Most squat counter apps do one of four things, and the differences matter more than any feature list: a camera app using on-device pose detection is the only kind that can check how deep you went, a phone motion-sensor app counts from the handset's accelerometer with no setup, a wearable app counts from your wrist or your earbuds, and a manual tracker counts what you tell it. A fifth category is worth naming because it dominates the search results and is not a counter at all: guided squat programs.
Disclosure, up front: pushup.quest is published by the makers of Pushup RPG, a free camera counter for push-ups and squats on iPhone and Android. We are not a neutral reviewer. What we offer instead is sourcing: every claim about another app below comes from its own US App Store listing, read on 17 August 2026, and nothing else. We have not run accuracy tests against these apps, so we do not rank them by accuracy — nobody who has not tested them can. Listings change; check anything decision-critical yourself.
The four methods, and who each one suits
| Method | Setup | Can it check depth? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Camera + pose detection | Prop the phone so your legs are in frame | Yes — it measures your knee angle | Anyone who wants the count to mean something |
| Phone motion sensor | Hold the phone or pocket it | No — it infers reps from movement | Training where you cannot place a phone |
| Watch / earbuds | None, if you already wear one | No | Gym, outdoors, travelling light |
| Manual tap | None | No — you are the sensor | Perfect reliability, zero verification |
Camera apps: the only ones that can judge a rep
A camera app estimates your joint positions and watches the angle at your knee. That is the only one of these four methods that can distinguish a squat to parallel from a quarter squat, because it is the only one measuring the thing that makes them different.
The trade is setup. You need somewhere to stand the phone where it can see your legs, and decent light in front of you rather than behind. If you train somewhere that makes that awkward, this is the wrong category for you and a wearable is the better answer.
The Squat Counter AR (Hiroki Kijima) is a camera app in this category — its listing states the app requires the camera to track your movement. Worth knowing before you install: its listing shows a last update of March 2023, so it has not been touched in some time.
Pushup RPG — ours — counts squats and push-ups with the front camera using on-device pose detection, free on iPhone and Android. Reps are gated on knee angle reaching roughly parallel or deeper, plus rules on rep spacing and keeping your feet planted. We wrote up exactly what those gates are in count squats with your phone camera. It is also a role-playing game, which is either the point or an irritation depending on your temperament — if you want a plain counter with no game attached, say so to yourself honestly and pick something else on this page.
Motion-sensor apps: no setup, no verification
These count from the phone's own accelerometer and gyroscope while you hold or carry it. There is nothing to prop up and nothing to stand in frame of, which is genuinely the lowest-friction way to get a number.
What you give up is any check on the rep. A motion sensor sees a rhythm, not a depth, so a set of shallow bobs at the right tempo reads much like a set of honest squats.
Squats – Tracker & Counter (Alexandr Moscaliuc) describes a "Smart Squat Counter" using advanced motion detection, alongside challenge-style targets. Squat Counter! – Auto Count (INTERSECT KK) advertises automatic squat counting; its listing is unusually sparse about how, stating little beyond that counting squats is the main function.
Wearables: the category we cannot compete in
DunDun – Squat Counter (家浩 汪) is the most interesting app on this page for a reason that is inconvenient for us. Its listing describes an app built for iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods, counting automatically from motion sensors, with free, target and HIIT modes.
If counting from your wrist or your earbuds is what you want, that is a real capability and Pushup RPG does not have it. We have no watchOS app — none exists — so there is nothing for us to offer you here. This is not a close call and we are not going to pretend otherwise. The wider picture is worse than it looks for squats specifically: the wrist apps that do count reps all describe themselves around push-ups, and does the Apple Watch count squats names them.
Manual trackers: honest about what they are
Squats Counter (Kossi Adzo) is a daily tracker with squat goals rather than an automatic counter — you record what you did. It sounds like the least impressive option here and it is, in one specific sense, the most reliable: it will never miscount, because it never counts. It also verifies nothing, which is the entire point of the other three categories.
A manual tracker is the right tool if what you actually need is a record rather than a referee.
The programs that are not counters at all
Search for a squat app and much of what comes back is a guided programme: a plan that walks you from a low number toward a high one with an audio coach. Butt workout: squat challenge (FITNESS22 LTD) is a long-standing example, its listing describing training from zero to 100 squats over ten weeks with a personal audio coach, with full plans behind a premium upgrade. Its listing shows a last update in September 2018.
These are not counting anything. That is not a criticism — a structured plan solves a different problem, and for a lot of people it is the more useful one. Just do not install one expecting it to tell you how many squats you did.
How to choose, in one paragraph
If you want the number to mean something, use a camera app and accept the setup. If you cannot place a phone, use a wearable and accept that depth is unverified. If you already know you will not stick with any of it, a manual tracker and a calendar will outperform an app you stop opening. And if what you are missing is not counting but a plan, pick a programme instead and ignore this entire page.
Whichever you choose, depth is the thing worth being strict about: a squat to parallel and a quarter squat are different exercises, and only one method on this page can tell them apart. Sharp knee or hip pain — as opposed to effort — is a reason to stop the set and see a clinician rather than something to train through.
