Popular fitness tracker Whoop is finally adding Steps tracking to its line of wearables after almost a decade, a remarkable about-face and a feature users have been clamoring for.
The company announced the move this week, revealing that Steps will allow Whoop users to track daily steps, set movement goals, and view trends over time.
Since its launch in 2015, Whoop has purposefully eschewed step tracking, the company noting “it was considered a less precise measure of overall health.”
However, Whoop now says that recent studies from 2022 and 2023 “have shown that daily step counts are closely linked to reduced risks of illnesses such as heart disease, obesity, and depression.” The company says that in response to these findings and feedback from its members, the company is adding Steps to Whoop.
Steps finally arrive on Whoop
Whoop says Steps, available now to all Whoop members, will track movement automatically, displaying a step count in the My Dashboard section of the home page on the app. Users will also get weekly, monthly, and twice-yearly trends, as well as notifications for records.
Taking to X, CEO Will Ahmed revealed why he changed his mind on Steps are he “spent a decade bashing the metric.”
Beyond research linking step counts to improved health, he said that “members really wanted it” and that “I got tired of hearing that people would wear another device in addition to Whoop solely to get Steps, which is a lousy member experience.”
Ahmed further added that Whoop’s Strain metric, a measurement of cardiovascular and muscular exertion, would not be affected by the addition of Steps, adding “We can measure Steps AND Strain. It doesn’t need to be an OR. Members who want it can use it, others can remove it.”
Steps is available now to all Whoop members as a beta, with updates on the way in the coming months.
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stephen.warwick@futurenet.com (Stephen Warwick)
