Hi everyone,
I’m building a health app with React Native using Expo Dev Client on a real iPhone. I need to read Apple Health (HealthKit) data, but the authorization sheet never appears—so the app never gets permissions and all queries return nothing.
What I’ve already done
Enabled HealthKit capability for the iOS target.
Added NSHealthShareUsageDescription and NSHealthUpdateUsageDescription to Info.plist.
Using a custom dev build (not Expo Go).
Tested fresh installs (deleted the app), rebooted device, and checked Settings → Privacy & Security → Health/Motion & Fitness.
Tried both packages: react-native-health and @kingstinct/react-native-healthkit. Same behavior: no permission dialog at first use.
Ask
Is there a known reason why the HealthKit permission sheet would not show on modern iOS when called from a React Native bridge (with Expo Dev Client)? Are there any extra entitlements, signing, or config-plugin steps required beyond HealthKit capability + Info.plist?
If you’re successfully fetching Apple Health data from React Native on recent iOS, could you share the exact steps that made the permission sheet appear and data flow (Expo config/plugin used, Xcode capability setup, profile/team settings, build type, bundle ID nuances, any Health app reset steps, etc.)? This would help me and others hitting the same “authorized call but no prompt/no data” issue. Thank you!
Health & Fitness
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Hey everyone
I'm working on a health app that's heavily focused on HRV tracking and analysis, and I'm trying to figure out what's actually possible with AirPods Pro 3 from a developer standpoint. The hardware clearly has a much better heart rate sensor than the previous generation, but I'm hitting some walls when it comes to actually accessing the data I need.
So here's the situation I'm dealing with: When I query HealthKit for HRV samples, I'm not seeing anything coming from AirPods Pro 3. The device is obviously capable of tracking heart rate continuously during workouts and listening sessions, and from what I've read about the hardware, it should theoretically be able to capture the inter-beat intervals needed for HRV calculation. But either that data isn't being processed on-device, or it's just not being made available through the standard HealthKit data types that third-party apps can access.
What I'm really after is either direct HRV metrics (like SDNN, which Apple Watch already provides through HKQuantityTypeIdentifierHeartRateVariabilitySDNN) or even better, access to the raw R-R interval data. With R-R intervals, I could calculate RMSSD, pNN50, and other time-domain and frequency-domain HRV metrics that are super valuable for tracking recovery, autonomic nervous system balance, and stress levels. This would be especially useful since a lot of users wear AirPods during activities when they're not wearing their Apple Watch.
Has anyone managed to find a way to pull this data from AirPods Pro 3? Are there any private frameworks or entitlements I should be looking into? Or is this just fundamentally not exposed to developers at the OS level right now?
I've gone through the HealthKit documentation pretty thoroughly and haven't found anything that specifically addresses this, but I'm wondering if I'm missing something or if there are any known workarounds.
I'm also curious if anyone has heard anything from Apple about future plans to expose this data. It seems like a missed opportunity given how capable the hardware is and how much value developers could provide with access to this physiological data. Would love to hear if anyone else is working on similar features or has insights into the technical limitations here.
I am working on a cycling fitness app and I want to read the cycling power recorded using my Garmin edge from the Garmin Connect App. Currently the data is not transferred to the Health/Fitness Apps. Ideally it would be good to be able to query the power samples similar to the heart rate samples, but even the average power would suffice, as I could then calculate the Kilojoules.
I am the developer of a workout app that allows users to create interval programs (e.g. Warm Up, Fast, Cool Down).
It is possible for me to store the data for the intervals along with the workout in the Health system by using WorkoutKit (or any other method)?
My aim is to make it so that the Fitness app shows the interval details when users view workouts created by my app.
Thanks in advance.
I am developing an iOS application that utilizes running workout data from the iOS Health app / Fitness app via HealthKit, with explicit user permission.
Before finalizing the app design, I would like to clarify several technical aspects related to data reliability, manual entry, record modification, and GPS route availability in HealthKit.
My questions are as follows:
1. Identifying manually added (non-physical) running workouts
When a running workout is created in the Health app without actual physical movement (for example, a workout manually added by the user),
is there any metadata, flag, or key in HealthKit that allows developers to distinguish these records from workouts generated through actual motion tracking (iPhone or Apple Watch)?
2. Editing existing running workout records
Is it possible for users, or for third-party apps with HealthKit write permission, to edit an existing running workout (e.g., distance, duration, calories) after it has been saved?
• If edits are allowed, are the original values preserved in any way, or are they fully overwritten?
3. Detecting modified workout records
If a running workout (whether originally auto-recorded or manually created) has been edited after creation,
is there any identifier, metadata field, source revision, or versioning mechanism in HealthKit that allows developers to detect that the workout has been modified?
4. Access to GPS route / running path data
For outdoor running workouts recorded with location services enabled:
• Does HealthKit provide access to GPS route data (running paths / location traces) associated with a workout?
• Is this route data accessible to third-party apps with user permission?
• Is route data available only for workouts recorded on Apple Watch, or also for iPhone-only recordings?
• Is there a way to determine programmatically whether a running workout includes valid GPS route data?
The overall goal is to understand whether, when building an app that relies on HealthKit running data, it is technically possible to differentiate motion-based workouts from manually added or edited records, and to assess the availability of route information for outdoor runs.
Any clarification or references to official documentation would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Why can I use background delivery to realize background notifications when I run the app for the first time, but when I delete the app running in the background, and then reopen the app to run it in the background, there will be no background notification when the data changes?
Hey everyone,
I was wondering if it is possible to access the raw data of the gyroscope and accelerometer of the Airpod 3 pro?
I found different answers online - some say I can only get some processed data, but in the Core Motion documentation it reads as it might be possible to get raw data.
Any clear answer for this one?
Thanks!
1/ Issue Summary
In our application, we use HKObserverQuery together with:HKHealthStore.enableBackgroundDelivery(for:frequency: .immediate)
to enable HealthKit Background Delivery, allowing the system to wake our App Extension in the background to process health data updates.
Under the same app build, identical HealthKit permission configuration, and the same watchOS version, we have observed significant differences in background delivery frequency across different devices.
Specifically, on certain devices (e.g. Apple Watch Series 10, watchOS 26.2.1), the background delivery frequency is significantly reduced, behaving as if it is capped at approximately once per hour. On other control devices, under the same configuration, background delivery is triggered much more frequently and consistently, at approximately every 8–16 minutes.
This behavior is consistently reproducible on the affected devices.
**We would like to understand whether there are any officially recommended implementation patterns, best practices, or device-/system-level considerations when using HKObserverQuery and Background Delivery, in order to achieve more consistent and predictable background update behavior across different devices running the same system version. **
2/ Detailed Device Comparison
We conducted internal comparison testing across multiple devices with the following results:
Device A (Affected / Abnormal)
Model: Apple Watch Series 10 (46mm)
OS: watchOS 26.2.1
Serial (partial): C*HY
Background Delivery Frequency: ~ once every 60 minutes (significantly lower than expected)
Device B (Normal)
Model: Apple Watch Series 10 (42mm)
OS: watchOS 26.2.1
Serial (partial): G*4R
Background Delivery Frequency: ~ every 8–16 minutes
Device C (Normal)
Model: Apple Watch Series 8 (41mm)
OS: watchOS 26.3
Serial (partial): C*J6
Background Delivery Frequency: ~ every 8–16 minutes
Device D (Normal)
Model: Apple Watch Series 5 (41mm)
OS: watchOS 10.6.1
Serial (partial): G*TQ
Background Delivery Frequency: ~ every 8–16 minutes
All devices share the following conditions:
HealthKit permissions: Full read/write permissions granted
Background App Refresh: Enabled
System state: Low Power Mode, Do Not Disturb, and all Focus modes disabled
App build: Identical app build installed on all devices
HealthKit configuration: Same data types and same frequency parameter used in enableBackgroundDelivery
Implementation: Identical HKObserverQuery implementation logic
3/ Abnormal Behavior Observed
On the affected device(s), we observe that:
HealthKit background delivery appears to be heavily coalesced or throttled
The system rarely attempts to wake the App Extension
Behavior is clearly inconsistent with other devices using the same configuration
The behavior does not match our expectations for HealthKit Background Delivery with .immediate frequency
4/ Troubleshooting Already Performed
We have already attempted the following on the affected device(s):
Restarted both Apple Watch and paired iPhone
Re-paired the Apple Watch
Uninstalled and reinstalled the app
Revoked and re-granted HealthKit permissions
Confirmed that Low Power Mode, Do Not Disturb, and Focus modes are all disabled
The issue remains consistently reproducible.
5/ Assistance Requested
We would appreciate guidance on:
Whether there are any officially recommended implementation patterns, tuning options, or best practices for using HKObserverQuery and HealthKit Background Delivery
Whether there are any known device-level or system-level factors that may cause significantly different background delivery behavior on different devices running the same watchOS version
How to best achieve consistent and predictable background update delivery behavior across devices for apps that rely on this mechanism
6/ Additional Information
We can provide sysdiagnose logs from both affected and unaffected devices for comparison
We can also provide a minimal reproducible sample project if needed
How to legally and compliantly upload users' fitness and health data to our own server—while adhering to Apple's strict privacy policies—for analysis by our AI large model to provide personalized feedback and recommendations to users.
After upgrading to a new iPhone and restoring from an iCloud backup using the same Apple ID, I noticed an issue with Health app permissions.
■ What is happening
On my previous iPhone, an app had permission to read step count data.
After restoring to the new iPhone, the app still appears in the Health app under Sources.
However, when I tap the app, the usual data type permission toggles (such as Steps) are not displayed at all.
As a result, the app is unable to read step count data.
■ Additional details
The app itself seems to be recognized as a Health data source.
However, the data type permission screen is empty.
No ON/OFF switches are shown.
The backup was created on iOS 18, and the restore was performed on iOS 26.
I have not yet confirmed whether this also happens with other iOS version combinations.
■ Questions
Is it expected behavior that Health app permissions (per data type) are not restored via iCloud backup?
Has anyone experienced a similar situation where the app appears under Sources but the permission options are missing? If so, how did you resolve it?
Any information from users who have experienced the same issue would be greatly appreciated.
I've ran into an error with the insertRouteData function of the HKWorkoutRouteBuilder that I can't seem to find any information on. The error is "Unable to find location series 1A193D3B-AFF5-41D8-A967-B1BE08D9F543 during data insert.". It seems to only happen when trying to insert very long routes, in the most recent case it was a 5 hour bike ride with 5900 samples. I save all the route data in a sqlite table as backup and after checking out the data there isn't any red flags as to why it would not insert correctly. Has anyone seen this before and could offer some insight or point me in the right direction to find the source of the error?
Hi!
I am using the HKAnchoredObjectQuery to first get a snapshot of the initial results, and then trigger an updateHandler.
I need to handle the initial results and the updates separately, which is why I implemented two completions.
When I test the code, it works for a while. New and deleted samples trigger the updateHandler. However, after a while there appears an error:
[connection] nw_read_request_report [C2] Receive failed with error "Software caused connection abort"
Followingly, the updateHandler will stop getting triggered when I add updates in Apple health. Anyone have experience with this?
func getMostRecentSample(for sampleType: HKSampleType,
anchorKey: String,
completion: @escaping (HKQuantitySample?, Error?) -> Swift.Void,
updateHandler: @escaping (HKQuantitySample, Error?) -> Swift.Void) {
// If it is the first initialization, anchor is passed as nil
var anchor: HKQueryAnchor? = nil
// Check for previous saved anchor in userdefaults
if UserDefaults.standard.object(forKey: anchorKey) != nil {
let data = UserDefaults.standard.object(forKey: anchorKey) as! Data
do {
guard let newAnchor = try NSKeyedUnarchiver.unarchivedObject(ofClass: HKQueryAnchor.self, from: data) else {
print("Could not parse anchor to HKQueryAnchor type")
return
}
anchor = newAnchor
} catch {
print("Error retreiving anchor from UserDefaults")
}
}
let query = HKAnchoredObjectQuery(type: sampleType,
predicate: nil,
anchor: anchor,
limit: HKObjectQueryNoLimit
) { (query, samplesOrNil, _, newAnchor, errorOrNil) in
guard let samples = samplesOrNil as? [HKQuantitySample] else {
fatalError("*** An error occurred during the initial query: \(errorOrNil!.localizedDescription) ***")
}
if let anchor = newAnchor {
do {
let data = try NSKeyedArchiver.archivedData(withRootObject: anchor as Any, requiringSecureCoding: false)
UserDefaults.standard.set(data, forKey: anchorKey)
} catch {
print("Error retreiving anchor from UserDefaults")
}
}
completion(samples.last, nil)
}
// Setting up long-running query
query.updateHandler = { (query, samplesOrNil, _, newAnchor, errorOrNil) in
guard let samples = samplesOrNil as? [HKQuantitySample] else {
fatalError("*** An error occurred during an update: \(errorOrNil!.localizedDescription) ***")
}
if let anchor = newAnchor {
do {
let data = try NSKeyedArchiver.archivedData(withRootObject: anchor as Any, requiringSecureCoding: false)
UserDefaults.standard.set(data, forKey: anchorKey)
} catch {
print("Error retreiving anchor from UserDefaults")
}
}
if let sample = samples.last {
updateHandler(sample, nil)
}
}
self.healthStore.execute(query)
}
We are seeing an issue where sending data using the asynchronous method HKWorkoutSession.sendToRemoteWorkoutSession(data: Data) will never return in some cases (no success nor failure).
This issue is happening for roughly 5% of Workouts started and will stay broken for the whole workout. The other 95% of the workouts, the connection works flawlessly. This happens on both watchOS 10 and 11, and with phones running iOS 17 or 18. The issue is quite random and not reproducible.
Our app has thousands of workouts a day that use the workout session workout data send, with constant messages being send every few seconds.
In some of those 5% cases the "sendToRemoteWorkoutSession" will throw way later, like 30+ minutes later, if the watch app is awake long enough to capture a log of a failure.
Our code uses the same flow as in the sample project:
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/healthkit/workouts_and_activity_rings/building_a_multidevice_workout_app
Here is some sample code, which is pretty simple.
Setup code:
let workoutSession = try HKWorkoutSession(healthStore: healthStore, configuration: configuration)
workoutSession.delegate = self
activeWorkoutSession?.startMirroringToCompanionDevice { success, error in
print("Mirroring started on companion device: \(success), error: \(error)")
}
workoutSession?.prepare()
then later we send data using the workout session:
do {
print("Will send data")
try await workoutSession.sendToRemoteWorkoutSession(data: data)
print("Successfully sent data") // This nor the error may be called after waiting extensive amounts of time
} catch {
print("Failed to send data, error: \(error)") // This nor the success may be called after waiting extensive amounts of time
}
So far, the only fix is to restart the phone and watch at the same time, which is not a great user experience.
Is anyone else seeing this issue? or know how to fix this issue?
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
Health & Fitness
Tags:
Watch Connectivity
Health and Fitness
watchOS
WorkoutKit
In the fitness app under iOS 18, the location of all workouts is displayed on a small map.
For workouts with routes, I can already successfully read out the route and thus also determine the starting point. So that works.
For indoor workouts such as yoga or indoor rowing, the exact location is also displayed in the fitness app. I would now also like to read out this location for these indoor workouts in my app.
Does anyone know how to do this?
I am a developer from mainland China. Today, I noticed that the HKWorkoutRoute data stored by my app in HealthKit shows significant discrepancies when viewed on the workout route map in the Health and Fitness apps on iOS 18.4. Instead of displaying the actual movement path, the route appears to be offset by several hundred meters.
I collected this data using my app on watchOS 11.3.1, and all CLLocation data comes directly from Core Location. I did not convert WGS84 standard data to GCJ02. Reviewing historical data, all workout routes before March 17, 2025, appear correct, but every record after that date exhibits the offset issue.
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
Health & Fitness
读取是不是解析 metadata 的对应键来获取值对吧~但我看了相关开发文档好像没找到这个的键是什么~于是也没法写入到对应的,现在只能自定义键来进行写入
但是这样写入后无法显示在心情下方的影响因素后面~
这个 key 是没公开的吗还是说我方法弄错了~请各位大大指教
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 ?? [])
}
)
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!
Hi guys,
We have an app that consumes data from Apple HealthKit. We use an HKObserverQuery to monitor changes in HealthKit data, and occasionally use regular HKSampleQuery requests when the app is in the foreground.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been encountering a significant number of errors when requesting additional HealthKit permissions (beyond what the user has already granted). The error message we’re seeing is:
The operation couldn't be completed. (_UIViewServiceInterfaceErrorDomain error 2.)
When this error occurs, all previously granted HealthKit permissions are automatically revoked, which is highly disruptive.
We have a few questions and would greatly appreciate any insights or explanations regarding this behavior:
Could this error occur if a permission request is triggered right as the app moves to the background?
Why would previously granted permissions be revoked automatically after this error?
If this is due to some internal behavior in iOS (e.g., a system-level protection or timeout), is there any known workaround or best practice to prevent this from happening?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Hello. I have implemented background delivery for detecting changes in health kit with HKObserverQuery. It works well, I am reading changes. And I am sending this changes to an https endpoint with using an URLSession.shared.dataTask inside the HKObserverQuery callback while my app is terminated. I have several questions about this:
Is starting a URLSession.shared.dataTask inside HKObserverQuery callback when app is terminated is correct way to do it?
I am calling HKObserverQuery completion handler whatever dataTask returned success or failure but I am wondering what if the network connection is low and this dataTask response could not received in 2-3 seconds. I have read background deliveries should take 1-2 seconds. Should I use an URL session with background configuration for sending those HTTPS requests? If so, should I use download task or upload task (they don't fit my requirements I am sending a simple json)?