- The "Walking Steadiness" feature on iPhone can help predict if you're at risk of falling.
- When it's enabled, Walking Steadiness will measure how well you walk, and notify you if you're unsteady.
- You can turn on Walking Steadiness notifications through your iPhone's Health app.
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When you buy a new iPhone, it's easy to brag about the upgraded cameras or fancy apps. But not as many people pay attention to the Health app, which has been steadily adding powerful new features every year. These features can track your sleep, cardio levels, and now even your walking patterns.
The Walking Steadiness feature turns your iPhone into a posture tracker. It'll measure how fast you walk, how you move your legs, and how "symmetrical" your movement is — in other words, whether one of your legs is weaker than the other. It then uses this data to predict whether you're at risk of falling in the near future.
This sort of information is useful for anyone, but it's vital for senior citizens and others with mobility issues.
If you've got an iPhone 8 or newer, and you're running at least iOS 15, you can turn on Walking Steadiness notifications in the Health app. Here's how.
How to enable Walking Steadiness notifications on your iPhone
1. Open the Health app on your iPhone and make sure that Summary is selected at the bottom.
2. Scroll down to the Get More From Health section and find the Walking Steadiness Notifications box, then tap Set Up.
3. Go through the pages that appear to confirm your age, weight, and height. These will impact how the iPhone grades your walking patterns.
4. When asked, turn on notifications. This is how the Health app will warn you about your walking.
Once you've set it up, you'll see a graph showing your walking steadiness over time. There's a chance that it'll already have data recorded, along with a grade.
Now, whenever you walk with your iPhone in your pocket or near your waist, it'll record how well you move. As your iPhone tracks your walking, it'll give you one of three grades: OK (your steadiness is good and typical), Low, and Very Low (you're unstable and at high risk of falling).
Every seven days, your iPhone will update your grade. If you get a Low or Very Low grade, it'll warn you with a notification and give tips on how to improve.