# Connect your health app for step sync

How to allow Health Connect, Google Fit or Apple Health, sync your steps in a Sociana step challenge and check why a count has not moved.

SSociana team·19 Oct 2026·2 min read

1. Open Engagement and tap Count Your Steps
2. Allow the permission when asked: Health Connect or Google Fit on Android, Apple Health on iPhone
3. Wait out the Challenge starts in countdown if the challenge has not begun
4. Tap Sync Steps to update your count, then Go to Leaderboard to see your rank

## Good to know

- Android users should install Google Fit and Health Connect from the Play Store and link them to each other before the challenge begins.
- Your total steps also show in the Home header. Sociana reads Health Connect and Apple Health only; there is no direct Fitbit or Garmin connection.
- When the programme ends, the screen reads **Steps Challenge is closed**.

## If something goes wrong

**Steps are not updating.** Check the health permission in phone Settings, walk for a few minutes, then tap **Sync Steps** again.

**A lock sits on the tile.** The organisers have not opened the challenge yet. It opens by itself at the start time.

**The count looks too low.** Manually typed steps may be ignored and a daily cap can apply, both set by the organiser.

## Questions

### Does it count steps while the app is closed?

Your phone’s health app does the counting, whether Sociana is open or not. The Sociana app reads the total from Health Connect or Apple Health when you open it and tap Sync Steps. Manually typed steps may be ignored and a daily cap can apply, both set by the organiser.

### Do I need to sync every day?

Sync at least once a day so your rank stays current, because the leaderboard shows only what was last synced. Open Count Your Steps and tap Sync Steps, then Go to Leaderboard to see your rank. If steps are not updating, check the health permission in phone Settings and walk for a few minutes first.

[Step challenges with Health Connect & Apple HealthThe feature behind these steps, with its screens.See how it works](https://sociana.in/features/step-challenges-and-health-sync/)

## Keep reading

[Step challenges with Health Connect & Apple Health](https://sociana.in/features/step-challenges-and-health-sync/)[Unified leaderboard & team boards](https://sociana.in/features/unified-leaderboard/)[Health Connect and Apple Health data in step challenges](https://sociana.in/trust/health-data-handling/)[Google Health Connect integration](https://sociana.in/integrations/google-health-connect/)[What is Health Connect and Apple Health?](https://sociana.in/glossary/health-connect-apple-health/)

[Back to Help](https://sociana.in/help/attendees/)

## Still stuck?

Tap Help desk in your event’s app. The organisers’ team replies there.

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Canonical: https://sociana.in/help/attendees/connect-health-app-for-step-sync/
Publisher: Sociana by Alien Brains Private Limited (https://sociana.in/)