Engineered Eloquence

Walk the World

Back in April, I stumbled onto a public beta for an app called Walk The World. To my great excitement, they released to the App Store last week. This is one of those apps that just clicked for me and I have been very happy to be a part of shaping it into the wonderful 1.0 that it is today; this is the reason why I beta test apps.

Walk The World is a simple concept: the app takes your step count each day and allows you to spend the steps on trails that exist around the world. Along the way, you encounter landmarks and wildlife, earning badges as you complete sets of walks. I have now walked through multiple iterations of these maps, providing different experiences, outcomes, and rewards.

As one might guess, I ended up completing all of the available walks after my trip to Italy this summer, having taken upwards of 20,000 steps per day while there for just under five weeks.

The reason why this app has been such a great experience though isn't all of the details that the developers (Impending, who circulates other apps that I love as well1) got right, it is the notion that this type of app doesn't have to push or pressure the user in any way and it can still be a fun and gratifying experience anyway.

I love to beta test apps, I love to walk, and now I love to use this app as a playful way to experience virtual hikes in far-off places. I hope the Impending team keeps allowing me to help beta test their apps and I hope they keep up their wonderful work for the foreseeable future.

Go check it out and have fun!

  1. One of the other apps sold by Impending is a hide and seek game for kids called "Here Kitty!" and boy, was that game a part of getting our family through COVID. Other claims to fame: Heads Up! and the recent revitalization of Clear To-Dos. ↩