WeWard, an exercise incentives app backed by tennis star Venus Williams, has introduced a new “Walking Mode” that lets users lock selected apps until they hit their daily step goal. The app rewards walking with digital points called “Wards” (short for “rewards”) and hopes to help people “scroll less and walk more” by tying social media and entertainment access to real-world activity.
WeWard users can choose apps like Instagram, TikTok, mobile games, or streaming services and set step goals starting from a few thousand steps, with the option to customize the target. Once Walking Mode is active, selected apps are greyed out and inaccessible until the user’s step count meets the goal. The app counts steps using phone sensors or health apps and displays real-time progress toward unlocking Wards, which can be exchanged for cash, digital gift cards, or donations.
Walking Mode resets daily, and users can override the lock through settings if they need urgent access. (It’s unclear if overrides are limited; if not, this could defeat the purpose of Walking Mode for users lacking in self-discipline.) The company reports that it has about 30 million users across 29 countries and that people who join the app tend to walk about 25% more.
In general, apps that push you to walk more through rewards, social features, or nudges are often effective in the short term, but the jury’s still out on how well they work in the long term. Many people see a bump of roughly 1,000–2,000 extra steps per day at the beginning, especially if they were quite sedentary before, yet drop-off is common when rewards are tiny, goals are unrealistic, or the UX is annoying.
These apps tend to help most when you already care about your step target and treat the app lock as a self-imposed rule, rather than your only motivation.
