Recent reports said that Google is on the verge of bringing a native step tracking feature to Health Connect, which iOS has offered for quite some time. This would basically allow the app to count your steps using your phone’s sensors. This is a major step up for the app, which, in its current state, is pretty basic and doesn’t track any data on its own. Instead, it works as a space with information from other health/fitness services. It appears that Google wants to bring changes to the Health Connect app with step tracking.

Google Health Connect gains step tracking

With the Android 16 QPR2 Beta 2 release, Google has confirmed that it is indeed adding native step tracking to Health Connect. In a blog post, the company notes that the app will automatically track steps. Apps that reportedly hold the “READ_STEPS” permission will see this step data as appearing from the “android” package.

Android Authority reports that opening up the Health Connect in the QPR2 Beta 2 release shows a new banner at the top. It also throws out a notification for users. This highlights that the app can now track your phone’s steps for other connected apps to access. There’s a “Review” button in the banner, tapping which opens a new “Devices” page. This page lists all devices connected to Health Connect. Selecting it reportedly opens the “device info” page, which confirms it holds permission to write step data.

It’s about time Google brings improvements

It’s about time that Google revamps the Health Connect app, which has been quite behind in the race, especially when compared to the competition, like Apple Health. It was held back by poor data sync and a lack of basic features, like step counting. It’s a feature that’s available on most modern Android phones. Now that it is finally moving in the right direction, the future looks optimistic, and we’re all in for it.
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Source: ndroidheadlines.com