A step challenge app for friends where the last one walking wins

Why most friend step challenges fizzle

The usual group step challenge is a screenshot contest. Someone posts their step count in the chat, someone else forgets, a third person is suspiciously at 30,000 every day, and by week two nobody is posting. Leaderboards ranked by total steps have the same flaw: whoever walks the most on day one is already out of reach and everyone else quietly stops caring.

Stepr fixes both problems with the format. There is no total-steps leaderboard to run away with, only a daily bar that everyone has to clear. And there is nothing to post, because the app reads the steps itself.

How a Stepr league works

The commissioner opens a lobby, sets the starting goal and the daily increment (2,000 and +250 by default), and sends the invite code to the group. Everyone joins from their own iPhone.

Each day has one job: clear the bar before the day ends in the league's time zone. Steps sync in the background and the app tells you when tonight is locked in; if you are still short at 9 pm, it says so. When the day closes, anyone below the goal is eliminated. The league ends when one player is left. If the last players all fall on the same day, the one with the most total steps takes it.

• Up to 100 players per league
• Invite-only, by six-character code
• Goal climbs every day, so the first week is easy and the third is not
• Duo and team lobbies for people who would rather survive together

Counted, not typed

Steps come from the iPhone's motion sensor and Apple Health. An Apple Watch, Garmin or Fitbit that writes to Health counts too. The app sends only daily and hourly totals, signed by the phone with Apple's App Attest, so the server can tell the report came from a real copy of Stepr. Nothing can be entered by hand, and everyone in the league can see which kind of device recorded each person's count.

What it costs

Joining a league is always free, and there are no cash pots or money held. Hosting is where the small price sits: League Pro is $18.99 once for a single league with up to 100 players, duo and team lobbies, a few free passes each and a season recap. Host Pro is $9.99 a month or $49.99 a year if you run leagues all the time. During launch, hosting is free for everyone.

Starting one tonight

Sign up, tap Start a league, pick a start date a day or two out so people can join, and paste the code into the group chat. Tell people to open Stepr once on the first morning so the Health permission is granted before the first day counts.

Questions people ask

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