Google And Samsung to help Android Devs sync fitness data across apps

Google and Samsung are collaborating to help developers sync health and fitness data between Android apps across devices. The platform, called “Health Connect”, and the API is going to facilitate secure access to users’ health data on Android apps.

Now, once the user gives permission, developers can use a single set of APIs to securely access health and fitness data from Android apps and share them, Google explained.

“Health Connect supports many common health and fitness data types and categories, including activity, sleep, nutrition, body measurements and vitals like heart rate and blood pressure,”

Google also added that users will have full control over privacy settings and also be able to see which apps are requesting access to data.

“The data in Health Connect is all on-device and encrypted. Users will have the ability to shut off access or delete data they don’t want on their device, and the option to prioritize one data source over another when using multiple apps,”

“We’re building this new unified platform in collaboration with Samsung to simplify connectivity between apps” to foster richer app experiences while also providing centralised privacy controls for users,”

Developers like MyFitnessPal, Leap Fitness, Withings, etc are working with Google as a part of its early access programme. Additionally, Samsung Health, Google Fit, and Fitbit are also a part of Health Connect.

The data accessed through the Health Connect API will remain on an user’s device and will be encrypted. Users will be given the option to turn off access to apps, or to prioritize certain data when using multiple apps.

All developers will be able to access Health Connect’s common set of APIs for Android via the Android Jetpack and code samples are available on Github.

The Heath Connect app is currently available on the Google Play Store and those interested can sign up for the beta.