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

Final week, we reported that Google was bringing native step monitoring to Well being Join, permitting the app to depend your steps utilizing your cellphone’s sensors. This marks a major shift for the app, which presently doesn’t monitor any knowledge by itself and as an alternative acts as a hub for info from different well being and health companies. Whereas that was its unique function, it appears Google has larger plans for the platform. This modification suggests Well being Join might remodel from a easy knowledge hub right into a full-fledged monitoring platform, with native step counting being simply step one.

Once 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 purposeful but, and there was no concrete proof inside the app itself. With the discharge of Android 16 QPR2 Beta 2, nonetheless, there is no such thing as a longer any doubt. Google has confirmed that it’s including native step monitoring to Well being Join.

In its weblog put up, Google says that “Well being Join now mechanically tracks steps utilizing the system’s sensors.” Apps that maintain the READ_STEPS permission will see this step knowledge as showing from the “android” bundle, which is the identify given to the Android Framework. Google says it made this alteration to simplify the code builders want so as to add to help step monitoring whereas additionally making it extra energy environment friendly as properly.

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

The app may also 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 obtainable on virtually any Android cellphone, its addition to Well being Join has profound implications for the platform’s future. Presently, Well being Join is a lackluster various to Apple Well being, held again by poor knowledge 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. When you’re curious to be taught extra, we mentioned the significance of this information in higher element on the most recent episode of our Authority Insights Podcast.