set Ended at to the time you stepped off.
Tap Custom Walk and set Distance and Pace.
Read the Summary: it previews the steps and the minutes.
Tap Add to Health. Free users can use a distance button instead.
Optional: in Settings, under Walks, turn on Also save as a walk so every log is also saved as a walking workout.

Worked examples: what goes into Health

Steps come from the distance: a walking pace gets 1,300 per km, and from 7 km/h up the count drops to 1,000 per km because running strides are longer. Time is distance divided by pace; the Summary rounds it to the minute, Health gets the exact figure.

Custom Walk results for typical treadmill sessions
Treadmill shows	Steps written	Time (Summary)	Rule used
3 km at 5 km/h	3,900	36 min	walking
4.5 km at 5.5 km/h	5,850	49 min	walking
6 km at 6 km/h	7,800	60 min	walking
3 km at 7.5 km/h	3,000	24 min	running
5 km at 8 km/h	5,000	38 min	running

The distance buttons use the walking rule at 4 km/h: 2KM writes 2,600 steps over 30 minutes, 5KM writes 6,500 steps over 75 minutes and 7KM writes 9,100 steps over 105 minutes.

If your treadmill shows miles

The app works in kilometres only. One mile is 1.609344 km, so a 2-mile walk is 3.219 km. Custom Walk moves in 0.5 km steps, so its closest setting is 3.0 km, which writes 3,900 steps.

For a closer match, even on the free version, convert to steps and type them: 2 miles × 1.609344 × 1,300 = 4,184 steps. Enter 4,184 in Custom amount and tap Add; the app saves 4,184 ÷ 1,300 = 3.218 km, which is 2.0 miles. Choose 1 hour under Spread over if you walked about that long.

Tips before you log

Open Health first. If the phone was in your pocket and already counted the session, adding it again counts it twice.
Use the treadmill's own figures, not a guess. The step rule is fixed and your stride may differ.
PokeT-Walk does not connect to the treadmill or read its data; you type what it shows.
Declining the workout permission is fine: the steps and distance still save, only the workout is skipped.

Questions and answers

Why didn't my iPhone count my treadmill steps?

The phone counts steps from the motion it feels. On the treadmill console or in a bag it barely moves, so it records few or none. Logging the treadmill's distance fills the gap.

Does Also save as a walk add calories?

No. The app never writes calories or active energy. Also save as a walk only adds a walking workout over the same minutes, holding the same steps and distance, so the session also appears among your workouts in Health.

Can I log a treadmill run?

Yes, with Custom Walk (PRO): set Pace to 7 km/h or higher and the running rule applies, 1,000 steps per km. 5 km at 8 km/h writes 5,000 steps over 38 minutes.

Can I add a treadmill walk from yesterday?

Yes. Before opening Custom Walk or tapping a distance, change Ended at to the time you stepped off the belt. Anything up to a week old is accepted.

Km to steps: a walking and running chart from 1 to 12 km · PokeT-Walk
Log a treadmill walk or run as a real workout in Apple Health · Fit as

How to add treadmill steps to Apple Health when your iPhone missed them