How to launch companion Watch App without relying on Health Kit?
I need my companion watch to launch automatically in some specific cases. What I'm doing to achieve that is to call "startWatchApp" in HKHealthStore().
This worked flawlessly for well over a year but AppReview is now giving me a hard time about using HealthKit without actually using health related data.
Is there a way to do the same without using HealthKit? Seems silly that this is bundled only with the HealthKit...
If I don't find another solution I will probably be forced to start reading heart rate data and reporting it to the user just so that AppReview will stop saying that I have no reason to use HealthKit... But ideally I'd love to learn about a way to open the companion Watch app without HealthKit and do things the right way...
Health & Fitness
RSS for tagExplore the technical aspects of health and fitness features, including sensor data acquisition, health data processing, and integration with the HealthKit framework.
Selecting any option will automatically load the page
Post
Replies
Boosts
Views
Activity
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)
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
Health & Fitness
Tags:
Health and Fitness
HealthKit
Core Bluetooth
AccessorySetupKit
Hi y’all! This is my first post but I wanted to ask if anyone else has had this happen and fixed it. But I have lost 3 years of fitness and health data upon upgrading to iOS 26 beta 1. I have about 2 gigs of health data in iCloud which I’m praying to Tim is my data lol. But I was wondering if anyone else went through this issue on their test device and yeah.
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
Health & Fitness
I don’t get the workout buddy on my Apple Watch series 10, paired to an iPhone 16 running iOS 26 Beta 2
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
Health & Fitness
Hi all,
I’m currently running watchOS 26 beta and have been experiencing several sensor-related issues since updating:
• Raise to Wake function doesn’t activate reliably or at all.
• Heart rate sensor fails to measure or shows inconsistent readings.
• Location services are not working properly, affecting workout tracking and apps that rely on GPS.
• Blood oxygen (SpO2) measurements are failing or missing completely.
I’m not sure exactly when these issues began, but they started after installing the latest beta. I’ve tried restarting and resetting but the problems persist. Has anyone else encountered similar issues? Any insights or fixes would be appreciated!
Thanks!
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
Health & Fitness
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'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 ?? [])
}
)
Hi, i'm trying to get the number of step counts a person has taken. I decided to pull the data from health kit and the number of steps are incorrect. Come to find out apple health recommends an app called pedometer++ for the number of steps counted and after testing I realized that they are getting the correct number of steps a person is taking. How can I pull the correct number of steps a person has taken? I want to be able to merge the data from watch and phone to make sure we are getting the correct number of steps but not double counting the steps either.
any guidance on this would be appreciated!
Here's the code snippet that i'm using right now:
permissions: {
read: [AppleHealthKit.Constants.Permissions.StepCount],
write: [],
},
};
AppleHealthKit.initHealthKit(permissions, error => {
if (error) {
console.log('Error initializing HealthKit: ', error);
return;
} else {
dispatch(setAllowHealthKit(true));
getHealthKitData();
console.log('HealthKit initialized successfully');
}
});
const getHealthKitData = async () => {
try {
const today = new Date();
const options = {
startDate: new Date(today.setHours(0, 0, 0, 0)).toISOString(),
endDate: new Date().toISOString(),
};
const steps = await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
AppleHealthKit.getStepCount(options, (error, results) => {
if (error) reject(error);
resolve(results?.value);
});
});
setStepsCount(steps);
} catch (error) {
console.error('Error fetching HealthKit data:', error);
}
};
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
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
Health & Fitness
Tags:
Beta
Health and Fitness
HealthKit
WorkoutKit
I'm trying to hook into the new workoutEffort score supported in iOS 18, I am collecting this information from users when they submit their workout and trying to add a sample to the HKWorkout in the same manner as I've been adding other samples like bodyweight, calories burned, etc.
I'm receiving the error:
HKWorkout: Sample of type HKQuantityTypeIdentifierWorkoutEffortScore must be related to a workout
I tried adding the samples using HKWorkoutBuilder.add([samples]) as which has been working perfectly for calories burned & bodyweight, but I am receiving the above error for workoutEffortScore
As a second approach, I tried adding the sample after I called finishWorkout on the HKWorkoutBuilder and received back the HKWorkout object using HKHealthStore.add([samples], to: HKWorkout) and am still receiving the same error!
I don't know otherwise how to relate a sample to a workout, I thought those were the APIs to do so? I'm using Xcode 16.0 RC (16A242) and testing on an iOS 16 Pro simulator
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.
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
Health & Fitness
Tags:
Health and Fitness
watchOS
Apple Watch
WorkoutKit
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?
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.
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
Looking for help with our Apple HealthKit integration. We've successfully pulled steps, distance, active energy, glucose and heart rate. However, the data pulled for sleep duration is incorrect. Not sure what we're doing wrong.
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!
Hi,
My app concept features various sections;
a) Personal development section: featuring exercises and guides,
b) Coaches section: featuring coaching sessions offering virtual or in-person sessions related to yoga, fitness, lifestyle etc. (marketplace for coaches).
c) Events section: hosting virtual or in-person events.
Hence which "tax category" should I be selecting?
Thanks,
Gavin
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
Health & Fitness
I updated my watch to take advantage of the reactivated blood oxygen/O2 function, but with my iPhone on public beta 3, it still shows unavailable. Will there be an update to beta three to allow this newly reactivated Apple Watch feature to function?
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 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 HealthKit background deliveries should take 1-2 seconds.
Should I use background task somehow for sending those HTTPS requests?
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)?