How to get paid to walk with an Apple Watch or other smartwatch

How watch steps reach apps that pay you to walk

Most apps that pay you to walk never talk to your watch directly. Your watch sends its steps to a health app on your phone, and the walking app reads them from there. So if you want to get paid to walk with a watch on your wrist, the question is whether your watch's steps end up in the health app your walking app reads.

• Apple Watch. Apple says the Health app on iPhone counts your steps on its own, and a paired Apple Watch automatically tracks your Activity. When both record steps, Health sorts the data by source, and by default it puts your iPhone and Apple Watch ahead of other apps and devices.
• Fitbit. Fitbit's app is now called Google Health. Google's help pages say it can share data, including steps, with Health Connect on Android and with Apple Health on iPhone once you turn that connection on in the app.
• Galaxy Watch. Samsung says Galaxy Watch data goes to the Samsung Health app on your phone, and Samsung Health syncs activity data such as steps with Health Connect once you allow it.
• Other watches. Look in your watch app's settings for an Apple Health or Health Connect option. If its steps never reach those apps, a walking app that reads them can't see those steps either.

Watch steps don't always arrive right away. Samsung, for example, says syncing between a Galaxy Watch and Samsung Health follows its own schedule to save battery, so give your watch a moment to sync before you check your count.

How to get paid to walk with a watch in AHEALTH

AHEALTH, formerly Moneywalk, is a free iPhone and Android app that counts your steps with your phone, so a watch is optional. If you wear one, here's how to let its steps count:

1. Update the app. Counting steps from Apple Health or Health Connect needs AHEALTH version 2.8 or later.
2. Make sure your watch syncs to Apple Health or Health Connect. An Apple Watch does this on its own. On Android, turn on Health Connect syncing in your watch's app. Health Connect is built into the phone's settings on Android 14 and later, and on older versions you get it from Google Play.
3. Connect it in AHEALTH. When the app offers to connect Apple Health or Health Connect, tap Connect and allow access to Steps. Your phone's permission screen lists each type of data, and you choose what to share.
4. Walk as usual. If Apple Health or Health Connect shows more steps for the day than your phone counted, AHEALTH uses the higher number. It doesn't add the two counts together.
5. Claim your step points. Tap Claim on the home screen to turn the day's steps into points. Each day's step points are claimed that day.

New U.S. accounts earn 1 point for every 100 steps, up to 10,000 steps a day, plus up to 60 bonus points a day from step coins, and 1,000 points = $1 in the Gift Shop. Features and rates can vary by account and can change over time. See how AHEALTH rewards work.

How popular walking apps handle watch steps

Here's how five apps that pay you to walk treat steps from a watch, based on each app's own help pages and store listings.

A watch changes how many of your steps get counted, not what each step is worth, and each app's daily limit still applies. For what a 10,000-step day earns in each app, see apps that pay you to walk compared.

Does a watch help you earn more?

Sometimes. A watch stays on your wrist, so it counts steps your phone misses, like when your phone is charging, sitting on a desk or left in a bag. On days like that, a watch can push your count higher, and in AHEALTH the higher count is the one used.

It won't raise the ceiling. In AHEALTH, base step points stop at 10,000 steps a day whether the steps come from your phone or your watch, and the two counts aren't added together. If your phone already catches most of your steps, a watch may add little or nothing to your points.

The bigger payoff may be the walking itself. A 2022 umbrella review in The Lancet Digital Health, covering 39 systematic reviews and about 164,000 participants, found that activity trackers increased physical activity by roughly 1,800 steps a day on average.

No watch? You don't need one. Your phone counts your steps on its own, as explained in rewards apps that work without a wearable.

If your watch steps don't show up

• Check the health app first. Open Apple Health or Health Connect and look at today's steps. If your watch's steps aren't there, the gap is between your watch and that app, not your walking app.
• On iPhone, turn on Fitness Tracking. Apple says that if Health doesn't track steps, you should make sure Fitness Tracking is on for your Apple Watch: in the Health app, tap your profile, then Devices, your Apple Watch and Privacy Settings.
• On Android, check Health Connect permissions. Your watch's app needs permission to share steps with Health Connect, and your walking app needs permission to read them. On Android 14 and later, Google says you'll find Health Connect in Settings under Security and privacy.
• Sync before the day ends. Open your watch's app so it syncs, then open your walking app. In AHEALTH, each day's step points are claimed that day, so steps that arrive after midnight won't add to the day before.
• Keep your phone with you anyway. Your phone's own count is the backup when your watch is off your wrist or out of battery.

Make your walks count for your health

Points are a small bonus on top of the real benefit. The CDC says adults need at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week, such as 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, and that you can break it into smaller chunks. It also says some physical activity is better than none.

If you have a health condition or haven't been active for a while, talk with your doctor before you start a new exercise routine.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

• Get paid to walkHow to get paid to walk with the phone you already have, what apps that pay you to walk really pay and how to tell a legit one from a waste of time.
• Rewards apps without a wearableIs AHEALTH free, what an iPhone or Android phone tracks on its own, which habits you log yourself and what a watch adds if you already wear one.
• Step counter without a smartwatchHow your iPhone or Android phone counts steps on its own, how accurate it is compared with wearables and how to make sure your walks show up in your total.

All AHEALTH guides