Navigation and GPS
Why is my distance different from another app?
Short answer
Because every app decides differently how much GPS wobble to treat as real movement. A walk measured by two apps on the same phone can easily differ by a few percent, and neither is lying — they are making different reasonable choices about noisy data.
Updated · 3 min read
Where the difference comes from
A recorded path is a series of position estimates, each slightly off. Adding up the straight lines between them counts some of that error as distance. Apps apply smoothing to remove it, and how aggressively they smooth is a judgement call.
Smooth too little and standing still slowly accumulates distance. Smooth too much and genuine small movements disappear. There is no setting that is objectively correct.
What makes it worse
City centres and wooded paths, where accuracy is poorest, produce the largest disagreements. An open park walk usually matches closely between apps.
Step counts differ too
Steps come from the phone's own sensor and its own interpretation. Two apps reading the same sensor can still report different totals depending on when each started counting.
Related guides
- Why is my GPS inaccurate?Buildings, trees and cloud cover bend the signal. It is the phone's position fix, not Walkable.
- How do walking statistics work?Counted on your phone from your recorded walks. Nothing is compared to anyone else.
- How can I improve GPS accuracy?Give it sky, give it a moment, and leave the phone's location services on high accuracy.
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