Stomped and Simply Step both hide your city under fog and clear it as you walk. Stomped is a free, focused map app that does that one thing, with no in-app purchases. Simply Step wraps the same idea (its Tiles mode) in a full step counter with an Apple Watch app, 21 city journeys, GPS workouts and achievements, but it has ads and a paid Premium tier. Pick Stomped if the map is all you want. Pick Simply Step if you want the map plus a daily step habit.
Stomped is a young app that changes quickly; its details come from Stomped's App Store page and stomped.app, checked on September 26, 2026.
Simply Step vs Stomped at a glance
Stomped is a single-purpose exploration app. Simply Step is a step counter that includes the same exploration mechanic as one of its three modes. Here is how they compare today.
| Simply Step | Stomped | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free with ads; optional Simply Step Premium | Free, no in-app purchases listed |
| Platforms | iPhone and Apple Watch | iPhone; Android waitlist |
| Fog-of-war map | Tiles mode: hex tiles, real city boundaries and neighborhoods, % explored | The whole app: hex tiles, % of each neighborhood and city covered |
| Driving and biking | Detects walking vs driving; only walks count | Walks, runs, bikes and drives all count; a setting ignores vehicle speed |
| Step count | Live count from Apple Health, charts and stats | No; it measures area explored |
| City journeys | 21 real cities (Venice free, the rest with Premium) | None |
| Achievements | 54, including 6 for Tiles | Streaks and achievements |
| Social | Friends and Tiles leaderboards, walking groups | Friends, leaderboards, and a map of where friends have been |
| Languages | 8 | English |
| US App Store rating | About 4.6 from 32 ratings | 4.5 from 141 ratings |
What is Stomped?
Stomped is a fog-of-war map app for iPhone from independent developer Patrick Yancey. It launched in April 2026 and was last updated on September 7, 2026. The map is a grid of small hexagons, and moving through one clears it for good, so over time the map becomes a record of everywhere you have actually been.
- Coverage: a live percentage of each neighborhood and city you have covered, plus your routes.
- Honest tiles: you can't unlock tiles by tapping the map or importing a route, so everything revealed is ground you covered.
- Any way you move: walking, running, biking and driving all clear tiles. Drives count by default, and a setting ignores anything moving at vehicle speed.
- Background tracking: it keeps going if you lock your phone or switch apps. If you close it completely, tracking stops unless you turn on Passive Tile Capture, which is off by default.
- Streaks, achievements, friends and leaderboards, including a map of where your friends have been stomping.
What it deliberately leaves out is fitness tracking. In its own words, "it doesn't track distance or pace like a fitness app. The number that grows is how much area you've explored, not how many miles you've walked." There is no step count or Apple Watch app. Its community is already sizable: on September 26, 2026, the counter on stomped.app showed more than 210 million tiles unlocked.
What Simply Step adds around the map
Simply Step's Tiles mode works much like Stomped: a fog-of-war hex map of your real city that clears as you walk, with real city boundaries and neighborhood names, the percentage you've explored, Tiles leaderboards, 6 tile achievements, walking-versus-driving detection, route import and export, and a replay video you can share.
The difference is that Tiles is one of three modes in a step counter. Your live count comes from Apple Health, with charts and stats. Adventure mode walks a 3D character toward 21 real cities, and Treadmill mode keeps it simple. Walking earns coins for a 200+ item shop, and you can record GPS workouts with your iPhone, Apple Watch or AirPods. There is a full Apple Watch app with its own tracking, plus widgets. The Simply Step app page has everything, and my Simply Step review walks through it.
How do they compare?
The map
Both apps do fog-of-war well. Stomped is built around it, with background capture and a friends map. Simply Step adds real city boundaries, per-city leaderboards and tile achievements, and it filters out driving automatically. If you want biking or driving to count, Stomped is more flexible.
The everyday walk
Fog-of-war pays out most on new ground. On the loop from your own front door, a map-only app has less to give once the nearby tiles are cleared. Simply Step still rewards that loop: the same steps move your character toward the next city, earn coins and count toward achievements.
The numbers
Stomped chooses not to show a step count. Simply Step is a pedometer first, with a live count, charts, and GPS workouts on iPhone, Apple Watch or AirPods. If a daily step goal is what keeps you walking, that matters.
Where Stomped wins
- Price. Stomped has no in-app purchases listed. Simply Step shows ads, and most city journeys need Premium.
- Focus. One screen, one idea. If you only want the map, there is nothing else to learn.
- Every way you move. Bike rides and drives can clear tiles too, which makes it a map of your whole life, not just your walks.
- Passive capture. With Passive Tile Capture on, it can collect tiles even when the app is closed.
- More ratings. 141 US ratings to Simply Step's 32, even though it launched later.
Which should you pick?
Choose Stomped if you love exploring, you want a clean map of everywhere you go (on foot, bike or car), and you don't care about step counts.
Choose Simply Step if you want the fog-of-war map plus a step counter, an Apple Watch app, city journeys and workouts, so your usual daily walk still counts for something. If you are working out how much to walk each day, I looked at the evidence in is 10,000 steps a day a myth?
The bottom line
Stomped answers "where have I been?" and does it well, for free. Simply Step answers that question in Tiles mode and adds "how much did I walk today, and what did it earn me?" If you are also weighing up a bigger all-round walking app, see my Simply Step vs Pacer comparison.
Frequently asked questions
Does Simply Step have map exploration like Stomped?
Yes. Simply Step's Tiles mode is a fog-of-war hex map of your real city: the map starts hidden and your walks clear it. It shows real city boundaries and neighborhoods, the percentage you've explored, Tiles leaderboards and 6 tile achievements, and it detects walking versus driving so only walks count.
Is Stomped free?
Yes. As of September 2026, Stomped is free on the US App Store with no in-app purchases listed. It is iPhone-only for now, with an Android waitlist on its website. Simply Step is free with ads, with an optional Simply Step Premium upgrade.
Does Stomped count steps?
No. Stomped's own FAQ says it doesn't track distance or pace like a fitness app: the number that grows is how much area you've explored. Simply Step is a step counter first, with a live count from Apple Health, charts, GPS workouts and an Apple Watch app.
Which app is better for daily walking motivation?
It depends on where you walk. Fog-of-war maps reward new ground, so they are great when you are exploring and quieter on a route you walk every day. Simply Step also rewards repeat walks: every step moves your city journey forward, earns coins and counts toward achievements. If you mostly walk the same loop, Simply Step gives you more to work toward; if you love exploring, Stomped's focus is hard to beat.
First published . Updated September 26, 2026: re-checked Stomped's App Store page and website (it now has streaks, achievements, friends and leaderboards), made the table fair, added where Stomped wins, and removed Simply Step features that are not live yet.
