# Walking Steadiness and asymmetry on iPhone > Walking Steadiness is your iPhone's weekly estimate of how stable your walking is and your risk of falling in the next 12 months, shown as OK, Low or Very Low. It's built from walking speed, step length, double support time and walking asymmetry: the share of steps where one foot moves faster or slower than the other. - URL: https://www.getstepup.app/guides/walking-steadiness-asymmetry - Author: Dheeraj Kumar Sharma, founder of StepUp - Published: 2026-10-25 - Updated: 2026-10-25 ![An older man walking along a park path with an iPhone in his jacket pocket, with the text: Steadiness & asymmetric.](https://pub-48d2217e0886430fa61a96fad22cffa7.r2.dev/Guides/steadiness-and-asymmetric.webp) *image credit: Unsplash* Your iPhone pays attention to how you walk, not just how far. While it sits in your pocket it records your speed, how long your steps are, whether your left and right steps match, and how long both feet stay on the ground. From those it works out two numbers you'll find in Apple Health under Mobility: **Walking Asymmetry** and **Walking Steadiness**. Here's what each one means, what's normal, and what to do if one of them changes. ## What is Walking Steadiness on iPhone? Walking Steadiness is Apple's estimate of how stable your walking is, and of your risk of falling in the next 12 months because of the way you move. It arrived with iOS 15 in 2021, on iPhone 8 and later, and it's built from the walking measurements your phone already takes: - **Walking speed**, how fast you walk on flat ground. - **Step length**, the distance from one foot landing to the other. - **Double support time**, the share of each step when both feet are on the ground. - **Walking asymmetry**, how often one foot's steps are faster or slower than the other's. Apple combines these with your height, and your age and weight if you've added them. The model behind it was built with data from the Apple Heart and Movement Study, which has had more than 100,000 participants. A new score is saved about once a week, so it describes your walking that week rather than any single walk. ## What do OK, Low and Very Low mean? Health shows Walking Steadiness as a percentage, where higher is steadier, and sorts it into three groups: - **OK**: you walk like a healthy, confident walker, and your risk of falling because of how you move is low. - **Low**: your steadiness is somewhat reduced. Everyday walking is probably fine, but stairs, uneven ground or a dark path carry more risk of a fall. - **Very Low**: your steadiness is noticeably reduced, and your risk of falling in the next year is high. The group matters more than the exact percentage. Small moves within OK from week to week are normal. A drop from OK to Low is the change Walking Steadiness was designed to catch. ## What is walking asymmetry? Walking asymmetry is the percentage of your steps in which one foot's step takes noticeably longer or shorter than the other's. At 0%, every step your phone measured was even. At 100%, every step was uneven. Healthy walking is close to symmetrical, so for most people the number sits at or near 0% on most days. It rises when you start favouring one side, often without noticing: - **Pain or injury**: a sprained ankle, a sore knee, hip or back. - **Feet and shoes**: a blister, a shoe that rubs, or a new pair you haven't broken in. - **Carrying things**: a heavy bag on one shoulder, or a child on one hip. - **Recovery from surgery**, such as a knee or hip replacement, where asymmetry often falls week by week as you heal. In Apple's lab testing against a pressure-sensing walkway, an iPhone reading of about 35% picked out people with clearly uneven walking correctly about 83% of the time. That gives you a rough anchor: a few percent is nothing, while a reading in the tens that stays there for weeks is worth a closer look. ## How are steadiness and asymmetry connected? Asymmetry is one of the four ingredients in Walking Steadiness. Uneven steps mean one leg is doing more of the work, and Apple's research notes that poorer coordination between the legs is tied to a higher risk of falling. So a run of high asymmetry, after an injury say, can pull your steadiness down with it. When the cause heals and your steps even out, steadiness usually follows a week or two later, since it's measured weekly. The other ingredients count too. Walking more slowly, taking shorter steps and spending longer with both feet down all lower the score. [What is walking double support?](https://www.getstepup.app/guides/walking-double-support) covers that last one in detail. ## How do you find Walking Steadiness on your iPhone? 1. Open the **Health** app. 2. Tap **Browse**, then **Mobility**. 3. Tap **Walking Steadiness**. Walking Asymmetry, Walking Speed, Step Length and Double Support Time are on the same screen. If there's no reading yet, check three things: - **Your height is in your Health profile.** Walking Steadiness won't work without it. - **Your iPhone rides close to your body** while you walk: a trouser pocket, a jacket pocket, or a bag held snug against your side. A phone in your hand or swinging in a tote misses the detail it needs. - **You've walked enough on flat ground.** It takes a week or two of everyday walking with the phone on you before the first score appears. No Apple Watch is needed, and the watch doesn't measure steadiness or asymmetry at all. More on what your phone records by itself is in [counting steps on iPhone](https://www.getstepup.app/guides/iphone-step-count). ## Should you turn on Walking Steadiness notifications? Notifications are off until you set them up. Go to Health, then Browse, Mobility, Walking Steadiness, and tap Set Up. If your steadiness drops to Low or Very Low, your iPhone tells you about a month after the drop, so one bad week doesn't set it off. If it stays low, you get a reminder about every three months. The notification leads to short exercise videos in the Health app, based on clinically tested strength and balance training. They're worth turning on if you're over 65, getting over an injury, or helping a parent keep an eye on their walking: they can share their Health data with you. ## Can you improve your Walking Steadiness? Yes. Steadiness reflects strength, balance and how much you walk, and all three respond to practice: - **Walk regularly.** Every step is a moment of balancing on one leg. [A walking plan for beginners](https://www.getstepup.app/guides/walking-plan-for-beginners) builds up gently. - **Train strength and balance.** The NHS recommends strength and balance exercises, such as standing on one leg beside a counter or rising from a chair without your hands, as one of the best ways to prevent falls. Apple's exercise videos cover the same ground. - **Walk a little faster** when it feels safe. Speed is part of the score, and [Pace](https://www.getstepup.app/metrics/pace) shows yours over time. - **Deal with pain early.** A sore knee or foot that makes you limp shows up in asymmetry first. A physiotherapist can help you walk evenly again. - **Check your shoes.** A firm sole that grips beats a soft or worn-out one. - **Make home easier to walk around**: good light on the stairs, no loose rugs, a rail where you need one. ## When should you see a doctor? Falls are common. About 1 in 4 adults aged 65 and over in the US reports a fall each year, and falls are the leading cause of injury at that age. Talk to a doctor or physiotherapist if: - Walking Steadiness drops to Low or Very Low and you can't think why; - your walking asymmetry stays high for weeks with no injury to explain it; - you feel less steady, or have started reaching for furniture and rails; - you've had a fall, or a near miss, recently. Walking Steadiness is a guide, not a diagnosis. It can't tell you why your walking has changed, and an OK reading doesn't rule anything out. If you fall and are hurt, can't get up, or hit your head, get help straight away. ## Steadiness and asymmetry in StepUp StepUp's [Evenness](https://www.getstepup.app/metrics/evenness) metric reads walking asymmetry and double support from Apple Health and shows how even your walking is from week to week, so a slow drift is easy to spot. It needs only your iPhone. [Walking metrics, explained](https://www.getstepup.app/guides/walking-metrics-explained) covers Evenness and the other eight. ## The short version - Walking Steadiness is your iPhone's weekly estimate of your risk of falling in the next 12 months: OK, Low or Very Low. - It's built from walking speed, step length, double support time and walking asymmetry. - Walking asymmetry is the share of your steps where one foot is faster or slower than the other. Near 0% is normal. - It needs an iPhone 8 or later, your height in Health, and the phone close to your body as you walk. - Regular walking, strength and balance improve it. A drop to Low with no clear reason is worth a doctor's check. ## Questions ### What is a good Walking Steadiness score on iPhone? OK is the group to be in: it means your risk of falling because of how you walk is low. Small changes within OK from week to week are normal. A drop to Low or Very Low is the change worth noticing. ### What is a normal walking asymmetry? For most people with no injury, it sits at or near 0% on most days. A few percent now and then is normal. A reading in the tens that stays there for weeks suggests you're favouring one side. ### Why don't I have a Walking Steadiness score? It needs an iPhone 8 or later on iOS 15 or newer, your height in your Health profile, and a week or two of walking on flat ground with the phone in a pocket or held close to your body. ### Does Apple Watch measure Walking Steadiness? No. Walking Steadiness and walking asymmetry are measured by your iPhone while it's in your pocket or close to your waist. Apple Watch doesn't measure either. ### Can carrying a bag change my walking asymmetry? Yes. A heavy bag on one shoulder, a child on one hip, a shoe that rubs or a sore joint can all make one side's steps faster or slower than the other's, and raise the reading for that week. ## Sources - [Apple (2022), Measuring walking quality through iPhone mobility metrics](https://www.apple.com/healthcare/docs/site/Measuring_Walking_Quality_Through_iPhone_Mobility_Metrics.pdf) - [Apple Newsroom (2021), Apple advances personal health by introducing secure sharing and new insights](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/06/apple-advances-personal-health-by-introducing-secure-sharing-and-new-insights/) - [Apple iPhone User Guide: Monitor your walking steadiness](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/monitor-your-walking-steadiness-iphff1bf03ed/ios) - [Apple WWDC21: Measure health with motion](https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2021/10287/) - [CDC: Older adult falls data](https://www.cdc.gov/falls/data-research/index.html) - [NHS: Falls, prevention](https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/falls/prevention/)