AdvertisementAdvertisementWhen numbers take overThe 10,000-step benchmark has generally been the baseline goal for smartphone apps and fitness trackers. When the Fitbit tracker launched in 2009, 45 years after Yamasa's gadget cemented the 10,000-steps ideal in the public consciousness, it kick-started a boom in fitness wearables and spawned a frenzy for health data. This flood of easily accessible health data has certainly had some positive effects. Many fitness-tracking products also incorporate social-sharing features, which can give us a better perspective on how our exercise habits stack up against our friends', providing a little healthy competition as motivation. Many health- and fitness-tracking apps and wearables issue notifications throughout the day to urge their users toward their movement goals.

---

Persons: I've, Amanda Paluch, —, Paluch, John Toner, Toner, Cathleen Kronemer, Louis, she's, Kronemer, there's, I'm, Kelli María Korducki Organizations: Apple, US Department of Health, Human Services, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Hull, Health, Washington University School of Medicine, — Locations: East Asia, St, New York City