Degree 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 Providers 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 circumstances, however to be able to ship essentially the most worth to your customers on the proper time, you want a powerful basis of knowledge. Our updates this 12 months concentrate on serving to you construct up this information basis, with assist for extra information varieties, 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 providers can be transitioning to turn out to be 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 really helpful 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 units, it’s obtainable for obtain from the Play Retailer. Well being Join lets your app join with lots of of apps utilizing a single API integration. So far, over 500 apps have built-in with Well being Join and have unlocked deeper insights for his or her customers. Take a look at the featured record to see a number of the apps which have built-in.

We’re excited to proceed supporting the Google Match Android Recording API performance via the Recording API on cell, which permits builders to document steps, and shortly distance and energy, in a power-efficient method. In distinction to the Google Match Android Recording API, the Recording API on cell 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. Keep watch over d.android.com/health-and-fitness for upcoming documentation.

Upcoming capabilities from Well being Join

Well being Join will quickly add assist 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 you could maintain information up-to-date with out counting on the person to open your app. This can be a departure from present conduct, the place apps can solely learn from Well being Join whereas the app is within the foreground or working 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 can be launched later this 12 months, so keep tuned to discover ways to add assist to your apps!

Updates to Well being Providers on Put on OS

Well being Providers 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 varieties for working
• Assist for debounced targets

New Information Sorts for Operating

Beginning with Put on OS 5, Well being Providers will assist new information varieties for working. These information varieties may also help present extra insights on working kind and economic system.

The total record of recent superior working metrics is:

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

As with all information varieties supported by Well being Providers on Put on OS, you should definitely examine train capabilities in order that your app solely makes use of metrics which can be supported on the units working your app, making a smoother expertise for customers. That is particularly essential for Put on OS, as there’s a sturdy ecosystem of units for shoppers to select from, they usually don’t all the time assist the identical metrics.

// Checking if the machine helps the RUNNING train and confirming the 
// information varieties 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 varieties that we wish to use are supported by
// the RUNNING train on this machine.
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 Providers on Put on OS

To make this straightforward, we’ve launched a sensor panel, obtainable beginning in Android Studio Koala Characteristic Drop, which is presently in Canary. You should use the panel to check your app throughout a wide range of machine capabilities, experimenting with conditions the place metrics like coronary heart fee or distance aren’t obtainable.

Assist for debounced targets

Second, Well being Providers on Put on OS will quickly assist debounced targets for instantaneous metrics. These embody metrics like coronary heart fee, distance, and velocity, for which customers wish to preserve a specified threshold or vary all through an train.

Debounced targets stop the identical occasion from being emitted a number of instances—each time the situation is true—over a short while interval. As an alternative, occasions are emitted provided that the brink has been constantly exceeded for a (configurable) variety of seconds. You can even stop occasions from being emitted instantly after purpose registration.

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

• Period at threshold is the quantity of uninterrupted time the person must cross the required threshold earlier than Well being Providers sends an alert occasion.
• Preliminary delay is the period of time that should cross, 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 targets or targets.

A typical use case for debounced targets includes coronary heart fee zones. Coronary heart fee constantly fluctuates all through an train, particularly throughout cardio-intensive actions. With out assist for debouncing, an app may get many alerts in a brief time period, comparable to every time the person’s coronary heart fee dips above or beneath the goal vary.

By introducing an preliminary delay, you’ll be able to inform Well being Providers 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’ll be able to take this customization additional, by specifying the period of time that should cross in (or out) of the required threshold for the purpose to be activated. In follow, this may be like ready for the person to be out of their goal coronary heart fee vary for 15 seconds earlier than your app lets them know to extend or lower their depth.

Take a look at the technical session, “Constructing Adaptable Experiences with Android Well being” to see this in motion!

Your app’s coaching accomplice

The Well being & Health Developer Middle 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 cell and Put on OS.

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