Earlier this year, during Google I/O 2022, Google revealed the Health Connect hub that it co-developed with Samsung. It is a central hub for all the fitness and health data collected from wearables (such as smartwatches) and other supported equipment. Until now, Health Connect was available through Early Access, but it is now available in beta for users.
Google announced the availability of the Health Connect app in beta. It is available through the Play Store for all Wear OS 3 (or above) smartwatch users, including the Galaxy Watch 4, Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, Galaxy Watch 5, and Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. Apart from Samsung Health, the Health Connect system is now supported by various other firms, including Dexcom, Fitbit, Flo, Lifesum, MyFitnessPal, Oura, Peloton, and WW (Weight Watchers).
The Health Connect app can be opened on your Galaxy smartphone either through the app drawer or through the quick setting toggle. The quick setting toggle also displays how many apps are currently accessing your data. You can select which categories of data can be accessed by a particular health service or app.
Why is Health Connect important?
Health Connect is helpful for both users and developers. For users, it acts as a central database for all their health and fitness-related information. It also offers privacy controls for their health data, allowing users to select which data they want or don't want to be accessed by health services. This is more secure than privacy controls offered by third-party apps.
For developers, Health Connect offers reduced data fragmentation and improved tracking accuracy. For example, Samsung Health can import your exercise data from your Peloton app for more accurate data for calories burned. Thanks to standardised data schema, developers can import raw data directly from Health Connect. The new service currently supports over 40 types of data across six categories: activity, body measurements, female cycle tracking, nutrition, sleep, and vitals).
