Virtually every major health and fitness category is covered, including activity, sleep, nutrition, body measurements, and vital metrics like blood pressure and heart rate. Users get full control over which categories of data are pooled and which are not, and everything is stored locally on their devices (rather than in the cloud) and encrypted for added security.
Using Google Health Connect
Download the beta Connecting health app installed on your Android phone, open it and you can start deciding which of your fitness and wellness apps are allowed to interact with it. Health Connect isn’t an app in the traditional sense and doesn’t appear in the Android app drawer: you can access it from the Play Store page, from Applications in Settings or from the Quick Settings panel.
On the main Health Connect screen, you can see the apps that have recently used the service. Crane App permissions to choose which apps can and cannot use Health Connect. The content of the list you see depends on the apps installed on your phone. If you want an app to provide some data (such as steps) but not other data (such as heart rate), you can also configure this here.
You will see a list of all apps that currently work with Health Connect here. At the time of writing, the list includes MyFitnessPal, Peloton, Oura (makers of the Oura smart ring), and WeightWatchers, as well as the aforementioned Google Fit, Samsung Health, and Fitbit. It’s not the most comprehensive list, but it’s still in its infancy for Health Connect and the service is still in beta. There are also some apps, such as Sleep like Androidthat have added Health Connect support but are not on the official list.
Back on the main Health Connect screen, select Data and access to manage your data. You will see the categories for which data is collected and there is the option to delete collected data or delete it automatically on a schedule (for example, once it is older than six months). Dive into a particular category to delete specific batches of data; you can also check which apps have access to that category and choose an app to be treated as a priority in cases where a type of data (such as steps) is logged by multiple apps at the same time.
As we said, you can’t really see your data in Health Connect – it’s just connecting the dots. Once you’ve set up your fitness feeds as needed, you should be able to open your favorite apps (such as Google Fit or Fitbit) and see everything in one place. Keep an eye on which apps which types of data (of App permissions) to make sure there’s one app where everything flows.
