# What is “Health Connect and Apple Health”?

Health Connect and Apple Health are the Android and iOS health-data stores from which Sociana reads daily step counts, with the participant's permission, for step challenges.

Also called: phone health data sync, health sync

SSociana team·19 Oct 2026·2 min read

## Health Connect and Apple Health in detail

Sociana's wellness module does not talk to individual wearables. It reads from the phone's own health layer: Health Connect on Android and Apple Health on iOS. Participants grant permission once, and daily sync then transfers their step data into the programme according to the organiser's start date, goals and rules. Wearables that write to those stores, such as many watches, therefore contribute indirectly, but Sociana does not connect directly to Fitbit, Garmin or Strava. Because the data comes from the health store, it can distinguish measured steps from manually entered ones, which lets the programme exclude manual entries. Organisers should plan for permission friction: giving participants simple instructions, a help-desk route and a first-week check on who has synced reduces silent drop-out. Privacy-wise, only the data needed for the challenge is used, and consent wording should say so plainly.

## How Sociana uses it

Sync is part of the step-challenge module. Permission, start date, goals, caps and manual-entry exclusion are configured per programme; valid synced days drive reporting.

## Example

A corporate walking programme asked participants to grant health permission at onboarding and monitored sync status in the first week.

[Step challenges with Health Connect & Apple HealthWhere this term lives in the Sociana app.See how it works](https://sociana.in/features/step-challenges-and-health-sync/)

## Questions

Does Sociana connect to Fitbit or Garmin directly?

No. It reads Health Connect on Android and Apple Health on iOS. Wearables that write to those stores contribute indirectly. Wearables that write to those stores, such as many watches, therefore contribute indirectly, but Sociana does not connect directly to Fitbit, Garmin or Strava.

Does the participant have to grant permission?

Yes. Health permission is requested in the app, and daily sync begins only after the participant agrees. A corporate walking programme asked participants to grant health permission at onboarding and monitored sync status in the first week. Participants grant permission once, and daily sync then transfers their step data into the programme according to the organiser's start date, goals and rules.

Can manual steps be excluded?

Yes. Because the health store identifies manual entries, a rule can ignore steps typed in by hand so only measured steps count. It reads from the phone's own health layer: Health Connect on Android and Apple Health on iOS. Health Connect and Apple Health are the Android and iOS health-data stores from which Sociana reads daily step counts, with the participant's permission, for step challenges.

## Keep reading

[Step challenges with Health Connect & Apple Health](https://sociana.in/features/step-challenges-and-health-sync/)[Help desk, SOS, emergency contacts & phrasebook](https://sociana.in/features/help-desk-sos-and-phrasebook/)[Employee wellness & step challenges](https://sociana.in/event-types/wellness-and-step-challenges/)[Recurring employee programmes](https://sociana.in/event-types/employee-programmes/)[Stepathon](https://sociana.in/glossary/stepathon/)[Unusual-day flag](https://sociana.in/glossary/unusual-day-flag/)[Step cap](https://sociana.in/glossary/step-cap/)[Health Connect and Apple Health data in step challenges](https://sociana.in/trust/health-data-handling/)

[Back to Glossary](https://sociana.in/glossary/)

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[Book a demo](https://sociana.in/contact/)[Talk on WhatsApp (opens WhatsApp in a new tab)](https://wa.me/919145897433?text=Hi%20Sociana%2C%20I'm%20looking%20at%20Health%20Connect%20and%20Apple%20Health%20%28%2Fglossary%2Fhealth-connect-apple-health%2F%29%20and%20would%20like%20to%20know%20more. "WhatsApp · replies Mon–Sat, 10:00–19:00 IST")

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Canonical: https://sociana.in/glossary/health-connect-apple-health/
Publisher: Sociana by Alien Brains Private Limited (https://sociana.in/)