Why your step counter stops when the screen is off, and how to fix it

Short answer: most of the time Android is pausing the app to save battery, or the app counts steps itself instead of reading the phone’s step sensor. Allowing unrestricted battery use and physical activity access fixes the first cause. Choosing a pedometer that reads the hardware step counter fixes the second.

Reviews of step counter apps say it bluntly: “it shuts down the minute your phone screen goes off”, “steps stopped counting at 116”, “it only tracks if you have your device in your hand”. These all have the same few causes.

Cause 1: Android pauses apps in the background

When the screen is off, Android limits what apps can do so the battery lasts. Doze mode and app standby delay background work, and many manufacturers add their own layer on top — lists of “sleeping” or “restricted” apps that are stopped after a while. An app that needs to be running to count will simply stop.

Cause 2: the app counts steps itself

Some pedometers listen to the accelerometer and detect steps in their own code. That only works while the app stays alive. Most Android phones also include a dedicated step counter sensor that keeps a running total by itself, in low-power hardware. An app that reads that total can be closed for hours and still get every step when it next checks.

Cause 3: an ad or a crash resets the count

“My counting stop while exercise because of advertisement. After the advertisements it’s reset” is a real review. If today’s number only lives in memory, anything that restarts the app loses it. A good pedometer saves the count to storage on the phone so nothing on screen can wipe it.

What to check, in order

  1. Physical activity permission. Settings → Apps → your pedometer → Permissions → Physical activity → Allow. Without it, Android does not let the app read the step sensor at all.
  2. Battery: unrestricted. Settings → Apps → your pedometer → Battery → Unrestricted (the name varies by phone, such as “Don’t optimise”).
  3. Remove it from sleeping app lists. Some phones put apps to sleep automatically. Look in battery or device care settings and add the app to “never sleeping” if the option exists.
  4. Power saving mode. Aggressive power saving can stop background updates. Try with it off for a day.
  5. Check the phone has a step sensor. A few low-cost phones do not. A sensor-based pedometer should tell you when it is missing.

A quick test

Note the number, lock the phone, put it in a trouser pocket and walk a counted 100 steps. Unlock and open the app. A small difference is normal because every device estimates steps from motion. A number that barely moved means one of the causes above is still in the way.

Walkmint

Walkmint reads Android’s hardware step counter, so the counting happens in the sensor rather than in the app. It syncs about every 15 minutes and whenever you open it, and saves each day to the phone, so an ad cannot reset it. If a phone still holds back updates, Settings → “Steps not counting?” shows whether the sensor and permission are present and opens the battery settings directly.

Coming soon to Google Play · About Walkmint