Skip to main content
Tech Radar TechRadar the technology experts
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
RSS
Asia
flag of Singapore
Singapore
Europe
flag of Danmark
Danmark
flag of Suomi
Suomi
flag of Norge
Norge
flag of Sverige
Sverige
flag of UK
UK
flag of Italia
Italia
flag of Nederland
Nederland
flag of België (Nederlands)
België (Nederlands)
flag of France
France
flag of Deutschland
Deutschland
flag of España
España
North America
flag of US (English)
US (English)
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of México
México
Australasia
flag of Australia
Australia
flag of New Zealand
New Zealand
  • Phones
  • Computing
  • TVs
  • AI
  • Streaming
  • Health
  • Audio
  • VPN
  • More
    • Cameras
    • Home
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Opinion
    • How to
    • Versus
    • Deals
    • Coupons
    • Best
Tech Radar Pro
Tech Radar Gaming
Trending
  • Amazon Prime Day
  • Back to school
  • Nintendo Switch 2
  • Best VPN
  • ChatGPT
  • NYT Wordle today
  • Best laptop
  • Best web hosting
Recommended reading
Google Fit
Android These are the 7 best fitness apps for Android (that aren't Strava)
The Samsung Galaxy Ring in a charging case
Fitness Trackers I test smartwatches for a living, but I'm sick of screens on my wrist – here are 5 discreet fitness trackers I'd recommend
Fitness Trackers Forget smartwatches: 5 reasons I think simple fitness trackers are due to make a comeback in 2025
Whoop Strap 3.0
Health & Fitness From Garmin to Whoop and Polar, the rise in fitness tech subscriptions is a sign that one day we'll own nothing
The Strava app on an iPhone 15 Pro
Fitness Apps 5 fitness apps powered by AI that you can download right now
Google Pixel Watch 3 on TechRadar background
Smartwatches The best Android smartwatch 2025
Whoop MG worn on man's wrist on street
Fitness Trackers I've been wearing the Whoop MG for four days, and there's one thing I love about it – and one thing I really don't
  1. Health & Fitness
  2. Smartwatches

How to turn your Android Wear watch into a fitness watch

How-to
By Andrew Williams published 26 August 2015

Wear your way to wonderful wellness

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Strap-on fitness can be yours

Strap-on fitness can be yours

Smartwatches seem like they should be the perfect exercise tools. They live on your wrist, you wear them most of the day and they have way more sensors and tech smarts than any normal watch.

However, they're not. Sorry to burst your bubble. But they can be if you listen to us…

Almost all Android Wear watches need a bit of help to monitor the information required to make them a top-tier exercise tracker. Here's our guide to turning yours into an indispensable running or cycling accessory...

Page 1 of 6
Page 1 of 6
1: What it can do and what it can't

1: What it can do and what it can't

Virtually all Android Wear watches lack the one feature that stars in every mid-range or high-end dedicated runner's watch: GPS. This is the transmitter that talks to satellites in Earth's orbit – US-owned ones for the GPS network, and Russian ones if you're lucky enough to have GLONASS too.

As the Sony SmartWatch 3 is the only current Android Wear watch with GPS, you either have to make do without, or hook up to your Android phone – it will have GPS, trust us.

Sans GPS, your Android Wear watch will use its accelerometer and gyroscope to count your steps, using that data to extrapolate your speed and distance. The integrated Google Fit app can handle that. Clever algorithms make this reasonably accurate, but not close to what's possible with GPS on board. So let's find out how to bridge the gap...

Page 2 of 6
Page 2 of 6
2: Picking an app

2: Picking an app

The main thing to do is find an Android Wear app that hooks into a full-blown Android phone app that supports GPS exercise-tracking. There are several top-quality apps like this that enable an Android Wear smartwatch to function as a second screen, displaying pretty much everything a Garmin Forerunner watch might while leaving your phone to do virtually all of the actual leg work.

Apps we love that facilitate this sort of operation include:

Runkeeper: Perhaps the most popular runners' app. It's free, but there's a subscription option (£7.99/$9.99/AU$12.99 per month or £29.99/$39.99/AU$49.99 per year) if you want super-advanced features like long-form workout plans.

Strava: Generally considered a cycling app, but Strava can handle runs just as easily too.

MapMyRun: A mid-tier running app, but still a cracking package.

Runtastic: Battles with Runkeeper for the title of most popular running app.

Endomondo: An app that feels like it's a bit less obsessed with the higher-end athlete, being happy to advertise its walking cred.

SportsTracker: A mid-table pick with a much darker interface than most.

All of these apps are pretty great, having each had years of development put into them to smooth out the wrinkles. Your best bet is to try a few of the top picks to find out which interface you get on with best, because that's what it'll boil down to.

Page 3 of 6
Page 3 of 6
3: Downloading and installing

3: Downloading and installing

Getting the app set up on your watch is about as simple as you could imagine. Just install the relevant phone app and, once the data is synced (if in doubt put your watch on charge and it should sync), the Android Wear companion app will appear in your watch's app menu.

If you're totally green to Android Wear, you can get to this screen by swiping right to left from the watch face. If you don't see it there, double check that the app you downloaded definitely has a companion app. It's usually mentioned somewhere in the description on the app's Google Play page.

Page 4 of 6
Page 4 of 6
4: Using companion apps

4: Using companion apps

While these are called companion apps, they're pretty good at running the show. Just load the app on your Android Wear watch and it'll be more than capable of starting an exercise session on its own.

There are just a few things you need to make sure are ticked off beforehand. First, you need to be logged into the running app on your phone – this is something you do on first loading the app. These exercise trackers pretty much universally require an account, but they're always free to register.

The quickest way to do so is to log in using your Facebook ID, and then make sure the app won't post any annoying statuses on your behalf.

Now, make sure GPS is enabled on your phone. Just go to the Settings menu, find the Location entry and make sure the Location data is switched on in there.

Page 5 of 6
Page 5 of 6
5: Lugging your phone around

5: Lugging your phone around

Finally: where to carry your phone? Plenty of people run with their phone anyway – after all, it's a pretty good idea in case you injure yourself somehow.

Like to run as 'naked' as possible, at least tech-wise? Your best bet is an arm strap. Not only does it stop the phone from jumping around in your pocket, it's handy if you're going to plug in headphones too, keeping the cable out of the way.

You can find no-brand armbands on eBay for a few pounds, but it's probably worth investing in a higher-quality one like a ShockSock Eziflex or Griffin Adidas Armband. These will likely fit a bit more comfortably.

Now that you're all tooled-up, all you need is the will to get out there and go for a run.

Page 6 of 6
Page 6 of 6
Andrew Williams
Andrew Williams
Social Links Navigation

Andrew is a freelance journalist and has been writing and editing for some of the UK's top tech and lifestyle publications including TrustedReviews, Stuff, T3, TechRadar, Lifehacker and others.

See more Smartwatch How Tos
Read more
Google Fit
These are the 7 best fitness apps for Android (that aren't Strava)
The Samsung Galaxy Ring in a charging case
I test smartwatches for a living, but I'm sick of screens on my wrist – here are 5 discreet fitness trackers I'd recommend
Forget smartwatches: 5 reasons I think simple fitness trackers are due to make a comeback in 2025
Whoop Strap 3.0
From Garmin to Whoop and Polar, the rise in fitness tech subscriptions is a sign that one day we'll own nothing
The Strava app on an iPhone 15 Pro
5 fitness apps powered by AI that you can download right now
Google Pixel Watch 3 on TechRadar background
The best Android smartwatch 2025
Latest in Smartwatches
Garmin Instinct 2
The five-star Garmin Instinct 2 drops to its lowest-ever price for Prime Day
Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 front
Another major Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 leak may have revealed full specs and prices
Google Pixel Watch 3 on a wrist
A flurry of Google Pixel Watch 4 leaks point to colors, sizes, and band options
Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 front
The Samsung Galaxy Watch series' biggest flaw is something Apple nailed years ago
Garmin fēnix 7 Pro
We called the Garmin Fenix 7 Pro an "outdoor watch powerhouse" and Amazon is selling it for a record-low price
watchOS 26 running on an Apple Watch Series 10
Constantly dismissing notifications on your Apple Watch? You’re going to love Apple’s watchOS 26 latest gesture
Latest in How Tos
Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar sprint to the finish line at Stage 12 of the 2024 Tour de France.
How to watch Tour de France 2025 Stage 4 for FREE
Henry Lloyd-Hughes as DS Nathan Rose in Ragdoll
How to watch Ragdoll on BBC iPlayer (it's free)
Finn Russell of British & Irish Lions makes a break in the lead up to his side's third try, scored by Elliot Daly, left, during the tour match between Western Force and the British & Irish Lions at Optus Stadium in Perth, Australia.
Waratahs vs Lions FREE streams: How to watch British & Irish Lions tour live online from anywhere
England players singing national anthem
Argentina vs England FREE streams: How to watch 1st Test 2025 rugby live online from anywhere
Novak Djokovic plays a forehand at Wimbledon 2025
How to watch Evans vs Djokovic online: live stream Wimbledon 2025 tennis FREE
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell go head-to-head at the Austrian GP.
How to watch British Grand Prix F1 on Channel 4 today (it's free)
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. 1
    Rising prices of DDR4, DDR5, GDDR6 RAM set to cause havoc on PC, smartphone and GPU prices - and no, AI is not the one to be blamed
  2. 2
    Sony’s new Dolby Atmos soundbar has hit a record-low price for Amazon Prime Day
  3. 3
    Amazon Prime Day is here – and ExpressVPN's Aircove routers got 30% off
  4. 4
    Save $450 off this Alienware laptop with Nvidia RTX 5090 — at $3,500, it’s barely more expensive than a GPU, and creators will love it
  5. 5
    My favorite Bluetooth speaker is heavily discounted for Prime Day – and it's an absolute beauty from Bose

TechRadar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Contact Us
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Web notifications
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...