Google and Samsung take on Apple’s Health app with new fitness hub

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There are dozens of apps that can measure your steps, sleep, nutrition, exercise — not to forget the multitudes of fitness devices that also have their own native Android apps where they store data. Luckily for us, Google and Samsung have come together to try and simplify the otherwise fragmented fitness world with Health Connect. This is a fitness hub that will be able to sync data between different Android apps so all information is stored in one place for users.

This includes apps like Samsung Health, Google Fit and Fitbit. Google is also working with the developers of MyFitnessPal, Leap Fitness, and Withings. This means that if you have a Samsung phone and track your fitness using a Fitbit, you will be able to sync your data from the Samsung Health app or the Fitbit app directly to Health Connect. This will also help users who track their fitness using multiple devices to have it all in one place.

Health Connect is similar to Apple’s Health app that syncs data from various health and fitness apps.

Health Connect is currently in an open beta accessible to all Android developers. Announced first at Google I/O 2022 and then in a Samsung press release, developers have access to a single set of APIs (application programming interface) that enable the creation of fitness and health experiences.

Google says users will get complete control over what kind of data they share and which apps they share it with. In case there is more than one app collecting similar data, users can choose which one to choose over others.

Health Connect supports over 50 data types including activity, sleep, vitals, nutrition, body measurement and cycle tracking.

Recently, Google and Samsung have been collaborating for different projects in the fitness and wearables space. Samsung contributed to the development of Wear OS 3, which is currently on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic, but many more watches are in the pipeline for the new OS.

Health Connect is a big leap in bringing the vast Android fitness and wearables world together in one place. The tech should be fully developed and available in time for the Google Pixel Watch launch later this year.