Well being Join can now monitor your steps utilizing your Android telephone

Final week, we reported that Google was bringing native step monitoring to Well being Join, permitting the app to rely your steps utilizing your telephone’s sensors. This marks a big shift for the app, which presently doesn’t monitor any information by itself and as a substitute acts as a hub for data from different well being and health companies. Whereas that was its authentic objective, it appears Google has greater plans for the platform. This variation suggests Well being Join might rework from a easy information hub right into a full-fledged monitoring platform, with native step counting being simply step one.

After we first reported on this characteristic, although, we famous some uncertainty. Our proof got here from an evaluation of the APK within the 2508 Android Canary launch, however the characteristic itself wasn’t useful but, and there was no concrete proof inside the app itself. With the discharge of Android 16 QPR2 Beta 2, nevertheless, there isn’t any longer any doubt. Google has confirmed that it’s including native step monitoring to Well being Join.

In its weblog publish, Google says that “Well being Join now routinely tracks steps utilizing the system’s sensors.” Apps that maintain the READ_STEPS permission will see this step information as showing from the “android” package deal, which is the title given to the Android Framework. Google says it made this transformation to simplify the code builders want so as to add to assist step monitoring whereas additionally making it extra energy environment friendly as nicely.

Certainly, opening up Well being Join within the QPR2 Beta 2 launch reveals a brand new banner on the high, saying that the app will now monitor your telephone’s steps for different related apps to entry. Tapping the “Evaluate” button takes you to the brand new “Gadgets” web page we beforehand noticed. This web page lists all gadgets contributing information to Well being Join; in my case, my Pixel telephone was listed (albeit as an “unknown” system). Choosing it opened a “system information” web page confirming it had permission to write down step information.

The app may even inform customers of this new functionality by way of a notification that mirrors the message within the banner, as seen above.

Whereas step monitoring is a fundamental characteristic out there on virtually any Android telephone, its addition to Well being Join has profound implications for the platform’s future. At present, Well being Join is a lackluster various to Apple Well being, held again by poor information syncing and a scarcity of its personal native monitoring capabilities. By including these foundational options, Google can create a a lot stronger baseline platform for extra strong companies like Fitbit to construct upon. For those who’re curious to study extra, we mentioned the significance of this information in higher element on the newest episode of our Authority Insights Podcast.