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So they're replacing the Google Fit APIs with Health Connect (https://developer.android.com/health-and-fitness/guides/health-connect https://developer.android.c

So they're replacing the Google Fit APIs with Health Connect (https://developer.android.com/health-and-fitness/guides/health-connect https://developer.android.com/health-and-fitness/guides/heal...) which claims to be based on a set of standards but I can't seem to find which. Can anybody shed light on this and the background behind this migration? Edit: I found this article which does shed more light: https://www.medm.com/company/blog/2024/what-is-health-connect-and-how-is-it-different-from-google-fit.html https://www.medm.com/company/blog/2024/what-is-health-connec... In short, according to this, Health Connect removes the dependency on a Google account and stores data locally. It also looks like this has been deprecated since 2022, and was slated for shutdown in 2024 which has been moved to 2025.

SushiHippie 2y ago
I don't know from a developer perspective, but I already used this in some apps. Basically if you have your "health device" (e.g. smartwatch, smart scale, ...) from manufacturer X which has an app, and you want to use a Tracking App Y (e.g. MyFitnessPal, Google Fit/Health, ...) and they both implement the Health Connect APIs, then you can setup a connection between those apps and toggle which stats they can exchange e.g. from the health device manufacturer your weight, your steps, your heartrate etc, and from the tracking app your meals you have logged and so on. The last time I used this (has been a while) this was also integrated into the Android System Settings and was a relative "native" experience.
xnorswap 2y ago
Yes, this is less like canning a product and more like embracing a better standard. If this was Apple instead of Google, this would be celebrated as a positive step forward. I guess it shows the importance of messaging and marketing (and reputation).
- another2another 2y ago
  Really? I hear people complaining about the death of OpenCL (which Apple championed early on) a lot here, so I don't think that's universally true.
ErikBjare 2y ago
You've got it right. Health Connect is a full replacement and gives users more control. This is a win for users and not a "killed by Google" situation.

SushiHippie 2y ago

I don't know from a developer perspective, but I already used this in some apps. Basically if you have your "health device" (e.g. smartwatch, smart scale, ...) from manufacturer X which has an app, and you want to use a Tracking App Y (e.g. MyFitnessPal, Google Fit/Health, ...) and they both implement the Health Connect APIs, then you can setup a connection between those apps and toggle which stats they can exchange e.g. from the health device manufacturer your weight, your steps, your heartrate etc, and from the tracking app your meals you have logged and so on. The last time I used this (has been a while) this was also integrated into the Android System Settings and was a relative "native" experience.

xnorswap 2y ago

Yes, this is less like canning a product and more like embracing a better standard. If this was Apple instead of Google, this would be celebrated as a positive step forward. I guess it shows the importance of messaging and marketing (and reputation).

another2another 2y ago
Really? I hear people complaining about the death of OpenCL (which Apple championed early on) a lot here, so I don't think that's universally true.

ErikBjare 2y ago

You've got it right. Health Connect is a full replacement and gives users more control. This is a win for users and not a "killed by Google" situation.