Support

To help me sort it out quickly, include your iPhone model, your iOS version, and the FinSteps version number (Settings → About, inside the app), plus a screenshot if the problem is visual.

Steps and Apple Health

My steps aren't showing up

FinSteps reads your step count from Apple Health, so start there: open Settings → Health → Data Access & Devices → FinSteps and make sure Steps is enabled. If it is, open the Health app and confirm that steps are appearing there — if Health has no steps for today, FinSteps has nothing to read. Steps recorded by an Apple Watch can take a few minutes to sync to your iPhone.

My step count looks lower than my Health app

FinSteps counts steps for the current day in your device's local time zone. If you've crossed time zones, or if you have multiple devices writing steps to Health, the totals can differ briefly until Health finishes de-duplicating them.

Do I need an Apple Watch?

No. Your iPhone counts steps on its own using its motion coprocessor, so carrying the phone is enough. A paired Apple Watch just gives Health a second source, which it merges automatically.

I said no to Health access and want to change my mind

Go to Settings → Health → Data Access & Devices → FinSteps and turn Steps on. The app picks up today's count the next time you open it.

The Home Screen widget

The widget isn't updating

Widgets are refreshed by iOS on its own schedule, not on demand, so the widget can lag behind the app by a few minutes. Opening FinSteps refreshes it. If it stays stale, remove the widget and add it again.

Fish, streaks, and the tank

Do I lose my fish if I miss a day?

Not from one missed day. Each fish loses a heart and the tank loses cleanliness, but the aquarium is built to be recoverable — walking again cleans things up and gives every living fish a heart back. A fish only dies after several consecutive missed days: roughly three for a fragile species, more for a hardy one.

Your starter guppy is protected. It floors at one heart and can never die, so there is always something alive to come back to.

One of my fish died. Can I get it back?

Yes, for three days. A dead fish rests in the Memorial, and you can spend pearls to revive that exact fish — its name, its rare colour variant, and how long you'd had it all come back with it, at half health. After three days it floats away permanently.

Can I change my daily step goal?

Yes, in the app's Settings screen — anything from 1,000 to 100,000 steps. Past days keep the goal that was in effect at the time, so changing your goal won't rewrite your history or retroactively break an old streak.

Why didn't my overshoot bonus appear right away?

The base reward for meeting your goal is paid live, the moment you cross it. The bonus for extra steps is calculated from your final total for the day, so it lands the next morning as a "Pearls formed overnight!" popup.

I missed my goal but still got pearls

That's intentional. Even on a missed day you earn a few effort pearls scaled to how far you walked, capped well below a met day's reward. Showing up still counts.

Purchases and billing

What does FinSteps cost?

Premium is offered three ways: a monthly or annual subscription, each with a free trial so you can try the whole thing first, or a one-time lifetime purchase that's charged once and never renews. The exact price for your region is shown in the App Store and again in the app before you confirm — we don't publish it here, so there's no chance of this page going stale against what you're actually charged. There is nothing else to buy: no ads, no pearl packs, no paid shortcuts. Pearls are earned by walking or not at all.

How do I cancel?

Open Settings → your name → Subscriptions and select FinSteps. Cancelling stops future renewals; you keep access until the end of the period you've already paid for. If you bought lifetime access there's nothing to cancel — it was a single charge, and it doesn't renew or lapse.

How do I get a refund?

Refunds are handled entirely by Apple, not by me — request one at reportaproblem.apple.com. See the Terms of Use for details.

I bought on another device and don't have my features

Make sure you're signed in with the same Apple Account, then use Restore Purchases in the app's Settings screen.

Privacy and data

Is my health data sent anywhere?

No. We run no servers of our own, and your step and health data never leave your iPhone. FinSteps only goes online to handle your subscription — payment through Apple, and subscription management through RevenueCat. Your steps, your health data, your aquarium and anything you typed are never part of that. The full details are in the Privacy Policy.

How do I delete my data?

Your aquarium, step history and settings live on your device only, so deleting the app permanently deletes all of it — we never held a copy, and it can't be recovered. Your subscription record is held by RevenueCat and is not removed by deleting the app; email finsteps@proton.me and we'll erase it.

Feature requests

New fish, new decorations, ideas for how the game should work — send them over. FinSteps is a small independent app and requests from actual players shape what gets built next.