Android only. Needs a phone with a step sensor, which is most phones made since about 2015.
What you are installing
Steplings turns your phone's built-in step counter into an illustrated trail adventure. You walk in the real world, and your steps carry you across six terrains, from city streets and salt flats to jungle, a volcanic ridge, and the snowy alpine.
Along the way you find eggs, hatch creatures, and walk them into becoming talking companions with their own personalities. Weather on each trail changes how far your steps carry you. A story called Finding Ana unfolds through journal pages you turn up as you go.
There is no session to start, no route to record, and no map of the real world. You install it and walk like you already do.
Why this is a safe thing to install
You are being asked to put an unreleased app from a stranger on your phone for two weeks. That deserves a straight answer about what it does.
- No account Nothing to sign up for
- No GPS or location The permission is never requested
- No Health Connect Steps come from the OS pedometer
- No ads None, anywhere
- No analytics or telemetry No tracking SDKs at all
- No in-app purchases Free, with no paywalls
- No cloud sync Progress stays in local storage
- Works offline Core gameplay needs no network
It also runs no background service, so it costs you effectively no battery while closed. The full details are in the privacy policy.
How to join
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Join the tester group
Open the Steplings tester group and press Join group at the top of the page.
Heads up: the page may also show a message saying you don't have permission to access the content. You can ignore it. That notice only hides the group's conversation list, and it does not stop you joining. -
Opt in and install
Open the tester opt-in link, accept, and install from Google Play. Use the same Google account you joined the group with, otherwise Play will not recognise you as a tester.
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Walk, and stay installed for 14 days
That is the part that actually counts. Google needs 12 testers opted in continuously for two weeks. Playing more is welcome but not required, and leaving it installed is what gets Steplings released.
What I would love back
Feedback is genuinely optional, but if you feel like it, the most useful thing you can tell me is about pacing: whether trail progress feels too slow or too fast for how much you actually walk in a normal day. That is the hardest thing to tune alone.
Bug reports, confusing screens, and anything that felt tedious are all welcome too. In the app, open World Map → Settings → Support → Send feedback, or email justthewind37@gmail.com.
Questions
Why do I have to join a group first?
That is how Google Play closed testing works. Access is granted to members of a specific Google Group, so Play can only offer you the app once you are in it.
Will this drain my battery?
No. Steplings runs no background service and holds no wake locks. While the app is closed it does nothing at all, and the step count is read from a counter your phone's hardware already maintains.
Can I stop early?
Of course, it is your phone. But dropping out mid-window sets the count back below 12, so if you know two weeks is too long, it is more helpful to skip than to uninstall on day 9.
Does it work on iPhone?
Not yet. This test is Android only.
Are you another developer who needs a reciprocal test?
Happy to. Email me your app at justthewind37@gmail.com and I will join your test too.
Thank you, genuinely. Twelve people is a small number, and it is the only thing standing between this and a release.