Although there aren’t many new features in the first developer preview of Android 14, Health Connect, which is now integrated into the system settings, receives some attention.
At I/O 2022, Google introduced Health Connect as a service that could sync data from various health and fitness apps, such as activity from Meta/Oculus to Fitbit or steps from Samsung Health into Google Fit. In Android 14, Google is making the service, which has a lot of potentials, a part of the system itself.
Google has integrated Health Connect into the system’s settings in the first developer preview of Android 14, which was made available yesterday for Pixel smartphones.
This is a departure from the previous approach, which presented the syncing service as a separate application that required installation from the Play Store. Health Connect can be found in the Settings menu under Privacy > Security and privacy > Health Connect.
Health Connect continues to function normally once you arrive at that page. Apps that used Health Connect to initially set up those channels and sync data are visible.
In the end, it’s a small change that’s welcome. It is more likely that more people will have it and that more apps will adopt it if this is available as a system feature. However, if it is buried a little bit deeper, fewer people will have access to it.
