Apple Watch - Counting steps while using a treadmill desk or under-desk treadmill

Hi there,

There were a couple of old topics I saw on this topic, but saw they never got answered. I did find a solution, but it has a caveat– you have to carry your iPhone in your pocket while walking on the treadmill and this affects how your steps are tracked generally.

On your iPhone, go to Health > Steps > Data Sources & Access

After it loads, tap 'Edit' in the top-right corner. Then scroll down to 'Data Sources' and re-order them so that your iPhone is on top, followed by your watch.

This prioritizes your iPhone to be the primary source for steps. This means that whenever you are wearing your watch and carrying your iPhone, Apple Health will draw the steps from your iPhone (but will still draw steps from the watch when you aren't carrying your iPhone). I find this better, if you are carrying something or pushing a shopping cart, your arms won't be swinging to give steps for the watch to record. Would be interested if there are advantages to prioritizing the watch over the phone, please let me know if you have some.

Hope this helps!