Health Connect can now track your steps using your Android phone

TL;DR

Google is officially adding native step tracking to Health Connect, as confirmed by Android 16 QPR2 Beta 2.
The company announced the change today, and a new banner and “Devices” page within the app now explicitly state Health Connect will track your phone’s steps for other apps to use.
This marks a significant shift for the platform, turning it from a simple data hub into a fitness tracking service.

Last week, we reported that Google was bringing native step tracking to Health Connect, allowing the app to count your steps using your phone’s sensors. This marks a significant shift for the app, which currently doesn’t track any data on its own and instead acts as a hub for information from other health and fitness services. While that was its original purpose, it seems Google has bigger plans for the platform. This change suggests Health Connect could transform from a simple data hub into a full-fledged tracking platform, with native step counting being just the first step.

When we first reported on this feature, though, we noted some uncertainty. Our evidence came from an analysis of the APK in the 2508 Android Canary release, but the feature itself wasn’t functional yet, and there was no concrete proof within the app itself. With the release of Android 16 QPR2 Beta 2, however, there is no longer any doubt. Google has confirmed that it is adding native step tracking to Health Connect.

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