When you think of counting your steps or tracking your sleep, you're probably going to think of attaching a smartwatch or some other wearable to your wrist—but you can actually monitor a bunch of metrics using just your phone.

Your phone has the ability to automatically track the number of steps you're taking, for example. As long as you've always got it with you, it can tell you if you're reaching that daily step count or not, with no other devices required.

For tracking other stats, including diet and sleep, you do need a third-party app as well—but there are lots of apps to choose from, and you don't have to buy an extra fitness tracker to set your health and well-being goals.

Of course there are benefits to wearables: They can constantly monitor data such as heart rate, and they're easier to strap on for a morning jog. But it's still worth being aware of what your phone can do on its own—and weighing whether you need a smartwatch or fitness tracker before investing in one.

Built-In Tracking Features

If you're an iPhone owner, open the Health app to see all the various bits of data it can log, from the number of minutes you've been moving per day to the amount of sugar in your diet. You can enter readings for all of these categories manually, so if you're prepared to put in the time, you can build up a comprehensive picture of your health.

The number of steps you take each day is something your iPhone can track using its built-in motion sensors. It’s able to do this tracking automatically as long as you keep your phone on you, and there’s nothing to enable here, as it works by default. To see the data being pulled in by your iPhone, which can also include walking speed and walking distance, tap your profile picture (top right), then Devices, then select your iPhone from the list.

The iPhone Health app can track steps and distance.David Nield

To review any of the data on your iPhone, type the data type on the Summary screen (or choose Show All Health Data if you can't see it), then select Data Sources & Access. The next screen shows you the devices and the apps contributing to this particular series of stats. Select any item in the list to see the data that's been pulled in, and tap Edit if you need to delete some or all of it.

The situation on Android phones is a little more complicated. There is a built-in tracking tool called Health Connect but it's rather buried. You can find it from Settings by tapping Security and privacy > Privacy controls > Health Connect. However, it can't track anything on its own—it needs to interface with other apps.