How to Add a Step Counter Widget to Your iPhone Lock Screen

To add a step counter widget to an iPhone Lock Screen: touch and hold the Lock Screen, tap Customize, select the widget area under the clock, and choose a Steps widget from a pedometer app such as Wobble. Apple’s built-in Health app doesn’t provide a step-count Lock Screen widget, so the widget comes from a third-party app, which then reads your step count from the Health app automatically.

How to Add a Step Counter Widget to Your iPhone Lock Screen

1. Touch and hold anywhere on the Lock Screen until the customization options appear.
2. Tap Customize, then choose the Lock Screen you want to edit.
3. Tap the widget area under the clock (some layouts call this the widget stack).
4. Scroll or search for a step-tracking widget. Apple’s Health app doesn’t list one, so look for a third-party pedometer app that supports Lock Screen widgets.
5. Tap the widget to add it, then tap Done in the corner.
6. Grant the app Health access if prompted. This is required the first time a step widget is added.

This works on any iPhone running iOS 16 or later, which is when Apple introduced Lock Screen widgets. To remove or swap a widget later, repeat the same touch-and-hold, tap the widget, and either drag it out of the stack or replace it with a different one. Nothing about the process requires opening the step-tracking app itself once the widget is set up.

Why Lock Screen Widgets Are Always Black and White

Apple’s design rules for Lock Screen widgets require them to render in a single tint that matches the Lock Screen, not full color. This applies to every app, including Apple’s own Fitness widget, so a step counter widget in the Lock Screen slot will always look monochrome no matter which app it comes from.

Apps that want to show steps in full color use a Live Activity instead, a larger card that appears above the Lock Screen widgets while a session is active. Wobble, for example, shows a plain single-color step widget in the regular Lock Screen widget slot, and a separate full-color pet card as a Live Activity, plus a Dynamic Island view, once you start it.

The Lock Screen widget family also comes in three fixed shapes, and which one you pick changes how much information fits. The circular widget is best for a single number or a simple progress ring. The rectangular widget has room for a short label alongside the number, such as a step count and a goal. The inline widget sits in the small text row just above the clock and works well when you only want steps visible at a glance without taking up dedicated widget space.

Lock Screen Widgets vs. Home Screen Widgets

Wobble’s small, medium and large Home Screen widgets include Pat and Snack buttons you can tap directly from the Home Screen, something the monochrome Lock Screen widgets don’t support. You can see how both look on the Wobble homepage.

Apps With a Step Counter Widget

Apple’s built-in apps don’t cover this. The Health app doesn’t offer a step-count Lock Screen widget, and the Fitness app’s Lock Screen widget shows your Activity rings rather than a step number. Seeing a step count on the Lock Screen means installing a third-party app that provides one.

If you’d rather your step count fed a character instead of a plain number, we compared several of those apps in apps that turn your steps into a pet. Whichever app you pick, the widget only works once it has been granted Health access for Steps, so that permission screen during setup is worth reading rather than dismissing.

If the Widget Stops Updating

A Lock Screen widget that’s stuck on an old number is almost always a permissions or background-refresh issue rather than a broken widget. Check that the app still has Health access for Steps, and that Background App Refresh is on for it in Settings. If you also wear an Apple Watch, the Health app may be treating it as the primary step source instead of the iPhone, which can make a Lock Screen number look lower than expected even though tracking itself is working correctly. We cover every cause, including Apple Watch step duplication and Motion & Fitness settings, in iPhone not counting steps.

Wobble puts a step counter widget on your Lock Screen and a small pet on your Home Screen that gets rounder if you skip days. Get Wobble on the App Store.

Sources

• Apple Support: How to add and edit widgets on your iPhone — https://support.apple.com/en-us/118610
• Apple Support: Share your data in Health on iPhone — https://support.apple.com/en-us/guide/iphone/iph5ede58c3d/ios