For today’s Secret Feature, we’re focussing our attention towards a very useful fitness tool bundled into the latest build of 4.4 KitKat. Believe it or not, Android includes native support for step recognition and step counters, which means that other fitness/health applications if downloaded will be notified when users are engaging in physical activity.

Not only does the step counter log how many steps you’ve taken, but it also analyzes pace and elevation to determine whether you’re walking, jogging, running, sprinting or using the stairs. This, combined with GPS and accelerometers, should lead to the development of more accurate movement tracking apps.

These new features have been embedded in both the operating system and hardware onboard Google’s latest flagship smartphone, the Nexus 5. Developers no longer have to program their own algorithms in order to create fitness-orientated applications, for handsets which incorporate their very own pedometers.

Google recently announced that it is currently in comprehensive discussions with chipset partners to make the feature available across a wide variety of different Android-powered smartphones and tablets. So keep watching this space as we will notify you as and when you can access this feature on a device near you.