How can I do low-power step counting on the LG G5?

# Background information (you can skip this) The [Sensor Detect](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fatac.sensordetect) app says that the LG G5 includes a "LGE Step Counter Sensor" made by "QTI" which uses about 0.18 mA of energy. "QTI" could theoretically be [QTI Sensing](https://www.qtisensing.com/) , but I suspect it's actually [Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.](https://www.qualcomm.com/company/about) [This Medium post](https://louis993546.medium.com/quick-tech-support-undocumented-mostly-qti-sensors-on-android-devices-d7e2fb6c5064) discusses QTI sensors for Android devices. Google [writes](https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/sensors/sensors_motion) that, on Android devices, the "step counter and step detector sensors are either hardware-based or software-based." The LG G5 includes a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 MSM8996 system-on-chip (SoC). This chip, in turn, includes a Hexagon 680 DSP with a Low Power Island for sensor processing. Qualcomm [explains](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2015/08/24/snapdragon-820-countdown-new-hexagon-680-dsp) : "The aptly named 'low-power island' is designed to improve the battery life of always-on use cases, including step or activity counters". All modern Qualcomm SoCs sold nowadays include a Hexagon DSP built in. Software developers can [download](https://developer.qualcomm.com/software/hexagon-dsp-sdk) the Qualcomm Hexagon DSP software development kit (SDK) at no charge. # Questions for you A.) Do you suspect that all major step-counting apps, when installed on the LG G5, do low-power step counting? B.) How can I get some hint as to whether a step-counting app is doing high-power or low-power step counting? For example, can I unzip the .apk file and search through the contents to see what libraries it includes or what methods it calls? ### Postscript In case I need to root my phone in order to get an answer to question B: My particular LG G5 variant (H831) is locked down by design. It's only partially rootable; see [this post](https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/info-autoprimes-all-in-one-g5-thread-updated-april-11-2017.3350648/#post-66165164) and [this other post](https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/experimental-full-adb-root-system-rw-and-dm-verity-off-for-all-g5s.3523499/#post-70197625) . I haven't tried the [Snapdragon Profiler](https://developer.qualcomm.com/software/snapdragon-profiler) , but I know it doesn't require root. # Edit [This post from Google](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/27078334/how-is-it-possible-that-google-fit-app-measures-number-of-steps-all-the-time-wit#30063262) states that Google Fit uses your device's step counter sensor.