1/ Issue Summary In our application, we use HKObserverQuery together with:HKHealthStore.enableBackgroundDelivery(for:frequency: .immediate) to enable HealthKit Background Delivery, allowing the system to wake our App Extension in the background to process health data updates. Under the same app build, identical HealthKit permission configuration, and the same watchOS version, we have observed significant differences in background delivery frequency across different devices. Specifically, on certain devices (e.g. Apple Watch Series 10, watchOS 26.2.1), the background delivery frequency is significantly reduced, behaving as if it is capped at approximately once per hour. On other control devices, under the same configuration, background delivery is triggered much more frequently and consistently, at approximately every 8–16 minutes. This behavior is consistently reproducible on the affected devices. **We would like to understand whether there are any officially recommended implementation patterns, best practices, or device-/system-level considerations when using HKObserverQuery and Background Delivery, in order to achieve more consistent and predictable background update behavior across different devices running the same system version. ** 2/ Detailed Device Comparison We conducted internal comparison testing across multiple devices with the following results: Device A (Affected / Abnormal) Model: Apple Watch Series 10 (46mm) OS: watchOS 26.2.1 Serial (partial): C*HY Background Delivery Frequency: ~ once every 60 minutes (significantly lower than expected) Device B (Normal) Model: Apple Watch Series 10 (42mm) OS: watchOS 26.2.1 Serial (partial): G*4R Background Delivery Frequency: ~ every 8–16 minutes Device C (Normal) Model: Apple Watch Series 8 (41mm) OS: watchOS 26.3 Serial (partial): C*J6 Background Delivery Frequency: ~ every 8–16 minutes Device D (Normal) Model: Apple Watch Series 5 (41mm) OS: watchOS 10.6.1 Serial (partial): G*TQ Background Delivery Frequency: ~ every 8–16 minutes All devices share the following conditions: HealthKit permissions: Full read/write permissions granted Background App Refresh: Enabled System state: Low Power Mode, Do Not Disturb, and all Focus modes disabled App build: Identical app build installed on all devices HealthKit configuration: Same data types and same frequency parameter used in enableBackgroundDelivery Implementation: Identical HKObserverQuery implementation logic 3/ Abnormal Behavior Observed On the affected device(s), we observe that: HealthKit background delivery appears to be heavily coalesced or throttled The system rarely attempts to wake the App Extension Behavior is clearly inconsistent with other devices using the same configuration The behavior does not match our expectations for HealthKit Background Delivery with .immediate frequency 4/ Troubleshooting Already Performed We have already attempted the following on the affected device(s): Restarted both Apple Watch and paired iPhone Re-paired the Apple Watch Uninstalled and reinstalled the app Revoked and re-granted HealthKit permissions Confirmed that Low Power Mode, Do Not Disturb, and Focus modes are all disabled The issue remains consistently reproducible. 5/ Assistance Requested We would appreciate guidance on: Whether there are any officially recommended implementation patterns, tuning options, or best practices for using HKObserverQuery and HealthKit Background Delivery Whether there are any known device-level or system-level factors that may cause significantly different background delivery behavior on different devices running the same watchOS version How to best achieve consistent and predictable background update delivery behavior across devices for apps that rely on this mechanism 6/ Additional Information We can provide sysdiagnose logs from both affected and unaffected devices for comparison We can also provide a minimal reproducible sample project if needed

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.

Hello, everyone! I'm seeking some guidance on the App Store review process and technical best practices for a watchOS app. My goal is to create an app that uses HealthKit to continuously monitor a user's heart rate in the background for sessions lasting between 30 minutes and 3 hours. This app would not be a fitness or workout tracker. My primary question is about the best way to achieve this reliably while staying within the App Store Review Guidelines. Is it advisable to use the WorkoutKit framework to start a custom, non-fitness "session" for the purpose of continuous background monitoring? Are there any other recommended APIs or frameworks for this kind of background data collection on watchOS that I should be aware of? What are the key review considerations I should be mindful of, particularly regarding Guideline 4.1 (Design) and the intended use of APIs? My app's core functionality would require this kind of data for a beneficial purpose. I want to ensure my approach is technically sound and has the best chance of a successful review. Any insights or advice from developers who have experience with similar use cases would be incredibly helpful! Thank you!

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.

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?

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.

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?

The second time i start a workout session, the beginCollection instance method on HKLiveWorkoutBuilder freezes. To recreate run the Apple Sample Project Building a multidevice workout app. It looks like a bug with the HealthKit SDK and not the code but i could be wrong. The only workaround i found was erasing the simulator and reinstalling the app.

HealthKit is currently not supported on macOS nor tvOS, despite being supported by visionOS. Support for macOS was last asked about[1] here in 2018. My goal is to display interactive data visualisations over workouts collected in HealthKit on macOS. Will this be possible to do in the near future using HealthKit directly? If not, can I somehow read the information from an iPhone and display it on the mac? Cheers, Rodrigo [1] https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/94937

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

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.

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.

WorkoutKit WorkoutScheduler seems broken with the first beta of iOS 18.2. I have tested using my app from Xcode and the one that is on the App Store (and working properly on other devices), and it's not working with this new beta of iOS. They appears in WorkoutScheduler.shared.scheduledWorkouts, but not on the watch. I even tried with other apps that do the same with Manual add to Apple Watch with SwiftUI workoutPreview work. Xcode 16.0 iOS 18.2 Beta 1 WatchOS 11.1

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'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.

I have a watchOS app with a connected iOS app using Swift and SwiftUI. The watchOS app should read heart rate date in the background using HKOberserQuery and enableBackgroundDelivery(), send the data to the iPhone app via WCSession. The iPhone app then sends the data to a Firebase project. The issue I am facing now it that the app with the HKObserverQuery works fine when the app is in the foreground, but when the app runs in the background, the observer query gets triggered for the first time (after one hour), but then always get terminated from the watchdog timeout with the following error message: CSLHandleBackgroundHealthKitQueryAction scene-create watchdog transgression: app<app.nanacare.nanacare.nanaCareHealthSync.watchkitapp((null))>:14451 exhausted real (wall clock) time allowance of 15.00 seconds I am using Xcode 16.3 on MacOS 15.4 The App is running on iOS 18.4 and watchOS 11.4 What is the reason for this this issue? I only do a simple SampleQuery to fetch the latest heart rate data inside the HKObserverQuery and then call the completionHandler. The query itself takes less than one second. Or is there a better approach to read continuously heart rate data from healthKit in the background on watchOS? I don't have an active workout session, and I don't need all heart rate data. Once every 15 minutes or so would be enough.

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.

I'm developing a watchOS nap app that detects when the user falls asleep by monitoring heart rate changes. == Technical Implementation == HKWorkoutSession (.mindAndBody) for background execution HKAnchoredObjectQuery for real-time heart rate data CoreMotion for movement detection == Battery Considerations == Heart rate monitoring ONLY active when user explicitly starts a session Monitoring continues until user is awakened OR 60-minute limit is reached If no sleep detected within 60 minutes, session auto-ends (user may have abandoned or forgotten to stop) App displays clear UI indicating monitoring is active Typical session: 15-30 minutes, keeping battery usage minimal == The Problem == HKWorkoutSession affects Activity Rings during the session. Users receive "Exercise goal reached" notifications while resting — confusing. == What I've Tried == Not using HKLiveWorkoutBuilder → Activity Rings still affected Using builder but not calling finishWorkout() (per https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/780220) → Activity Rings still affected WKExtendedRuntimeSession (self-care type) (per https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/721077) → Only ~10 min runtime, need up to 60 min HKObserverQuery + enableBackgroundDelivery (per https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/779101) → ~4 updates/hour, too slow for real-time detection Audio background session for continuous processing (suggested in https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/130287) → Concerned about App Store rejection for non-audio app; if official approves this technical route, I can implement in this direction Some online resources mention "Health Monitoring Entitlement" from WWDC 2019 Session 251, but I could not find any official documentation for this entitlement. Apple Developer Support also confirmed they cannot locate it? == My Question == Is there any supported way to: Monitor heart rate in background for up to 60 minutes WITHOUT affecting Activity Rings or creating workout records? If this requires a special entitlement or API access, please advise on the application process. Or allow me to submit a code-level support request. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

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!