A step counter competition app where the steps are verified
Stepr is a step counter competition app for iPhone. Instead of a total-steps leaderboard, it runs a survival league: day one needs 2,000 steps, every day the goal rises by 250, and anyone under it when the day ends is eliminated. Steps come from the phone's motion sensor and Apple Health and are signed by the device, so the competition cannot be won by typing.
Two kinds of step competition
Leaderboard competitions rank everyone by total steps over a week or a month. They are simple, and they are decided early: after three days the order rarely changes and the middle of the table stops looking. Cheating is also easy, because most apps let you add steps or sync from a source nobody checks.
Survival competitions ask a different question each day: did you clear today's bar? Everyone who did is still in, whatever their total. The field shrinks, the bar climbs, and the last one walking wins. Stepr is built around this second kind.
How Stepr verifies steps
The app reads the iPhone's motion sensor and Apple Health, which is where an Apple Watch, Garmin or Fitbit already writes its steps. It sends only daily and hourly totals to the server, and each report is signed with Apple's App Attest so it can only come from a genuine copy of the app. There is no manual entry screen at all.
Everyone in the league can see which kind of device recorded each competitor's steps, and steps excluded from the count, with the reason, are visible to the player. Raw health samples never leave the phone.
Rules that settle arguments
The day ends at midnight in the league's time zone, not each player's. Steps sync in the background, and at 9 pm the app tells you plainly if you are short. When the day closes, anyone below the goal is out. If the final players all miss on the same day, the one with the most total steps wins. Only today and yesterday can ever change, so a late sync from a watch still counts but last week cannot be rewritten.
- Default ladder: 2,000 steps on day one, +250 a day
- Up to 100 competitors, solo, duo or team
- Free passes in League Pro leagues forgive a missed day
- Ties broken by total steps
Price
Competing is free. Hosting a league is $18.99 once (League Pro) or $9.99 a month / $49.99 a year (Host Pro) for unlimited leagues, and free for everyone during launch. There are no cash pots; the prize is being the last one walking.
Questions people ask
What is the best step competition app for friends?
It depends on the format you want. For a total-steps leaderboard most fitness apps will do. For a competition that stays close and cannot be gamed, Stepr runs a survival league with a rising daily goal and steps that are read from the iPhone and signed by the device, so nobody can type a number.
Can Apple Watch, Garmin and Fitbit steps count?
Yes, as long as the device writes its steps to Apple Health, which all three do. Stepr reads Health and the iPhone's motion sensor and shows the league which device type recorded each count.
Can I add steps manually in Stepr?
No. There is no manual entry. That is the point of the app: every competitor's steps come from a sensor, signed by the phone.
Start a league
Free to join. Share one code, and the last one walking wins.
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Last updated September 2026