In the last few weeks 5 users have reported my workout watch app being unable to read health data despite the permissions being enabled in the iPhone Settings app. This has been a common complaint over the years and is usually fixed by disabling the permissions; rebooting both devices; and then enabling them again. This usually nudges iOS into sending the permissions to watchOS. However that procedure doesn't work for these users, all of whom are using watchOS 10.6.2. They are using various versions of iOS 18 or 26 so it seems to be a problem with that version of watchOS, which users are usually limited to because their hardware won't support anything more up to date. It seems that unpairing and re-pairing the watch can fix the problem but not always. I looked around and it seems that other apps are having the same problem: https://www.reddit.com/r/runna/comments/1rhhs2n/runna_wont_start_an_outdoor_run_on_apple_watch/ Does anyone know a way to fix this? My current advice is to repeatedly unpair / re-pair until it works, which isn't really practical! Thanks in advance.

Hello Apple Developer Support / Community, I would like clarification regarding HealthKit observer behavior when comparing a Flutter-based iOS app with a fully native iOS app. We are using HealthKit background delivery with: HKObserverQuery enableBackgroundDelivery HKAnchoredObjectQuery We have observed that in a Flutter-based app, HKObserverQuery callbacks appear to execute multiple times or more frequently than expected for a single data update. In comparison, a native iOS implementation using similar HealthKit logic appears more stable and predictable. We would like to understand the expected platform behavior and whether there are any known considerations from Apple’s perspective. Specific questions: Does iOS treat HealthKit observer delivery differently for apps built with Flutter versus fully native UIKit / Swift apps? Are there known issues where app lifecycle handling, Flutter engine initialization, method channels, isolates, or plugin architecture could cause repeated observer callbacks? Can repeated HKObserverQuery executions occur if queries are registered multiple times during app launches or engine restarts? Does Apple recommend any specific observer management pattern for cross-platform frameworks such as Flutter? From the HealthKit system side, should observer callback frequency be identical regardless of whether the app is Flutter or native, assuming the same iOS code is used? We are trying to determine whether this behavior is due to HealthKit delivery semantics, duplicate observer registration, Flutter lifecycle integration, or framework-related limitations. Any guidance from Apple or developers who have implemented HealthKit successfully in Flutter would be appreciated. Thank you.

Hello Apple Developer Support / Community, I would like clarification regarding HealthKit data access behavior when an iPhone is locked. We are building an app that uses: HKObserverQuery enableBackgroundDelivery HKAnchoredObjectQuery Background execution to sync HealthKit data to our server Our specific question is: When the device is locked with passcode/Face ID protection enabled, can an app launched in the background through HKObserverQuery or other background mechanisms reliably access and read HealthKit data? We would like to understand the expected Apple-supported behavior for the following scenarios: If new HealthKit samples are written while the phone is locked, will HKObserverQuery still trigger immediately? If the observer callback is invoked while locked, can HKAnchoredObjectQuery successfully read the new samples? Is HealthKit data inaccessible while locked due to Data Protection / encrypted store behavior? Should developers expect delivery or data reads to be deferred until the user unlocks the device? We are trying to set correct expectations for background syncing and would appreciate official clarification on whether near real-time HealthKit sync is possible while the device remains locked. Relevant documentation mentions HealthKit store encryption, but we would appreciate direct confirmation for production behavior. Thank you.

Hello, I have submitted multiple requests for the Family Controls Distribution Entitlement through this form: https://developer.apple.com/contact/request/family-controls-distribution After submitting my requests, I waited for about 1 week but did not receive any response. Since I heard nothing, I contacted Apple Developer Support by email. After that, I finally received a response from an advisor asking for additional information, including my follow-up number. I replied with all the requested information immediately, but it has now been 5 more days and I still have not received any further response. In total, I have been waiting for about 2 weeks for this entitlement request. My app is a Screen Time control / digital wellbeing application that helps users reduce screen time through exercise-based challenges and healthy habits. My app uses the FamilyControls, ManagedSettings, and DeviceActivity frameworks and requires the Distribution Entitlement for App Store release. Here are my details: Case Number: 102866460896 Request Type: Family Controls Distribution Entitlement I understand the team may be busy, but I would appreciate any help checking the status of my request or escalating it if possible. Thank you very much.

Has anyone actually managed to read the free-text note/context from Apple Health State of Mind entries? I’m building an iOS app that reads HKStateOfMind data from HealthKit. I can get the expected stuff fine: valence labels associations But in the Health app, users can also add extra context text to a mood entry, like: Tasks, Weather - Great work-life balance From my app, I can read Tasks and Weather, but I can’t find the Great work-life balance part anywhere. I already checked: public HKStateOfMind properties metadata debug description / object description attachment-ish routes Nothing so far. So before I spend more time chasing this: is that text just not exposed to third-party apps? Or is there some weird HealthKit path I’m missing? If anyone has actually pulled this off, I’d love to know how.

Hi Team, We are implementing HealthKit data sync using HKObserverQuery along with enableBackgroundDelivery and BGTaskScheduler for fallback processing. However, we are observing inconsistent behavior and would like clarification on expected system behavior: For HKObserverQuery: When using enableBackgroundDelivery with frequency .immediate, we sometimes receive updates promptly, but other times we do not receive any trigger at all. Similarly, when using .hourly, our expectation was that updates would be delivered approximately once per hour, but in practice, triggers are delayed, batched, or skipped. For BGTaskScheduler: We are scheduling BGAppRefreshTask with earliestBeginDate set (e.g., 1 hour), but tasks are sometimes delayed by several hours or not triggered predictably. In some cases, tasks are not executed even after extended periods. We would like to understand: Are HKObserverQuery delivery frequencies (.immediate, .hourly, .daily) strictly best-effort hints rather than guaranteed intervals? Under what conditions can observer updates be skipped or significantly delayed? Is there any recommended approach to ensure more reliable periodic syncing of HealthKit data? For BGTaskScheduler, what factors most strongly influence scheduling delays or missed executions? Our goal is to design a reliable sync mechanism, but the lack of deterministic behavior is making it difficult to define expected system behavior. Any clarification or recommended best practices would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Hello, I'm seeing an inconsistency in how HKAnchoredObjectQuery applies predicates between its initial results handler and its update handler. Specifically, predicates that filter quantity samples by correlation membership - using either HKQuery.predicateForObjectsWithNoCorrelation() or NSPredicate(format: "%K == nil", HKPredicateKeyPathCorrelation) - are respected in the resultsHandler but silently ignored in the updateHandler. Setup I have three long-running HKAnchoredObjectQuery instances: One for HKCorrelationType(.bloodPressure) - no predicate One for HKQuantityType(.bloodPressureSystolic) - predicate: HKQuery.predicateForObjectsWithNoCorrelation() One for HKQuantityType(.bloodPressureDiastolic) - predicate: HKQuery.predicateForObjectsWithNoCorrelation() The intent of the predicate on the systolic/diastolic queries is to capture only standalone quantity samples written directly by third-party apps - not the constituent sub-samples of an HKCorrelation. The correlation query handles correlated samples. Expected behavior When a BloodPressure correlation is saved to the store, only the correlation query's updateHandler should fire, with 1 new sample. The systolic and diastolic updateHandlers should not fire, since those samples have correlation != nil which is excluded by the predicate. Actual behavior After saving one BloodPressure correlation, all three updateHandlers fire with 1 new object each. The systolic and diastolic update handlers receive the correlated sub-samples despite the predicateForObjectsWithNoCorrelation() predicate. The same predicate correctly filters those kinds of samples out of the initial resultsHandler. Additionally, the same predicate applied in a one-shot HKSampleQuery for the systolic or diastolic type correctly returns 0 results when only correlated readings exist. The problem is only experienced in updateHandler of a long-running HKAnchoredObjectQuery. Tested iOS versions iOS 26.3 iOS 18.7.6 Workaround When an HKAnchoredObjectQuery updateHandler fires with systolic or diastolic samples, I fire a one-shot HKSampleQuery with a compound predicate using the sample UUIDs and predicateForObjectsWithNoCorrelation. Any samples that are part of a correlation are not returned in the HKSampleQuery resultsHandler.

I'm building an app with a leaderboard based on users' step counts, so I need the data to sync in real time at minimum. The problem is that when the app is terminated, steps don't seem to be counted at all, so if a user hasn't opened the app in 5 days, the leaderboard ends up completely out of sync. Is it even possible to retrieve this data when the app has been terminated and hasn't been opened? I'm currently using Background Fetch, which works when the app is suspended, slowly, but it does work. However, it does not sync when the app is fully terminated.

Hi, I'm having the same issue described in https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/690974?page=2. When connected to Xcode or when the app is in the foreground, HKObserverQuery fires correctly and my app processes step updates. But once disconnected from Xcode, background delivery stops completely and the observer callback is never called. My setup: com.apple.developer.healthkit.background-delivery entitlement is present and in the provisioning profile enableBackgroundDelivery(for: .stepCount, frequency: .immediate) returns success = true HKObserverQuery is registered on every launch including background launches I also have CMPedometer.startEventUpdates running as a supplemental trigger Background Modes includes "Background fetch" and "Background processing" Device: iPhone, iOS 17.4+ App type: App uses Screen Time / Family Controls (ManagedSettings) to block apps until a step goal is met Has anyone found a reliable fix? Any feedback from Apple engineers would be appreciated.

I have a iOS/watchOS app that gives audio cues, like a metronome, on specific patterns. The intent of the watch app is to have it at the same time as a workout app (ie Strava, Apple Fitness) and/or a music app (Spotify/Apple Music). The app works in the foreground just fine. But if I start another app (i.e. Strava) the haptic feedback and a "ding" continues to play in the background, but the "beep or voice" stops. Beep/voice works fine in iOS when in the background, just not in watchOS.

I have a few feasibility questions regarding health data processing on iOS, related to HealthKit and system capabilities: Background Health Data Collection Can an iOS app continuously collect and process health data in the background, including: Collecting health data from the Health app while the device is locked or in sleep mode Triggering user notifications when anomalies are detected in health data processing Are there any technical limitations? Do these capabilities require specific enterprise qualifications or additional fees? 2. Emergency Contacts Integration Can an app write or modify the system’s built-in Emergency Contacts (Medical ID)? If a user updates Emergency Contacts in iOS Settings, can the app receive a change notification or access the updated data? 3. Automated Alerting for Health Metrics Beyond Apple’s fall detection, can abnormal health metrics (heart rate, irregular rhythm, blood oxygen, etc.) trigger automated alerts such as SMS to preset emergency contacts—without requiring the user to manually open the app or only receive on-device notifications? This is a feasibility inquiry about API and system behavior, not a bug report. Any official guidance or documentation references would be greatly appreciated.

Any plans to be able to allow to store Uric Acid (UA) and Ketones readings in Apple Health with HealthKit? There are now many blood test strips in the market that allow to read Glucose, UA and Ketones and currently only Glucose seems to be supported by HealthKit. Thank you

While attempting to read a user’s daily step history spanning backward to the last 7 days, a small but consistent subset of users encounter Error Code 3 with the underlying error description: Error Code 3 "Unable to invalidate interval: no data source available." When this error occurs, we are entirely unable to read their step history. We have received ~10 direct user reports of this within the last couple of weeks.

I am trying to figure out why my app is not receiving background deliveries from Healthkit. I have a successfully implemented HKObserverQuery  which is being used to send data like step count to a server. I have a successful enableBackgroundDelivery (completes without errors). I have also checkmarked the HealthKit Background Delivery and Clinical Health Records options in my app's Signing and Capabilities configurations. I know the observer is functional because the health data gets sent to the server when the app is running. The problem is I haven't seen any evidence of the observer handler being triggered when the app is not running. What am I missing? And what is the best way to go about debugging what is going wrong?

Area Health & Fitness → HealthKit → Health Records (FHIR Ingestion) Summary On devices running iOS 26.2, FHIR Clinical Records successfully connect and validate, but no data (Procedure, DiagnosticReport, Observation, etc.) is ingested into the Health app. The same FHIR server and patient connection works correctly on iOS 18.1, where all data syncs and displays as expected. On iOS 26.2: FHIR validation passes in Health Records “Last Download Date” updates Patient data is visible in connection No clinical data appears in Health app No apps are listed under Privacy → Health Device shows “No Data Found” Crash logs show healthappd terminating during ingestion This appears to be a regression in the HealthPlatform / HealthKit ingestion pipeline in iOS 26. Steps to Reproduce Use an iPhone running iOS 26.2 Open Health app Add Health Record from FHIR server Authenticate successfully Confirm FHIR validation screen shows all resources as “Passed” Wait for sync to complete Expected Result Procedures, DiagnosticReports, Observations, etc. should appear in Health app Data should be written to HealthKit Apps should appear under Settings → Privacy & Security → Health Actual Result No data appears in Health app No Procedures, DiagnosticReports, Observations, etc. Apps section under Health permissions shows “None” Device shows “No Data Found” Last Download Date updates correctly Validation Results (All Passed) The following FHIR resources show “Passed” in Health validation: AllergyIntolerance Condition DiagnosticReport DiagnosticReport-ClinicalNotes-Cardiology DiagnosticReport-ClinicalNotes-Pathology DiagnosticReport-ClinicalNotes-Radiology DocumentReference-ClinicalNotes Immunization MedicationRequest Observation-Labs Observation-VitalSigns Patient Procedure Server responses are correct and return expected data when tested via Postman. Crash Log Details Crash occurs in process: healthappd Frameworks involved: HealthPlatform.framework HealthKit Combine Exception: EXC_BAD_ACCESS SIGKILL EXC_ARM_PAC_FAIL Thread: com.apple.HealthKit.HKHealthStoreImplementation.client Stack trace includes: objc_msgSend HKSharedSummary DictionaryStorage.deinit swift_release_dealloc objc_destructInstance Publishers.MergeMany Future.init This indicates the ingestion pipeline crashes before data is written to HealthKit. Comparison Across OS Versions iOS Version Result iOS 18.1 Data syncs correctly iOS 26.2 No data syncs, healthappd crash Same: Same FHIR server Same patient Same authentication Same device model Same iCloud settings Additional Notes OAuth flow succeeds FHIR validation passes Server responses are correct Postman returns correct JSON No TLS errors No permission errors Issue only occurs on iOS 26+ This appears to be a regression in the FHIR ingestion engine introduced after iOS 18.1.

Area Health & Fitness → HealthKit → Health Records (FHIR Ingestion) Summary On devices running iOS 26.2, FHIR Clinical Records successfully connect and validate, but no data (Procedure, DiagnosticReport, Observation, etc.) is ingested into the Health app. The same FHIR server and patient connection works correctly on iOS 18.1, where all data syncs and displays as expected. On iOS 26.2: FHIR validation passes in Health Records “Last Download Date” updates Patient data is visible in connection No clinical data appears in Health app No apps are listed under Privacy → Health Device shows “No Data Found” Crash logs show healthappd terminating during ingestion This appears to be a regression in the HealthPlatform / HealthKit ingestion pipeline in iOS 26. Steps to Reproduce Use an iPhone running iOS 26.2 Open Health app Add Health Record from FHIR server Authenticate successfully Confirm FHIR validation screen shows all resources as “Passed” Wait for sync to complete Expected Result Procedures, DiagnosticReports, Observations, etc. should appear in Health app Data should be written to HealthKit Apps should appear under Settings → Privacy & Security → Health Actual Result No data appears in Health app No Procedures, DiagnosticReports, Observations, etc. Apps section under Health permissions shows “None” Device shows “No Data Found” Last Download Date updates correctly Validation Results (All Passed) The following FHIR resources show “Passed” in Health validation: AllergyIntolerance Condition DiagnosticReport DiagnosticReport-ClinicalNotes-Cardiology DiagnosticReport-ClinicalNotes-Pathology DiagnosticReport-ClinicalNotes-Radiology DocumentReference-ClinicalNotes Immunization MedicationRequest Observation-Labs Observation-VitalSigns Patient Procedure Server responses are correct and return expected data when tested via Postman. Crash Log Details Crash occurs in process: healthappd Frameworks involved: HealthPlatform.framework HealthKit Combine Exception: EXC_BAD_ACCESS SIGKILL EXC_ARM_PAC_FAIL Thread: com.apple.HealthKit.HKHealthStoreImplementation.client Stack trace includes: objc_msgSend HKSharedSummary DictionaryStorage.deinit swift_release_dealloc objc_destructInstance Publishers.MergeMany Future.init This indicates the ingestion pipeline crashes before data is written to HealthKit. Comparison Across OS Versions iOS Version Result iOS 18.1 Data syncs correctly iOS 26.2 No data syncs, healthappd crash Same: Same FHIR server Same patient Same authentication Same device model Same iCloud settings Additional Notes OAuth flow succeeds FHIR validation passes Server responses are correct Postman returns correct JSON No TLS errors No permission errors Issue only occurs on iOS 26+ This appears to be a regression in the FHIR ingestion engine introduced after iOS 18.1.

Some users have switched to wearing smart rings instead of an Apple Watch, but they still want their rings to close throughout the day in Apple Fitness to keep their streaks going. I've noticed that the 3rd party smart ring apps do not affect the progress of the exercise and move rings unless the user puts on their Apple Watch and syncs with there iPhone throughout the day. Is there a way to make the progress rings update throughout the day without having to connect an Apple Watch periodically?

In the WWDC 2019 session "Extended Runtime for WatchOS apps" the video talks about an entitlement being required to use the HR sensor judiciously in the background. It provides a link to request the entitlement which no longer works: http://developer.apple.com/contect/request/health-monitoring The session video is also quite hard to find these days. Does anyone know why this is the case? Is the API and entitlement still available? Is there a supported way to run, even periodically, in the background on the Watch app (ignoring the background observer route which is known to be unreliable) and access existing HR sensor data

After upgrading to a new iPhone and restoring from an iCloud backup using the same Apple ID, I noticed an issue with Health app permissions. ■ What is happening On my previous iPhone, an app had permission to read step count data. After restoring to the new iPhone, the app still appears in the Health app under Sources. However, when I tap the app, the usual data type permission toggles (such as Steps) are not displayed at all. As a result, the app is unable to read step count data. ■ Additional details The app itself seems to be recognized as a Health data source. However, the data type permission screen is empty. No ON/OFF switches are shown. The backup was created on iOS 18, and the restore was performed on iOS 26. I have not yet confirmed whether this also happens with other iOS version combinations. ■ Questions Is it expected behavior that Health app permissions (per data type) are not restored via iCloud backup? Has anyone experienced a similar situation where the app appears under Sources but the permission options are missing? If so, how did you resolve it? Any information from users who have experienced the same issue would be greatly appreciated.

How to legally and compliantly upload users' fitness and health data to our own server—while adhering to Apple's strict privacy policies—for analysis by our AI large model to provide personalized feedback and recommendations to users.