Watch Walks, answered.

The basics

What is Watch Walks?

Watch Walks is an app for your watch that turns the ordinary steps you already take every day into a journey along real, famous trails: the Inca Trail, the Camino de Santiago, the Pacific Crest Trail and more. There's nothing to record and no workout to start. You live your day, your steps move you along the route, and you glance down whenever you like to see how far you've come. It runs on Garmin, Wear OS and Apple Watch.

How does it work?

Your watch already counts your steps. Watch Walks reads that daily step count and turns it into distance along a real trail. Walk 5,000 steps around town and you move 3.6 kilometres down the Inca Trail. Reach a landmark along the route and a short story about the place opens; reach the end and you've finished the trail and earned its medal. No GPS and no route recording. Just your everyday steps, carrying you somewhere legendary.

Is it a subscription?

No. The Inca Trail is free, and every other trail is a one-time purchase. Buy a trail once and it's yours to keep, with no recurring charge and nothing to cancel.

Do I need a phone?

On Wear OS and Apple Watch the watch app runs on its own once installed, so you don't need to carry your phone on a walk. On Garmin you use the free Garmin Connect app on your phone to install trails, but after that the watch handles the walking. There's also an optional free companion app for Android and iPhone that shows your journey on a living map, but it's never required.

Does it need GPS?

No. Watch Walks doesn't use GPS and doesn't record where you actually go. It only reads your step count. That's better for battery and better for privacy, because your real location is never involved.

Does it track or record my walks?

No. There's no activity to start and no route being recorded. Watch Walks only reads the step total your watch already keeps, and turns it into distance along a virtual trail. It never logs where you are.

Is my data private?

You never need an account to walk. There are no ads, no analytics and no tracking, and your step count is read on your own device and stays there.

Backup works differently on the two platforms, and it is worth being straight about it. On Apple, your trails and medals go to your own iCloud, and we never see them. On Android and Wear OS you can sign in with Google so your journey survives a new phone, and that backup is stored in a database of ours: the distance you have walked on each trail, and the email address of the account you signed in with. We can access it. If you never sign in, nothing leaves your phone.

To switch it off: on Apple, turn Watch Walks off under iCloud; on Android, sign out in Settings. Settings → Start over erases it either way. Read the full privacy policy.

Does it work offline?

Yes. Each trail's map downloads once, then needs no signal. Your steps keep counting and your journey keeps moving whether you're online or not: on a plane, in the hills, or anywhere without a connection.

How many trails are included?

Forty-one, across all seven continents: 28,460 kilometres of route and 1,117 landmarks with a story. The Camino de Santiago, the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, Te Araroa, the Shikoku Pilgrimage, the Bibbulmun Track and thirty-five more, each a complete journey from start to finish with its own offline satellite map. The Inca Trail is free. See them all on the trails list.

How long does a trail take?

That depends entirely on how much you walk, so every time we quote is worked out at 5,000 steps a day — about 3.6 km, because the app counts a step as 0.72 m. At that ordinary-day pace the Inca Trail's 43 km takes about two weeks, the Camino's 780 km about 31 weeks, and the 4,265 km Pacific Crest Trail a little over three years. Walk more and you arrive sooner: at 10,000 steps a day every one of those halves. Each trail's own estimate is on its card on the trails list, and the app can set a finish date and tell you the daily pace that would get you there.

Garmin

Which Garmin watches are supported?

Watch Walks runs on Garmin watches that support Connect IQ apps: Forerunner, Fenix, Venu, Vivoactive, Epix, Instinct and many more, including most models from the last few years. A few very old or very low-memory devices may not have room for the largest trails, but the Inca Trail fits a wide range of watches.

How do I install it on Garmin?

On Garmin you install one free Watch Walks app from the Connect IQ store, with the Inca Trail included free. Install the free Garmin Connect app, pair your watch, open the Connect IQ Store, search for Watch Walks, and download it. It installs on your watch the next time it syncs, then open it once on the watch to start walking. You add any other trails in the free phone companion, and they sync to your watch. The full Garmin setup guide walks through every step.

Why do my steps only update when I open the app on Garmin?

This is a Garmin quirk: the watch only sends your steps to the Watch Walks app while the app is open. So open Watch Walks on your watch every now and then, and again before you sync to the phone companion, to bring your progress up to date. In between, your steps are still being counted by the watch; they just catch up the next time you open the app.

Does it use battery or GPS on Garmin?

It doesn't use GPS at all, and it doesn't run a live activity in the background, so it's very light on battery. It simply reads the step count your Garmin already tracks whenever you open the app.

Does it work on older Garmin watches?

Many older Garmin watches that support Connect IQ apps will run Watch Walks. The main limit is memory. The longest trails carry the largest maps, and those may not fit the smallest, oldest devices. If your watch runs other Connect IQ apps, the Inca Trail is very likely to work.

How do I add it as a widget or glance?

After the trail installs and you've opened it once, it appears in your watch's app list, and on many watches you can add it to the glance or widget loop through the watch's own menus (or in Garmin Connect under the widget settings). Open it now and then so your steps keep flowing to the trail.

Do I need Garmin Connect?

Yes. On Garmin you use the free Garmin Connect app on your phone to install the Watch Walks app from the Connect IQ store and sync it to your watch. You add any other trails in the free Watch Walks phone companion, which syncs your active trail to the watch. Once Watch Walks is on your watch, the walking itself happens on the watch.

Wear OS: Samsung Galaxy Watch, Google Pixel Watch and more

Which Wear OS watches work?

Watch Walks runs on watches with Wear OS 3 or newer, including the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, 5, 6, 7 and Ultra, the Google Pixel Watch, recent Mobvoi TicWatch models, the OnePlus Watch and other current Wear OS watches.

How do I install it on Wear OS?

Open the Google Play Store on the watch itself, search for Watch Walks, and tap Install. It downloads straight to your wrist. Open it once, allow the Physical activity permission so it can count your steps, and start walking the free Inca Trail. The watch app is in review — it went to Google Play on 26 July 2026, so a watch search will not find it until it clears. The free Android phone app is out now and counts your steps on its own in the meantime. Where each store is up to. The Wear OS setup guide has the details, including adding a Tile for a glance.

Does it run standalone without my phone?

Yes. On Wear OS the app runs entirely on the watch. There's no phone pairing and no account. Install it, allow it to count your steps, and it works on its own, even while it's closed.

Does it drain the battery?

No. It reads the step count Wear OS already keeps through Health Services, rather than running GPS or a live workout. That means it costs very little battery while it quietly moves you along the trail.

What is the Health Services permission for?

Watch Walks asks for the Physical activity permission so it can read your step count through Wear OS Health Services. That step count is the only thing it needs, because it's what carries you down the trail. You can also allow Notifications for a small celebration on your wrist when you reach a landmark.

iPhone and Apple Watch

Which iPhone and Apple Watch do I need?

Watch Walks needs an iPhone on iOS 16 or later. The Apple Watch app runs on Apple Watch Series 4 or later with watchOS 10 or later. The Apple Watch is optional but lovely on the wrist. The app also works from iPhone step data alone.

How do I install it on Apple?

Get Watch Walks from the App Store on your iPhone. Open it, allow it to read your step count from Apple Health, and start walking the free Inca Trail. The Apple Watch app installs alongside the iPhone app. Get it on the App Store. The Apple setup guide has the full walkthrough.

Does it read Apple Health and my step count?

Yes. On Apple, Watch Walks reads your step count from Apple Health, on your device. That's the one permission that matters, because your steps are what carry you along the trail. The reading happens on-device and isn't sent anywhere.

Do I need to bring my iPhone?

No. Apple Health combines the steps from your iPhone and Apple Watch, so steps you take with just your watch on still count. When your devices next sync, Watch Walks reads the combined total and updates your journey.

Does the Watch app install automatically?

Usually yes. The Apple Watch app installs alongside the iPhone app. If it doesn't appear, open the Watch app on your iPhone, scroll to Available Apps, and tap Install next to Watch Walks.

Does it use the complication?

Yes. You can add the Watch Walks complication to your watch face for a glanceable progress ring, so you can see how far along the trail you are without opening the app.

Does it use iCloud backup?

Your trails and medals are backed up through your own iCloud account, so they carry over to a new device. We never see it. If you would rather they did not, switch Watch Walks off under iOS Settings -> your name -> iCloud, and Settings -> Start over erases the backup for good. Nothing else is shared.

Trails, purchases and medals

How much do trails cost?

The Inca Trail is free. Every other trail is a one-time purchase, shown in your local currency in the app, yours to keep. There's no subscription. See the full trail list.

Do I pay once or subscribe?

You pay once. Each trail beyond the free Inca Trail is a single one-time purchase with no recurring charge. Once you own a trail it stays yours.

Can I walk a trail again, or in reverse, and earn ranks?

Yes. When you reach the finish, the trail is still yours to walk again, forwards or in reverse. Each time you complete it you climb a rank on that trail's medal, so there's always a reason to keep walking.

What are finisher medals?

Every trail has its own unique finisher medal, with its own design and colours. It becomes yours the moment you reach the finish, and it collects on a medal wall in the companion app alongside every other trail you've completed.

Do purchases carry across my devices?

Yes, within the same platform. A trail you buy is tied to the store account you bought it with, so it's available on any of your devices signed in with that same account: your Google account on Wear OS and Android, or your Apple ID on iPhone and Apple Watch. Purchases don't transfer between different app stores.

Can I get a refund?

Refunds are handled by the store you bought from, under its own policy: the App Store, Google Play, or the Garmin Connect IQ store. Contact the store, or email us and we'll help point you the right way. See our terms for more.

Troubleshooting

My steps aren't counting

Check the step permission for your platform. On Apple, open Watch Walks → Settings, or the iPhone Health app → Sharing, and make sure Watch Walks can read Steps. On Wear OS, go to system Settings → Apps → Watch Walks → Permissions and allow Physical activity. On Garmin, open the app on your watch to send your latest steps. Garmin only updates while the app is open.

My progress looks behind

On Apple, pull to refresh in the app so it re-reads Health and syncs with your watch. On Garmin, open Watch Walks on the watch to send the latest steps, then sync the companion. On Wear OS, open the app to let it catch up. Your steps aren't lost. They just need the app to read them.

My watch app is missing

On Apple, open the Watch app on your iPhone, scroll to Available Apps and install Watch Walks. On Garmin, open Garmin Connect and sync again. Apps install on the next sync, and the watch needs enough free space. On Wear OS, install from the Play Store on the watch itself, not the phone.

I didn't get a milestone celebration

Make sure Notifications are allowed for Watch Walks: on Wear OS in system Settings → Apps → Watch Walks → Permissions, and on Apple in the iPhone Settings under Notifications. With notifications on, a quiet nudge arrives the moment you reach a landmark.

Still stuck?

Email watchwalksupport@gmail.com and a real person will help you get walking.