[Editorial] Breakthrough Innovation for Health and Wellness Enthusiasts – Samsung Global Newsroom

Health technology has prioritized constant exercise, breaking personal records and meeting daily physical goals. We’ve witnessed a shift in the way people approach their health over the last few years. People are changing the rules and approaching it holistically. It’s less about calories burned and pounds lost and more about understanding their bodies — both physically and mentally — and prioritizing what’s most important to them, like healthy eating, proper sleep and exercise.

With this in mind we are continuing to improve the Galaxy Watch experience and focusing on one my top priorities at Samsung Electronics — providing holistic health solutions to our customers. We’ve been working for years to provide comprehensive health features to our customers that allow them to reach their goals, live healthier lives and have a positive impact on the environment.

We’re thrilled that Samsung and Google are working together to fulfill this need with a new solution, Health Connect. Developers now have one set of APIs to create fitness and health experiences, as announced at Google I/O. With the new Health Connect API, users will have a comprehensive set of controls to manage their health and fitness data across apps.

Health Connect supports more than 50 data types, such as exercise and sleep, as well as your vitals, such as heart rate and blood pressure. Health Connect offers centralized privacy controls that allow users to grant permission to apps to access their data.

This is more than a proof-of-concept. To realize Health Connect’s full potential, we are working with Google and other partners. It’s exciting to announce that Samsung Health will adopt Health Connect in the coming year. This will allow app developers to use the accurate, optimized data from Galaxy Watch for Samsung Health with their permission and incorporate it into their own apps.

We can’t wait for developers to use Health Connect in order to deliver tangible and holistic health benefits to Galaxy customers. This new service is a massive step toward empowering users to experience the advantages of holistic living.

It’s been an exciting year at Samsung Health R&D, and I love getting to show what we have been up to is one of the best parts about my job. This is only a small part of the many things that go on behind closed doors. As we lead the industry in next-generation wearables, we can’t wait for future updates about software and hardware. Until then, have a happy I/O!