Stage up your apps with the newest options from Android Well being

Posted by Breana Tate – Developer Relations Engineer, Android Well being

Android Well being’s mission is to allow billions of Android customers to be more healthy via entry, storage, and management of their well being, health, and security information. To additional this mission, we provide two major APIs for builders, Well being Join and Well being Companies on Put on OS, that are each utilized by a rising variety of apps on Android and Put on OS.

AI capabilities unlock wonderful and distinctive use instances, however to be able to ship essentially the most worth to your customers on the proper time, you want a powerful basis of information. Our updates this yr concentrate on serving to you construct up this information basis, with help for extra information sorts, new methods to entry information, and extra strategies of getting well timed information updates whenever you want them.

Adjustments to the Google Match APIs

We just lately shared that Google Match developer companies will likely be transitioning to develop into a core a part of the Android Well being platform. As a part of this, the Google Match APIs, together with the REST API, will stay obtainable till June 30, 2025.

Well being Join is the advisable resolution for storing and sharing well being and health information on Android telephones. Starting with Android 14, it’s obtainable by default in Settings. On pre-Android 14 gadgets, it’s obtainable for obtain from the Play Retailer. Well being Join lets your app join with a whole lot of apps utilizing a single API integration. Up to now, over 500 apps have built-in with Well being Join and have unlocked deeper insights for his or her customers. Try the featured checklist to see among the apps which have built-in.

We’re excited to proceed supporting the Google Match Android Recording API performance via the Recording API on cellular, which permits builders to file steps, and shortly distance and energy, in a power-efficient method. In distinction to the Google Match Android Recording API, the Recording API on cellular doesn’t retailer information within the cloud by default, and doesn’t require Google Signal-In. The API is designed to make migrating from the Match Recording API easy. Control d.android.com/health-and-fitness for upcoming documentation.

Upcoming capabilities from Well being Join

Well being Join will quickly add help for background reads and historical past reads.

Background reads will allow builders to learn information from Well being Join whereas their app is within the background, that means that you may preserve information up-to-date with out counting on the consumer to open your app. It is a departure from present habits, the place apps can solely learn from Well being Join whereas the app is within the foreground or operating a foreground service.

Historical past reads will give customers the choice to grant apps entry to all historic information in Well being Join, not simply the previous 30 days.

With each background reads and historical past reads, customers are in management. Each capabilities require builders to declare the respective permissions, and customers should approve the permission requests earlier than builders could make use of the information protected by these permissions. Even after granting approval, customers have the choice of revoking entry at any time from inside Well being Join settings.

Each options will likely be launched later this yr, so keep tuned to discover ways to add help to your apps!

Updates to Well being Companies on Put on OS

Well being Companies on Put on OS is a set of APIs that makes it easy to create power-efficient well being and health experiences on Put on OS.

In Put on OS 5, we’re introducing 2 new options:

• New information sorts for operating
• Help for debounced objectives

New Information Sorts for Operating

Beginning with Put on OS 5, Well being Companies will help new information sorts for operating. These information sorts may help present extra insights on operating type and financial system.

The complete checklist of latest superior operating metrics is:

• Floor Contact Time
• Stride Size
• Vertical Oscillation
• Vertical Ratio

As with all information sorts supported by Well being Companies on Put on OS, be sure you verify train capabilities in order that your app solely makes use of metrics which can be supported on the gadgets operating your app, making a smoother expertise for customers. That is particularly vital for Put on OS, as there’s a robust ecosystem of gadgets for customers to select from, they usually don’t at all times help the identical metrics.

// Checking if the gadget helps the RUNNING train and confirming the 
// information sorts which can be supported.
droop enjoyable getExerciseCapabilities(): ExerciseTypeCapabilities? {
   val capabilities = exerciseClient.getCapabilitiesAsync().await()
   return if (ExerciseType.RUNNING in capabilities.supportedExerciseTypes) {
       capabilities.getExerciseTypeCapabilities(ExerciseType.RUNNING)
   } else {
       null
   }
}


. . .


// Checking whether or not the information sorts that we need to use are supported by
// the RUNNING train on this gadget.
val dataTypes = setOf(
   DataType.HEART_RATE_BPM_STATS,
   DataType.CALORIES_TOTAL,
   DataType.DISTANCE_TOTAL,
   DataType.GROUND_CONTACT_TIME,
   DataType.VERTICAL_OSCILLATION
).intersect(capabilities.supportedDataTypes)

Checking train capabilities with Well being Companies on Put on OS

To make this simple, we’ve launched a sensor panel, obtainable beginning in Android Studio Koala Function Drop, which is at present in Canary. You need to use the panel to check your app throughout quite a lot of gadget capabilities, experimenting with conditions the place metrics like coronary heart price or distance aren’t obtainable.

Help for debounced objectives

Second, Well being Companies on Put on OS will quickly help debounced objectives for instantaneous metrics. These embrace metrics like coronary heart price, distance, and pace, for which customers need to preserve a specified threshold or vary all through an train.

Debounced objectives stop the identical occasion from being emitted a number of instances—each time the situation is true—over a short while interval. As a substitute, occasions are emitted provided that the edge has been repeatedly exceeded for a (configurable) variety of seconds. You may as well stop occasions from being emitted instantly after purpose registration.

This help comes from two new methods to raised time purpose alerts for instantaneous metrics: length at threshold and preliminary delay:

• Length at threshold is the quantity of uninterrupted time the consumer must cross the required threshold earlier than Well being Companies sends an alert occasion.
• Preliminary delay is the period of time that should move, since purpose registration, earlier than your app is notified.

Collectively, these options scale back the variety of false positives and repeated alerts surfaced to customers in case your app lets customers set health objectives or targets.

A standard use case for debounced objectives includes coronary heart price zones. Coronary heart price repeatedly fluctuates all through an train, particularly throughout cardio-intensive actions. With out help for debouncing, an app would possibly get many alerts in a brief time period, comparable to every time the consumer’s coronary heart price dips above or under the goal vary.

By introducing an preliminary delay, you possibly can inform Well being Companies to ship a purpose alert solely after a specified time interval has handed–consider this like an adjustment interval. And by introducing a length at threshold, you possibly can take this customization additional, by specifying the period of time that should move in (or out) of the required threshold for the purpose to be activated. In apply, this may be like ready for the consumer to be out of their goal coronary heart price vary for 15 seconds earlier than your app lets them know to extend or lower their depth.

Try the technical session, “Constructing Adaptable Experiences with Android Well being” to see this in motion!

Your app’s coaching companion

The Well being & Health Developer Heart is your one-stop-shop for constructing well being & health apps on Android! Go to the location for documentation, design inspiration, case research, and extra to discover ways to construct apps on cellular and Put on OS.

We’re excited to see the Well being and Health experiences you proceed to construct on Android!