Why can't I add step count complication to my Apple Watch?

It's really hard for anyone in this user-to-user forum to answer "why" Apple does or does not do something. However, if you look at what Apple emphasizes in the fitness metrics on the Apple Watch, you'll see that steps is not one of them. There is no ring for steps as there is for exercise, movement or standing.

Steps is just one of many possible ways of estimating activity. It's not the one Apple chose to use.

There is an app called StepsApp that I've played with that has a nice interface and offers steps complications. I'm sure there are lots of others as well.

I contacted apple about this a long time ago and was told that the apple watch is not or ever will be a pedometer.Measuring steps is an outdated way of measuring distance traveled,10,000 steps was invented by a company that made pedometers and had to find a catchy way to sell them.

max-headroom wrote:

Measuring steps is an outdated way of measuring distance traveled,10,000 steps was invented by a company that made pedometers and had to find a catchy way to sell them.

While it is true that the number 10,000 was selected because it sounds good in Japanese and looked good on the marketing material, using steps as a metric for seeing how active you are and how much you're improving is not "out-dated." It's just one of the possible ways of doing it.

Here's an article with links to studies:

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/how-many-steps-should-you-take-a-day

Here's another perspective:

https://utswmed.org/medblog/how-many-steps-per-day/

osalinas81 wrote:

Thanks, yes I have an app called podometer++ and it has the complication, I just think that having this messurment in the native app Fitness, seems to me very odd that we can not select this to put it in our watch.. why the need of getting another app... it is just a simple number that some people wants to see instead of the distance treveled.

There are all kinds of things that Apple doesn't provide complications for. One I can think if is water intake. But that's easily added with other apps. Apple doesn't (nor should they) try to be everything to everybody.

You can certainly let Apple know what you'd like to see here:

Product Feedback - Apple

Personally, I think it's unlikely they will add one. In the ten years since the watch was released, they haven't shown any interest in providing more information on steps. In fact, they have even removed some in recent years.

But it never hurts to ask.