WalkNYC

Track which blocks you've walked

I built WalkNYC to track my blocks and want to share it with other New Yorkers. 100% free, no account required.

Map of walked blocks across Manhattan Leaderboard of NYC walkers ranked by blocks walked Bar chart of new blocks walked per day Group leaderboard ranking friends by blocks walked A single walk replayed on the map Bar chart of walking distance per day

Highlights

Background tracking

WalkNYC marks off your blocks without you opening the app. GPS only turns on when your pedometer detects you're walking, so battery use stays low (less than 3% per day).

Privacy

Your walks stay on your device. Servers only ever see aggregate stats: total blocks, total distance, walking time. GPS coordinates never leave your phone.

Leaderboard

See how you stack up against other New Yorkers by blocks: today, this week, this month, this year, or all time.

Walk history

Every walk is saved with its full path, timestamps, distance, and walking time. Open one to replay it on the map.

Stats

Daily, weekly, and monthly charts for distance, walking time, new blocks, and steps.

Free

No accounts, no subscriptions, no ads, no in-app purchases.

FAQ

Will it kill my battery?

The app uses the pedometer to keep GPS off unless you're actually walking, so day to day battery use is typically 3 to 5 percent. If you walk for several hours in a day, it'll be more. If you're seeing more than that in normal use, please contact me.

Do I have to start a walk, or does it track automatically?

If you turn on background tracking when prompted it'll track your blocks without you having to open the app.

What data leaves my phone?

Only aggregate stats: total blocks walked, total distance, total walking time. The server never sees individual GPS coordinates or which specific blocks you walked, just counts.

Can I import past walks from Strava, Apple Health, or Google Timeline?

Yes, you can import from Strava, Apple Health, Google Timeline, and any other GPX files that you might have from other sources. Imported blocks show up on your map and in your stats, but they don't count toward the leaderboard.

The app didn't mark a block that I walked, how do I fix that?

Sometimes your phone's GPS cuts out while you're walking, which can stop blocks from being marked as walked. If this happens, try tapping and holding on the missing block. If there's sufficient evidence that you walked it based on your pedometer and GPS data, you'll be able to mark it as walked.

I was on a bus and it marked some blocks as walked. How do I remove them?

This can happen occasionally on slow moving buses, in cars, and on above ground subways. If you tap and hold on a block, it'll let you remove it as walked.

About

WalkNYC was made by Joe Puccio, a designer and software engineer in New York City who's currently trying to walk every block in Manhattan. Feedback, bug reports, and feature requests are very welcome at support.