I’ve tried tons of different health and fitness apps over the years, but I’ve never found one that can do everything I need. So, I have a few that I use for various purposes, and there’s a hidden feature in Android that makes it so much easier to juggle them.

Like I said, the problem is there’s probably not one single app that’s going to doeverythingyou want—especially if you don’t like subscriptions. But keeping track of your health and fitness data across multiple apps is annoying. That’s where “Health Connect” comes in. This is a built-in Android feature that allows health and fitness apps to communicate with each other.

What is Health Connect?

Let’s start with the basics.Health Connectis a collaboration between Google and Samsung. It was first announced at Google I/O in May 2022, and its primary function is to sync information between various Android apps that wouldn’t normally be able to share data with one another. This is particularly helpful when you use a combination of different apps and wearables for things like activity tracking, nutrition logging, and measuring vitals.

Without Health Connect, your data would be fragmented across multiple platforms. The only way to sync data would be through connections in the apps themselves—if they even offer it. Think of Health Connect as sort of a bucket for all of your data. You get to decide which apps can dump data into the bucket and which apps can scoop it out. Essentially, this allows you to use specific apps for specific purposes, but have them all work together as a single unit.

Why I Use Health Connect

I generally use three different health and fitness apps, but it changes depending on the devices I’m currently using. As I’m writing this, there’s a Pixel Watch 3 on my wrist. That means I’m using Fitbit for all of my step tracking and activity tracking. However, Samsung Health has beenmy favorite health and fitness app for a while, so most of my historical data lives over there.

I don’t want Samsung Health to have a big gap in my tracking data while I wear the Pixel Watch. To ensure that doesn’t happen, I’ve granted Fitbit permission to write data to Health Connect. Samsung Health, on the other hand, has been granted permission to read data from Health Connect. Fitbit dumps data into the bucket; Samsung Health scoops it out.

Occasionally, I attempt to track what food I’m eating, and I bring a third app into the mix. Samsung Health has food tracking, but I’ve found MyFitnessPal to be better for this specific task. I simply let MyFitnessPal add data to the bucket, and it gets funneled into Samsung Health, too. I can continue using Samsung Health as my main health and fitness “hub,” but I’m also free to use other apps when they do things better. It’s a great system.

How to Use Health Connect

Health Connect is built into devices running Android 14 or newer. To access it, go to Settings > Security and privacy > Privacy Controls > Health Connect (oropen it from the Play Store). To protect your data, Health Connect requires that you have a screen lock (PIN, pattern, or password) enabled on your device.

Next, tap on “App permissions,” and you will see a list of compatible apps on your device. Tap on the app you want to connect. From here, you’ll see all of the data the app can write or read. You can either toggle on “Allow all” or go line-by-line and enable only the data you need.

Once your apps are connected, you have full control over your data. You can see exactly what each app is doing on a timeline from the main Health Connect screen. In the “Data and access” menu, you can see all of your data in one place and delete it if you’d like. You can also set up an auto-delete schedule from the “Manage data” menu.

Which Apps Support Health Connect?

At the time of writing, there are currently over 40 health and fitness apps that can tie into Health Connect. They all offer various types of data to be read or written. Here’s a list of some of the most popular apps: