Apple Health

Tended can read data from Apple Health and display it alongside your journal entries. This helps you see how metrics like heart rate, sleep, and steps relate to how you feel.

Enabling Apple Health

Go to More › Preferences › Apple Health and toggle on the metrics you want to track. Tended will ask for permission to read each metric from Apple Health.

Available metrics

21 metrics across three groups:

Default on: Steps, Heart Rate, Resting HR, HRV, Sleep.

Optional (Batch 1): SpO2, Respiratory Rate, Body Temperature, Active Energy, Blood Glucose.

Optional (Batch 2): Blood Pressure, Body Weight, Water Intake, Mindful Minutes, VO2 Max, Wrist Temperature, Menstrual Flow, Noise Exposure, Time in Daylight, Wheelchair Pushes, State of Mind.

Do I need an Apple Watch?

No Apple Watch is required. Available metrics depend on the data in Apple Health, the device or app that records it, and the permissions you choose. Some readings require a compatible sensor or manual entry. A connected device does not guarantee that every metric is available.

Third-party devices (Garmin, Fitbit, Oura, etc.)

Tended reads Apple Health, rather than connecting directly to another device maker. If your device or its companion app supports writing the metric you need to Apple Health, follow that provider’s current instructions and grant the relevant permissions. Support varies by product and metric; check that the readings appear in Apple Health first.

Where health data appears

Averages for your selected period appear on the Apple Health card in the Insights hub. With Tended+, a correlation chart shows which metrics are linked to your better and worse days.

Why some metrics don’t show

A metric only appears if it’s enabled in settings, Apple Health permission is granted, and your device has recorded data for it. For example, Blood Glucose requires a connected glucose monitor writing to Apple Health. If a metric has no data or access is unavailable, Tended leaves it blank rather than treating it as an app problem.

Hydration auto-fill

When Water Intake is enabled, Tended can auto-fill the Hydration custom field from Apple Health. If you log water in Apple Health (or through another app that writes to it), the value appears automatically in your entry. You can always override it manually.

Use the Glass Size picker to match your preferred measure — 200ml (small), 237ml (US cup), 250ml (standard), or 284ml (imperial cup). This controls how litres from Apple Health convert to glasses in your journal.

Privacy

Tended reads Apple Health and never writes back to it. Original samples remain in Apple Health. Values saved in journal observations or retained as connected context become Tended records. They can appear in enabled personal iCloud sync, backups, selected reports or separately permitted sharing. Merely enabling a Health metric does not copy every sample into Tended or grant sharing.

Review Apple Health access

Review the information Tended may read from Apple Health.

You can review these choices without changing them. Use the normal app controls only if you decide a change is useful.

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Review Apple Health access: steps

1. Read the available Health options In Health, review the categories and explanations available to you. Health access is optional.
2. Choose access deliberately If you want access, use the offered authorization controls and choose only the data you intend to allow.
3. Distinguish access from data Permission does not guarantee that records exist or can be read. Tended does not write your journal back to Apple Health.
4. Finish your review Tap Done at the end of these steps, or open Guide details and tap Finish review. This finishes the guide; it does not confirm a setting change or transfer.

Review Apple Health access: troubleshooting

If data is unavailable, inspect the app’s explanation and your Health choices. Finishing the review does not confirm that Health records were received.