Can a step counter app record steps while being perfectly still?

[Android Central Question]

I woke up in the morning and my mobile phone had recorded 8 steps in the middle of the night while sleeping in bed. I am suspecting one of the kids playing around with the mobile when home from a party. If the answers is NO, then my second questions is, how does it work do you need to walk those 8 steps for it to record or would it be enough picking it up from my bedside table?

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! It should be due to combination of the bouncing motion from walking, as well as changes detected by the accelerometer. It shouldn't register any steps when it's still. Possibilities include (a) one of your kids playing with it, as you suggest, (b) a bug, or (c) you're sleepwalking.

 

[Rukbat]

Even picking it up and putting it down would register, though.

 

[B. Diddy]

Even picking it up and putting it down would register, though.

Is that the case for all devices, though? I know that at least some smartwatches won't register steps on a stairmaster or elliptical.

 

[Rukbat]

Not all, I guess. Different accelerometers have different sensitivities, so I'd guess that some would register a cough, and others wouldn't register walking on a carpeted floor.