iOS and Android platform setup

Complete engine setup first: Unity or Unreal Engine. Then configure the platform that your player will use.

iOS: HealthKit

Real HealthKit behavior requires a physical device.

1. Enable the HealthKit capability for the app’s Apple App ID.
2. Use provisioning that matches that App ID and includes the HealthKit entitlement.
3. Set clear, app-specific HealthKit read and update usage descriptions. Do not ship generic placeholder wording.
4. In HealthBridge settings, select only the types the app needs to read or write.
5. Build to a physical device, explain the request in your app, then initialize HealthBridge and verify the results with a test account.

HealthKit intentionally does not reveal all per-type read decisions. A player can deny a read type and your request may simply return no records. Design the feature to handle empty results and tell the player where to change access in Settings > Privacy & Security > Health.

Android: Health Connect

1. Use an Android device that has Health Connect installed and current.
2. In HealthBridge settings, select the required unified types and read/write modes.
3. Ensure the Android manifest declares every corresponding android.permission.health.* permission. Health Connect only offers runtime permissions that are declared in the manifest.
4. Build and install the app, explain the request in your app, and initialize HealthBridge.
5. Observe the Android permission result and handle a partial grant without treating unavailable optional features as a full app failure.

The base Unreal plugin includes declarations for common workflows such as exercise, heart rate, steps, distance, calories, sleep, and selected body measurement writes. Add manifest permissions when you enable additional types. Unity’s build tooling validates and patches the generated Android project, but you should still validate the final app configuration.

Data types and consent

Use the engine’s HealthBridge permission editor or project settings as the source of truth. A type being available in an API does not mean it is enabled, supported by both operating systems, or granted by the player.

Exercise read access is fundamental for workout import. Heart-rate access is optional: its denial should disable heart-rate features cleanly rather than preventing the rest of the SDK from initializing.

Real-time companion add-on

The add-on streams from HealthBridge-owned sessions, not from an arbitrary third-party fitness session.

• Apple Watch: build and embed/install the companion with the phone app’s product-specific identifiers and valid signing.
• Wear OS: the companion must be installed and reachable; its package name and signing certificate must match the phone app for Wear Data Layer discovery.

Use a device test to confirm first data arrives, the stream continues while the owned session is active, and stop/reconnect behavior is clean.