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
RSS for tagExplore the technical aspects of health and fitness features, including sensor data acquisition, health data processing, and integration with the HealthKit framework.
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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.
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)
}
Finally at last Apple Health supports saving .distancePaddleSports, .distanceCrossCountrySkiing, .distanceRowing, .distanceSkatingSports, and much more.
The backstory. In the land of 10,000 lakes, there hasn't been a way to save 'canoe' or 'kayak' distance and I've been asking for it for years. Thank you health team for adding it this year!
FB7807993 - Add HKQuantityTypeIdentifier.paddleDistance for canoeing, kayaking, etc type workouts (June 2020)
Prior we could just save the totalDistance to a workout, but since the HKWorkout initializers were deprecated we no longer have a supported way to save these distances in our workouts. The iOS 18 / watchOS 11 introduction addresses this. If you want to know more why you can't do this in earlier versions you can check these feedback titles:
FB10281482 - HealthKit: Deprecation of totalDistance on a workout session of paddleSports breaks apps that used that to save distance to the workout because there is no "paddleDistance" type available to save as sample data (June 2022)
FB12402974 - HealthKit: Deprecation of HKWorkout completely breaks support for third party fitness apps from saving non-standard workout distance (June 2023)
Great, so there is new support that solves all of these requests and issues for the new version of the OSes. However, the downside is now that there is not much for documentation. Unlike the .runningSpeed and .runningPower introduced in iOS 16 / watchOS 9, none of the new iOS 18 / watchOS 11 types have documentation, at all. To some degree this is understandable, but types from last year still remain undocumented too.
Without this information for the data types introduced in both iOS 17/18 and watchOS 10/11 it makes building and integrating with these new types difficult to say the least. We can't make assumptions about anything.
Can we get a documentation update for new (and existing) quantity types for when Apple Watch will automatically generate samples?
FB14236080 - Developer Documentation / HealthKit: Update documentation for HKLiveWorkoutDataSource typesToCollect for which sample types are automatically collected by watchOS 10 and 11 (July 2024)
FB14942555 - HealthKit / Documentation: App Update Release Issue - HKQuantityTypeIdentifiers are missing documentation describing when the system automatically adds data (today)
I know that the behavior has changed from release to release for some of these types, so documentation would be based on OS version. If you didn't catch it, watchOS 11 will now associate .cyclingSpeed for cycling workouts both indoor and outdoor.
FB12458548 - Fitness: Connected cycling speed sensor did not save samples to health via cycling workout (June 2023 - received reply that only saved for indoor cycling, but not documented otherwise)
FB14311218 - HealthKit: Expected outdoor cycling to include .cyclingSpeed quantity type as a default HKLiveWorkoutDataSource type to collect (July 2024)
To the other third party fitness apps out there, how are you managing the knowledge of which devices collect which data types on which versions of the OS?
Sure, we could look at the HKLiveWorkoutDatSource and inspect the typesToCollect property across a bunch of devices, but again that is trial by error not 'as documented'. Is the behavior of simulators guaranteed to match the behavior of real devices? Maybe, but also maybe not.
Fingers crossed for a nice documentation update to spell out all of the behavioral details.
Apple folks / DTS, many of the above feedbacks are addressed and I plan to update or close them after the releases this fall. Some are still outstanding.
P.S. I hope that .paddleSports gets deprecated and split into individual activity types like skiing did years ago. Their MET scores are different according to the research on the physical activity compendium site.
FB7807902 - Split HKWorkoutActivityType.paddleSports into their own activity types (June 2020)
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
Health & Fitness
Tags:
Beta
watchOS
Health and Fitness
HealthKit
In this link, Apple states we can know when a user is in bed vs sleeping and compare their quality of sleep by it. Only, in iOS 18, Apple no longer reports inBed time samples for the Apple Watch. I get why they stopped doing this for the phone, but why the watch? Bug?
My app was using the inBed times for this very purpose and now only works for Garmin and Oura who still report inBed times.
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/healthkit/hkcategoryvaluesleepanalysis
https://support.apple.com/zh-cn/104959
Our application provides car insurance services. Does Apple have any API related to car accident detection exposed to developers? We want to do something when an iPhone detects a car accident
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
Health & Fitness
We currently use the HKCategoryValueMenstrualFlow enum to determine the type of menstrual flow: light, medium, etc. a user is having. We also use this enum in determining if it's an actual period day.
The Problem
I see HKCategoryValueMenstrualFlow was recently deprecated but has not been replaced by another data type.
Are there plans to replace/update it with another data type?
When or at what point in the future will this deprecation cause a problem in my code?
I've been trying to figure out what the bare minimum is required for HKWorkoutBuilder to create a workout that adds time the appleExerciseTime. I couldn't find the documentation for this. This is my code so far.
func createWorkoutSample(
expectedActiveEnergyData: [Double],
expectedExerciseMinutesData: [Double],
calendar: Calendar,
startDate: Date
) async throws -> [HKSample] {
var testData: [HKSample] = []
let workoutConfiguration = HKWorkoutConfiguration()
workoutConfiguration.activityType = .running
workoutConfiguration.locationType = .outdoor
let results = try await withThrowingTaskGroup(of: HKSample?.self) { group in
for (index) in 0..<expectedActiveEnergyData.count {
guard let date = calendar.date(byAdding: .day, value: index, to: startDate) else {
continue
}
group.addTask {
let builder = HKWorkoutBuilder(
healthStore: self.manager.healthStore,
configuration: workoutConfiguration,
device: .local()
)
let endDate = date.addingTimeInterval(expectedExerciseMinutesData[index] * 60)
try await builder.beginCollection(at: date)
let energyType = HKQuantityType.quantityType(
forIdentifier: .activeEnergyBurned
)!
let energyQuantity = HKQuantity(
unit: HKUnit.kilocalorie(),
doubleValue: expectedActiveEnergyData[index]
)
let energySample = HKQuantitySample(
type: energyType,
quantity: energyQuantity,
start: date,
end: endDate
)
return try await withCheckedThrowingContinuation { continuation in
builder.add([energySample]) { (success, error) in
if let error = error {
continuation.resume(throwing: error)
return
}
builder.endCollection(withEnd: endDate) { (success, error) in
if let error = error {
continuation.resume(throwing: error)
return
}
builder.finishWorkout { (workout, error) in
if let error = error {
continuation.resume(throwing: error)
return
}
continuation.resume(returning: workout)
}
}
}
}
}
}
for try await workout in group {
if let workout = workout {
testData.append(workout)
} else {
print("Skipping nil workout result.")
}
}
return testData
}
print("Total samples created: \(results.count)")
return results
}
When I query appleExerciseTime, there are no results. I've looked at the HKWorkoutBuilder documentation, and most of the information expands on adding samples related to the deprecated HKWorkout.
Is there documentation on how to read workout effort scores from a HealthKit workout? I'm interested in reading workoutEffortScore and estimatedWorkoutEffortScore. I have not been successful trying to read them using the same method that I do other workout HKQuantityTypes (heartRate, stepCount, etc). I'm using Swift and I do have authorization for those types requested and granted.
I have found documentation on setting these values (https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/763539) but not reading them.
Thank You
Hello,
My app syncs workout data from a third-party device and records workouts with HealthKit as follows:
let builder = HKWorkoutBuilder(healthStore: healthStore, configuration: hkConf, device: hkDevice)
try await builder.beginCollection(at: startDate)
try await builder.addSamples(samples)
try await builder.endCollection(at: endDate)
let workout = try await builder.finishWorkout()
let workoutRouteBuilder = HKWorkoutRouteBuilder(healthStore: healthStore, device: hkDevice)
try await workoutRouteBuilder.insertRouteData(filteredLocations)
try await workoutRouteBuilder.finishRoute(with: workout, metadata: nil)
However, I’m encountering two issues:
The workouts appear in Apple Fitness but do not contribute to the activity rings.
The workout includes a route (visible in the raw workout data in Apple Health) but does not display on Apple Fitness.
Is there any way to fix this? I’d appreciate any suggestions you might have.
__
I am working on an Apple Watch companion app to an existing live iOS app. I am utilizing the heart rate tracking for an active 'self-care' sauna session. I say self-care in quotes because it's more self-care than a workout activity, but it is closely blurring the lines between the two.
I have come to understand that if a session truly isn't a workout, then you should not use workoutSession.startActivity. However the app needs to function entirely like a workout would. This is not a meditation application. Sauna is actually just one of many activity types supported in the app.
I have tried using extended runtime session, and there have been numerous issues with doing so. It is not nearly as robust for the user. For example, the active session is not prioritized by the watch's CPU. Now playing is no longer functional. Heart rate is far more inconsistent, and this variable is as critical as if it were in a workout.
I have tried using HKWorkoutSession, however I worry the app will be rejected by doing so. This method works most accurately to collect the right data for the user, and prioritizes system resources as expected. The app can be moved to the background as expected and continue to communicate with the iOS app.
What is the best way to move forward here. It almost feels like I am operating in a grey area with no real solution in place. Any assistance is greatly appreciated as we would like to follow all guidelines while producing a high quality experience for our users.
I can create WorkoutGoals of all kinds except .energy, but I can't find any indication of the conditions under which energy goals can be used.
No matter what I try, the response from supportsGoal is always false e.g.
CustomWorkout.supportsGoal(.energy(10, .kilojoules), activity: .running, location: .outdoor)
CustomWorkout.supportsGoal(.energy(10, .calories), activity: .cycling, location: .outdoor)
CustomWorkout.supportsGoal(.energy(10, .kilocalories), activity: .running, location: .outdoor)
For any combination I've tried, I get Not supported due to unsupportedGoal
Has anybody managed to successfully create energy goals?
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?
Hi, I have an iPhone/watch app that measures walking/running distance. It starts a workout session records data successfully into healthkit and then ends the workout session. I can see the data in the Health app from my app and it all appears to be correct. The issue I'm having is that the Health app doesn't use my app's data in its total distance for the day. For example, I can add 1 mile of fake data (I know that's not allowed per policy) for testing and it gets successfully added but not used in the total. The health app is only using distances collected by the watch and the phone for calculating the total distance for the day and is ignoring the distance provided by my app. What could I be missing?
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
Health & Fitness
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)?