Pedometer++ and Thunderforest
Pedometer++ is an iOS and Apple Watch app that tracks steps and workouts. It’s one of a stable of apps developed by Cross Forward Consulting. Pedometer++ uses a custom map and dark mode variant created by Thunderforest.
We talked to company founder David Smith.
“I really appreciate that you do things in a way that is trying to make my life easier.”
What led Pedometer++ to choose Thunderforest?
I really liked the simplicity of the pricing model - that it was a fixed fee every month that covered my usage, and it was very straightforward and understandable. I found it more appealing than some of the more complicated pricing structures.
Also, I just really liked the Outdoors map that Thunderforest offered. It had the right level of detail without being too complicated, and showed the routes that were relevant for my users in terms of hiking. Most hiking trails, and national and larger organisational trails, were on there. So I didn’t have to go down the road of trying to overlay those.
How are you using Thunderforest at the moment?
When Apple announced iOS 26 there was a big push on their side towards a UI that embraced the frosted, glassy look overlaid on top of content elements. I liked the Outdoors map content but it didn’t work as well coming through these glassy elements.
I wanted a map that had slightly brighter colours and simpler visuals, so that it would look good in that context.
After we had gone through the process of creating a custom map, I realised I could have a feature I had long wanted, but didn’t really think would be straightforward to do: a dark version.
It was a big positive being able to offer a dark mode to users. The map shows exactly the same data, and is as clear and readable as the standard version.
What was your experience of the custom cartography process?
It was very straightforward. My criteria was probably helpful: I was mostly looking for a visual refresh of an existing Thunderforest map. I gave Andy bullet points to show what I had in mind. Then he came back with results in a few weeks. We made a few adjustments, and that was that.
So I think the actual process was fairly straightforward. It was easier than I thought it would be, I guess because Andy was doing all the work, rather than it being something that I needed to do the thinking about.
With other providers, there are thousands of things I could manually change about the map, which I found completely overwhelming and don’t like. I’ve learned from working with Andy, there’s things that I wouldn’t have thought would be a problem, that are a problem. For example, the localization aspect, where trails and roads are different in different parts of the world.
With Thunderforest, it was helpful to be able to start off with a general goal. Then it was comforting to know that I was working with a cartographer to make it a reality. It sounded fancy, in a way that I found very reassuring, not being an expert in mapping. Andy was going to take care of me if there were options or changes that would better suit my needs.
Why does Pedometer++ continue to use Thunderforest?
I’m just very happy with Thunderforest. I really appreciate that you do things in a way that is trying to make my life easier.
When we did this big map update for iOS 26 a bunch of users had to refresh their caches. I like the way you structure things, so there’s not hard caps and complex quotas. You’re just making sure that it works, and then afterwards we’ll deal with any plan changes.
You’re just trying to make make my life easy, and I very much appreciate that.
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