How do I use Health Connect to sync activities?
If you are using an Android mobile device (Google or Samsung), you can use Health Connect to sync activities logged by most apps on an Android device (Samsung Health, Google Fit, Nike Training Club, Peloton, Whoop, and others) with Challenge Hound.
Health Connect is an app that is available on all Android devices. If you are on Android 14 or higher, it is installed by default, so there is no need to download or install anything. If you are on an earlier version of Android, you'll need to download and install Health Connect from the App Store.
Challenge Hound will only sync logged activities. Challenge Hound does not sync aggregated daily distance or steps.
Steps to Set up Syncing with Challenge Hound
- Connect the app you use to log activities to Health Connect. You'll need to explicitly grant permissions for apps to sync data with Health Connect.
- Samsung Health Example: From the Samsung Health Settings menu, select Health Connect. If Health Connect is not installed, you are prompted to install it.
The first time you access the Health Connect menu item in Samsung Health, tap Get started.
Next, you are asked to grant permissions to share your Samsung Health data with Health Connect. Select the data you consent to sharing and tap Allow. Challenge Hound requires Exercise Session, Distance, and Elevation Gained data, so you should minimally allow Samsung Health the permission to WRITE that data to Health Connect.
- The last step is to connect Challenge Hound to Health Connect. Open the Challenge Hound app and head to the Apps page. Here you will be able to select a backfill time range and authorize Challenge Hound to access Health Connect data. Challenge Hound only needs READ access to Exercise Sessions, Distance, and Elevation Gained data. Challenge Hound will not write any data to Health Connect.
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Samsung Health should now be connected to Health Connect, and Health Connect is now connected to Challenge Hound, thus allowing activities to sync across the apps.
To test, log an activity using Samsung Health. When the activity is completed, open Challenge Hound and it should sync within 5 minutes, but typically within seconds.
The above example is for Samsung Health, but the same process applies for other apps (see below for additional links). You will first need to head the third-party app, grant access to Health Connect, then, if you haven't already done so, you'll need to grant access to Challenge Hound. If you use more than one app, you'll only need to authorize Challenge Hound access to Health Connect once.
Troubleshooting
- Ensure your 3rd party app (Samsung Health, Google Fit, Peloton, Whoop, etc) is successfully syncing with Health Connect. You can see activities in Health Connect by opening the Health Connect app or going to Settings -> Security & Privacy -> More Security & Privacy -> Health Connect. Click on Data & Access and you can browse activities that have been synced. If you do not see any activities, then you most likely have not authorized your 3rd party app to WRITE data to Health Connect, so try the steps above again.
- Make sure you log specific activities. Challenge Hound will not sync daily steps, detect activities, or calculate daily aggregates.
- If you change Challenge Hound READ permission using Health Connect, then the Challenge Hound app will revert and ask you to Sync again, however Android might not allow, since it was overridden in settings. In this case, you'll need to head to Settings -> Security & Privacy -> More Security & Privacy -> Health Connect and re-authorize the Challenge Hound app to have access.
If activities are not syncing, you can head to the Apps page in Challenge Hound and try to re-sync. Challenge Hound allows you to re-sync once every 15 minutes. If re-syncing does not work, then it is most likely a Health Connect permission issue.
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