Last year I upgraded from the iPhone 4s to the 5s, and among all the other new features, the M7 motion coprocessor, to me, was the least interesting. After a few weeks, a friend suggested I track my daily steps through “Argus”:https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/argus-pedometer-run-cycle/id624329444?mt=8&at=11lb7k and since she was also using the app, we could compare progress through their “Friends & Followers” system. I thought that was an interesting way to connect with friends you may not see every day and competition is the easiest way to trick someone into pushing their limits.
The “M7 motion co-processor”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_M7 came in handy when I first launched Argus. It had stored the past week or so of steps taken, which was a bit surprising to me. Even if you don’t have a fitness app installed, the newer iPhones will still remember how far you’ve walked, and backlogging to Argus was done automatically. From there, I started to take note of my step frequency, and set a goal of 8,000 steps per day. The suggested goal was 10,000, but seeing as I rarely hit that goal in the backlogs, an achievable number seemed like a more effective strategy to me. Argus has a beautifully designed user interface that playfully refreshes in a vertical tower of various hexagons. Certain metrics can be adjusted from the hexagonal badge, and this metrics off expanded options upon selecting the icon. I know there are many other apps like this one, but Apple has been endorsing Argus for the past year or more, and I believe for every type of app out there, you’ll always see a clear leader in style and functionality. Apple’s new take on fitness and health tracking came in the form of the “Health”:https://www.apple.com/ios/whats-new/health/ application, though most of us can agree that Health hasn’t exactly spread its wings yet.
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In addition to step tracking, Argus allows you to add and subtract beverage intake, enter different forms of exercise, and it even calculates how many calories you’re burning based on your height, weight, age, and sex. My favorite thing about this app is how specific the exercise options are. Entering your mileage from a treadmill or elliptical is pretty obvious, but I did not expect things like Badminton, Dragon Boating, Table Tennis, Kitsurfing, Housekeeping…the list goes on and on. Not only does this give the world’s most active human being a lot of options, but it shows lazier folk like myself just how inactive my world can be.
I have seen an increase in my overall actively since I started tracking steps. I may be the last person to realize this, but I’ve always kept my eye on that self-imposed goal, and go out of my way to achieve it each day. This might mean walking to get my lunch instead of driving, or taking a few laps around the house while brushing my teeth. I may not be “Dragon Boating”:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdgWj54ndbU my way to work, but I’ve increased my daily goal to 10,000 for the new year, and for me, that’s progress!
