Hello, everyone! I'm seeking some guidance on the App Store review process and technical best practices for a watchOS app. My goal is to create an app that uses HealthKit to continuously monitor a user's heart rate in the background for sessions lasting between 30 minutes and 3 hours. This app would not be a fitness or workout tracker. My primary question is about the best way to achieve this reliably while staying within the App Store Review Guidelines. Is it advisable to use the WorkoutKit framework to start a custom, non-fitness "session" for the purpose of continuous background monitoring? Are there any other recommended APIs or frameworks for this kind of background data collection on watchOS that I should be aware of? What are the key review considerations I should be mindful of, particularly regarding Guideline 4.1 (Design) and the intended use of APIs? My app's core functionality would require this kind of data for a beneficial purpose. I want to ensure my approach is technically sound and has the best chance of a successful review. Any insights or advice from developers who have experience with similar use cases would be incredibly helpful! Thank you!

According to the WWDC25 Presentation Track workouts with HealthKit on iOS and iPadOS, there is supposed to be a new property for restoring an active workout after a crash on iOS/iPadOS. The developer documentation also supports this. However, this property does not seem to exist in the latest Xcode 26 beta, even in projects targeting iOS 26.0 as the minimum version. Am I missing something? Has this property not been made available yet? It is actually looking like all of the new iOS 26.0 properties are missing UIScene.ConnectionOptions on my system.

Are there any HealthKit related changes to be aware of in the new update that enables SPO2 / Blood Oxygen Saturation measurements on certain Apple Watch models within the US? I’m aware of processing happening on the phone…. But beyond that: Does this mean values are then saved to Apple Health? Do these models still take background SPO2 measurements in the same way as other models do? Are these values then visible in third party iOS apps as normal through HealthKit? Do these values sync back to the paired Apple Watch HealthKit store for third party apps to access on the Watch? For reference I have an iOS and WatchOS app that, amongst other features, provides the ability to see your SPO2 values in the Watch app, complications and in the iOS app.

Hello everyone, Ujjwal here, founder and CEO of a new iOS app in the mental wellness space. Our mission is to provide accessible, AI-driven support for individuals dealing with anxiety, depression, and loneliness. From the very beginning, this has presented us with a unique and critical challenge: How do we effectively market an app to reach those who need it most, while upholding the absolute highest standards of user privacy? We've built our app, ThunDroid, with a "privacy-by-design" philosophy. We leverage on-device processing for our core AI features, utilize end-to-end encryption, and have proudly integrated 'Sign in with Apple' to maximize user anonymity. We believe these are not just features, but ethical obligations to our users, especially given the nature of the data they trust us with. The challenge, however, arises in marketing. This leads us to focus on mission-driven, organic marketing, but it's a slower path to reaching users who might be in immediate need of support. This brings me to my question for this knowledgeable community. What best practices or creative strategies have you found effective for marketing applications? I appreciate any insights or experiences you're willing to share as we continue to grow ThunDroid responsibly. Thank you for your time and consideration. App Store link: (would love to hear your reviews) [https://apps.apple.com/in/app/thundroid-ai-human-companion/id6746182736)

Hi everyone, while testing HKWorkoutSession with HKLiveWorkoutBuilder on iOS 26 Beta (cycling workout), I noticed the following behavior: – Starting a cycling HKWorkoutSession automatically connects to my Bluetooth heart rate monitor and records HR into HealthKit ✅ – However, my Bluetooth cycling power meter and cadence sensor (standard BLE Cycling Power & CSC services) are not connected automatically, and no data is recorded into HealthKit ❌ On Apple Watch, when starting a cycling workout, these sensors do connect automatically and their data is written to HealthKit — which is exactly what I would expect on iOS as well. Question: Is this by design, or is support for power and cadence sensors planned for iOS in the same way as on watchOS? Or do we, as developers, need to implement the BLE Cycling Power and CSC profiles ourselves (via CoreBluetooth) if we want these metrics? Environment: – iOS 26 Beta – HKWorkoutSession & HKLiveWorkoutBuilder (cycling) – Bluetooth HRM connects automatically – BLE power & cadence sensors do not This feature would make it much easier to develop cycling apps with full HealthKit integration, and also create a more consistent user experience compared to watchOS. Thanks for any insights!

Hello, What is the best practice for sending customized workouts to the Apple Watch. For example, sending a running workout that entails: Run 1 mile at 8:00/mile Walk 2 minutes Run 2 mile at 7:00/mile ---- Walk 2 minutes ---- Repeat 2x Run 1 mile at 8:00/mile Any documentation or sample codes would be amazing. Thank you

In iOS 26, HKLiveWorkoutBuilder is supported, which we can use like HKWorkoutSession in watchOS - this is very exciting. However, it currently seems to have a bug in calculating calories. I tested it in my app, and for nearly 6 minutes with an average heart rate of 134, it only calculated 8 calories consumed (80 calories per hour), including basal consumption, which is obviously incorrect. (I used Powerboats Pro 2 connected to my phone, which includes heart rate data, and HKLiveWorkoutBuilder correctly collected the heart rate, which is great.) I think my code is correct. func workoutBuilder(_ workoutBuilder: HKLiveWorkoutBuilder, didCollectDataOf collectedTypes: Set<HKSampleType>) { for type in collectedTypes { guard let quantityType = type as? HKQuantityType else { return // Nothing to do. } let statistics = workoutBuilder.statistics(for: quantityType) if let statistics = statistics { switch statistics.quantityType { case HKQuantityType.quantityType(forIdentifier: .heartRate): /// - Tag: SetLabel let heartRateUnit = HKUnit.count().unitDivided(by: HKUnit.minute()) let value = statistics.mostRecentQuantity()?.doubleValue(for: heartRateUnit) let roundedValue = Double( round( 1 * value! ) / 1 ) if let avg = statistics.averageQuantity()?.doubleValue(for: heartRateUnit) { self.avgHeartRate = avg } self.delegate?.didUpdateHeartBeat(self, heartBeat: Int(roundedValue)) case HKQuantityType.quantityType(forIdentifier: .activeEnergyBurned): let energyUnit = HKUnit.kilocalorie() let value = statistics.sumQuantity()?.doubleValue(for: energyUnit) self.totalActiveEnergyBurned = Double(value!) print("didUpdate totalActiveEnergyBurned: \(self.totalActiveEnergyBurned)") self.delegate?.didUpdateEnergyBurned(self, totalEnergy: self.totalActiveEnergyBurned + self.totalBasalEneryBurned) return case HKQuantityType.quantityType(forIdentifier: .basalEnergyBurned): let energyUnit = HKUnit.kilocalorie() let value = statistics.sumQuantity()?.doubleValue(for: energyUnit) self.totalBasalEneryBurned = Double(value!) print("didUpdate totalBasalEneryBurned: \(self.totalBasalEneryBurned)") self.delegate?.didUpdateEnergyBurned(self, totalEnergy: self.totalActiveEnergyBurned + self.totalBasalEneryBurned) return default: print("unhandled quantityType=\(statistics.quantityType) when processing statistics") return } } I think I've found the source of the problem: let workoutConfiguration = HKWorkoutConfiguration() workoutConfiguration.activityType = .traditionalStrengthTraining //walking, running is ok workoutConfiguration.locationType = .outdoor When I set the activityType to walking or running, the calorie results are correct, showing several hundred calories per hour. However, when activityType is set to traditionalStrengthTraining or jumprope, the calculations are incorrect. PS: I'm currently using Xcode 26 beta3 and iOS 26 beta3. Hope this issue can be resolved. Thanks.

I'm using following filters to fetch swimming activities from HealthKit. For some users it fetches all workouts (pool && open water) but for other it skips some open water activities. See screenshot, all those swimming activities are not fetched by following code. let startDate = Calendar.current.date(byAdding: .month, value: -1, to: Date())! let endDate = Date() let swimmingPredicate = HKQuery.predicateForWorkouts(with: .swimming) let timePredicate = HKQuery.predicateForSamples(withStart: startDate, end: endDate, options: .strictStartDate) let predicate = NSCompoundPredicate(andPredicateWithSubpredicates: [swimmingPredicate, timePredicate]) let query = HKSampleQuery(sampleType: .workoutType(), predicate: predicate, limit: HKObjectQueryNoLimit, sortDescriptors: [.init(keyPath: \HKSample.startDate, ascending: false)], resultsHandler: { [weak self] query, samples, error in ... Could someone help with ideads what is missing in this case?

Has anyone seen the workout buddy options on watch OS yet? I am not able to get it on my watch. My setup is an iPhone 16 and Watch Ultra 1 with the 26 OS I am currently using beta 3. English US language on both and US as region. I am located in Germany though. I restarted both devices multiple times without any changes. Hopefully someone can help.

Has anyone had success using the HKWorkoutRouteBuilder in conjunction with the new iOS support for HKLiveWorkoutBuilder? I was running my watchOS code that worked now brought over to iOS and when I call insertRouteData the function never returns. This happens for both the legacy and closure based block patterns. private var workoutSession: HKWorkoutSession? private var workoutBuilder: HKLiveWorkoutBuilder? private var serviceSession: CLServiceSession? private var workoutRouteBuilder: HKWorkoutRouteBuilder? private func startRouteBuilder() { Task { @MainActor in self.serviceSession = CLServiceSession(authorization: .whenInUse) self.workoutRouteBuilder = self.workoutBuilder?.seriesBuilder(for: .workoutRoute()) as? HKWorkoutRouteBuilder self.locationUpdateTask = Task { do { for try await update in CLLocationUpdate.liveUpdates(.fitness) { if let location = update.location { self.logger.notice(#function, metadata: [ "location": .stringConvertible(location) ]) try await self.workoutRouteBuilder?.insertRouteData([location]) self.logger.notice("Added location") } } } catch { self.logger.error(#function, metadata: [ "error": .stringConvertible(error.localizedDescription) ]) } } } } I did also try CLLocationManager API with delegate which is what my current watch code uses (a bit old). Same issue. Here is what I've found so far: If the workout session is not running, and if the builder hasn't started collection yet, inserting route data works just fine I've tried different swift language modes, flipped from main actor to non isolated project settings (Xcode 26) Modified Apple's sample code and added location route building to that and reproduced the error, modified sample attached to feedback This issue was identified against Xcode 26 beta 2 and iPhone 16 Pro simulator. Works as expected on my iPhone 13 Pro beta 2. FB18603581 - HealthKit: HKWorkoutRouteBuilder insert call within CLLocationUpdate task never returns

Hello everyone, my app is designed to help people sleep. It has been rejected multiple times due to issues with version 1.4.1 during the submission process. However, the app simply evaluates users’ insomnia and anxiety status based on their responses to questions and provides some relaxation methods. It does not involve any medical-related content. The reviewer provided screenshots of the assessment results page and some relaxation techniques. How should I handle this issue?

Hello everyone, my app is designed to help people sleep. It has been rejected multiple times due to issues with version 1.4.1 during the submission process. However, the app simply evaluates users’ insomnia and anxiety status based on their responses to questions and provides some relaxation methods. It does not involve any medical-related content. The reviewer provided screenshots of the assessment results page and some relaxation techniques. How should I handle this issue?

I am very happy to see that HealthKit with OS26 is bringing HKLiveWorkoutDataSource to iOS and iPadOS. I have been replicating a similar type for the last several years for users that only have an iPhone. I did notice that the data types that the different platform data sources collect automatically is different. That makes sense if you think exclusively about what the device can actually capture. Bluetooth HRM is the only Bluetooth SIG profile that is out-of-the-box supported for Apple Health on iOS and iPadOS (right?). Whereas watchOS 10 got all of the cycling sensors (woohoo!). It would be great if the types to collect were the same across platforms even if the device couldn't collect the data now, because then in the future when / if new sensor support is added, it will be transparent to developers. Fantastic. Easier life as an indie / third party developer. At least that is the idea. And yes, I know I can also write Core Bluetooth code and roll my own SIG implementation for the cycling profiles, but Apple already has this code in one os, 'just copy it, it will be easy'. I know that isn't the reality especially against the new ASK framework, but one can hope and dream right? Imagine how many more apps would contribute that data if it was supported out of the box. An alternative, GitHub is a great place for Apple to share their Core Bluetooth implementation of the SIG profiles :). Just another thought. Here are some feedbacks related to this: FB17931751 - HealthKit: Add built-in support for cycling sensors on iOS and iPadOS - copy paste the code from watchOS. It will be easy they said (June 2025) FB12323089 - CoreBluetooth / Health / Bluetooth Settings: Add support for cycling sensors announced in watchOS 10 to iOS and iPadOS 17 (June 2023) FB14311218 - HealthKit: Expected outdoor cycling to include .cyclingSpeed quantity type as a default HKLiveWorkoutDataSource type to collect (July 2024) FB14978701 - Bluetooth / HealthKit / Fitness: Expose information about the user specified for Apple Watch paired Cycing Speed Sensor like isConnected and wheelCircumference values (August 2024) FB18402258 - HealthKit: HKLiveWorkoutDataSource should collect same types on iOS and watchOS even if device cannot produce data today (June 2025) FB14236080 - Developer Documentation / HealthKit: Update documentation for HKLiveWorkoutDataSource typesToCollect for which sample types are automatically collected by watchOS 10 and 11 (July 2024) Tangentially related: FB10281304 - HealthKit: Add HKActivityTypes canoeBikeRun and kayakBikeRun (June 2022) FB10281349 - HealthKit: Add HKActivityType walkCanoeWalk and walkKayakWalk (June 2022) FB7807993 - Add HKQuantityTypeIdentifier.paddleDistance for canoeing, kayaking, etc type workouts (June 2020) FB12508654 - HealthKit / Settings / Bluetooth / Workouts: Cycling sensor support doesn't allow for 'bike selection' in use case of multiple bikes and multiple sensors (borrow a bike to ride together) - production usability issue (July 2023)

Hello, I have enabled HealthKit background delivery for sleep analysis samples: private func setupSleepDataBackgroundDelivery() { if let sleepType = HKObjectType.categoryType(forIdentifier: HKCategoryTypeIdentifier.sleepAnalysis) { healthStore.enableBackgroundDelivery(for: sleepType, frequency: .immediate) { (success, error) in } } } In general, this function works. But I would love to know what the limitations / expected delivery delay for frequency: .immediate is. The documentation is only very vague about this and specifies that some sample types such as steps are only delivered once per hour. But how about sleep data? Is this expected to be delivered immediately once available on iPhone? Thanks a lot for your help!

I was wondering which is the preferred way to send a lot of data from sensors of the apple watch to server. It is preferred to send small chucks to iphone and then to server or directly send bulk data to server from watch. How does it affect battery and resources from watch ? Are there any triggers that I can use to ensure best data stream. I need to send at least once a day. Can I do it in background or do I need the user to have my app in the foreground ? Thank you in advance

Hi everyone, I'm building a health-focused iOS and watchOS app that uses WatchConnectivity to sync real-time heart rate and core body temperature data from iPhone to Apple Watch. While the HealthKit integration works correctly on the iPhone side, I'm facing persistent issues with WatchConnectivity — the data either doesn't arrive on the Watch, or session(_:didReceiveMessage:) never gets triggered. Here's the setup: On iPhone: Using WCSession.default.sendMessage(_:replyHandler:errorHandler:) to send real-time values every few seconds. On Apple Watch: Implemented WCSessionDelegate, and session(_:didReceiveMessage:) is supposed to update the UI. Both apps have WCSession.isSupported() checks, activate the session, and assign delegates correctly. The session state shows isPaired = true and isWatchAppInstalled = true. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are on, both devices are unlocked and nearby. Despite all this, the Watch never receives messages in real-time. Sometimes, data comes through in bulk much later or not at all. I've double-checked Info.plist configurations and made sure background modes include "Uses Bluetooth LE accessories" and "Background fetch" where appropriate. I would really appreciate guidance on: Best practices for reliable, low-latency message delivery with WatchConnectivity. Debugging steps or sample code to validate message transmission and reception. Any pitfalls related to UI updates from the delegate method. Happy to share further details. Thanks in advance!

When I set the distanceFilter = 5 (5 meters) in the GPS CLLocationManager I can't display the workout routes in the Apple Fitness app after writing the recorded GPS data to HealthKit via HKWorkoutRouteBuilder. The smaller distanceFilter, Fitness will displays the route. Should I consider setting up a small distanceFilter when developing a workout app on watchOS?

I want to know , how many days will the data of health stays in apple watch . For example, I have not synced the watch with iPhone for two weeks . Then When I synced it , I am only able to see the last week data on iPhone of the watch . Is it true ?

I'm reading hourly statistics from HealthKit using executeStatisticsCollectionQuery (code below). Expectation What I expect is to get back the list with one row per hour, where each hours has the same cumulative sum value. Actual result In results, first hour always contains less calories than next hours, which all have the same value. Example: Start: 2025-06-02T00:00:00+03:00, anchor: 2025-06-02T00:00:00+03:00, end: 2025-06-02T12:00:00+03:00 🟡 2025-06-02T00:00:00+03:00 Optional(50.3986 kcal) 🟡 2025-06-02T01:00:00+03:00 Optional(64.421 kcal) 🟡 2025-06-02T02:00:00+03:00 Optional(64.421 kcal) 🟡 2025-06-02T03:00:00+03:00 Optional(64.421 kcal) 🟡 2025-06-02T04:00:00+03:00 Optional(64.421 kcal) 🟡 2025-06-02T05:00:00+03:00 Optional(64.421 kcal) 🟡 2025-06-02T06:00:00+03:00 Optional(64.421 kcal) 🟡 2025-06-02T07:00:00+03:00 Optional(64.421 kcal) 🟡 2025-06-02T08:00:00+03:00 Optional(64.421 kcal) 🟡 2025-06-02T09:00:00+03:00 Optional(64.421 kcal) 🟡 2025-06-02T10:00:00+03:00 Optional(64.421 kcal) 🟡 2025-06-02T11:00:00+03:00 Optional(64.421 kcal) 🟡 2025-06-02T12:00:00+03:00 Optional(14.0224 kcal) As you can see, here we have 2025-06-02T00:00:00+03:00 Optional(50.3986 kcal) Now, if I add one more hour to the request (from beginning of time window), the same hour has proper calories count, while newly added hour, has wrong value): 2025-06-01T23:00:00+03:00, anchor: 2025-06-01T23:00:00+03:00, end: 2025-06-02T12:00:00+03:00. 🟡 2025-06-01T23:00:00+03:00 Optional(50.3986 kcal) 🟡 2025-06-02T00:00:00+03:00 Optional(64.421 kcal) 🟡 2025-06-02T01:00:00+03:00 Optional(64.421 kcal) 🟡 2025-06-02T02:00:00+03:00 Optional(64.421 kcal) 🟡 2025-06-02T03:00:00+03:00 Optional(64.421 kcal) 🟡 2025-06-02T04:00:00+03:00 Optional(64.421 kcal) 🟡 2025-06-02T05:00:00+03:00 Optional(64.421 kcal) 🟡 2025-06-02T06:00:00+03:00 Optional(64.421 kcal) 🟡 2025-06-02T07:00:00+03:00 Optional(64.421 kcal) 🟡 2025-06-02T08:00:00+03:00 Optional(64.421 kcal) 🟡 2025-06-02T09:00:00+03:00 Optional(64.421 kcal) 🟡 2025-06-02T10:00:00+03:00 Optional(64.421 kcal) 🟡 2025-06-02T11:00:00+03:00 Optional(64.421 kcal) 🟡 2025-06-02T12:00:00+03:00 Optional(14.0224 kcal) And now first hour of the day, magically has more calories burned: 2025-06-02T00:00:00+03:00 Optional(64.421 kcal) I suspect similar things happen with other quantity types, but haven't yet found a way to reproduce it. Am I doing something wrong or is it a bug in HealthKit? Code let anchorDate = startDate let predicate = HKQuery.predicateForSamples(withStart: startDate, end: endDate, options: [.strictStartDate]) healthStore.executeStatisticsCollectionQuery( quantityType: .basalEnergyBurned, quantitySamplePredicate: predicate, options: [.separateBySource, .cumulativeSum], anchorDate: anchorDate, intervalComponents: DateComponents(hour: 1), initialResultsHandler: { statistics, error in if let error = error { log(.error, "Error retrieving steps: \(error.localizedDescription)") continuation.resume(throwing: SpikeException("Error retrieving steps: \(error.localizedDescription)")) return } if let statistics { let f = ISO8601DateFormatter() f.timeZone = TimeZone.current for s in statistics { log(.debug, "\(f.string(from: s.startDate)) \(s.sumQuantity())") } } continuation.resume(returning: statistics ?? []) } )

We are working on the health related application and use apple health kit to sync the data from different devices like watches or ring. We are targeting oura ring to get sleep and other parameters data. We are able to sync the data from oura for all other parameters (like pulse, respiratory rate, blood pressure, etc..) other than sleep. Surprisingly, sleep data that comes through other devices is syncing as expected from the health kit. We are even getting the data which is added manually in health kit. The only sleep data not syncing is from oura. Can we get a document or any kind of help to sync the data from oura in to our application using health kit?