Apple Health

Apple Health tracks a whole load of different types of health data (like exercise, sleep and weight). Our integration, through our iOS app, allows you to hold yourself accountable!

I'm trying to set up a goal with Apple Health... why have I been directed to this page?

Setting up a goal with Apple Health is slightly more convoluted than all our other autodata integrations. You have to create a Beeminder goal separately on the Beeminder website and then use the iOS app to send your chosen Apple Health data to Beeminder. This is because Apple don't allow us to access your data except through linking with the app, and goal setup is not available for the apps.

This page explains what you can beemind with Apple Health, and how to set that up, along with some common problems people run into. Check out the "Sample Apple Health Goal setup" section below if you want to get started with creating a goal!

The short version is "create a manual goal with the settings you want on the web version, and then add Apple Health via the app".

Sample Apple Health goal setup

You'll need to start with a manual Do More or Weight goal, depending on what metric you want to use, so create one first. (If you need help, check out a guide.)

If you use an existing goal, Beeminder will import the last week of available data when Apple Health is connected, which may overwrite your existing data and could derail your goal. Please contact support if that happens!
Once you've created your Do More goal, open the Beeminder iOS app and tap the ⚙ to open the app Settings. Tap Health app integration to open the integration menu.
You should see a list of all your goals. Goals that are eligible for Apple Health sync will say Add source.... Other goals that have autodata sources configured already will list the current data source, which cannot be changed to Apple Health in this menu. (To remove an existing source in favor of Apple Health, contact support.)
Find the goal you want to add Apple Health data to and tap its name.
You should see a list of the available Apple Health metrics. Tap one metric one time to pair it; you can only link up one metric per goal. Press Save and you're done!

What metrics can I beemind with Apple Health?

Active energy
Cycling distance
Exercise time
Nike Fuel
Resting energy
Stand hours
Steps
Swimming distance
Swimming strokes
Walking/running distance
Weight
Mindful minutes
Dietary Caffeine
Dietary carbs
Dietary energy
Dietary fat
Dietary protein
Dietary saturated fat
Dietary sodium
Dietary sugar
Vitamin A
Vitamin B6
Vitamin B12
Vitamin C
Vitamin D
Vitamin E
Vitamin K
Water
Time in bed
Time asleep
Workout minutes (NEW in v6.5)

Data got imported from before my goal was created and I have way too much buffer!

This should only apply to older versions of the app! Historically, because the Apple Health integration isn't added until after goal creation is complete, you can end up with lots of buffer from the last week of data, which is imported when your goal starts. This can't be deleted (it will keep coming back), but you can ratchet your goal to get rid of the extra leeway and put yourself on the hook.

I added my data to Apple Health and it never synced up!

Apple have certain restrictions on background syncing, which can prevent us being able to sync automatically. First, you may need to open the Beeminder app every day to make sure we're able to sync up. You don't need to go to the goal itself, though if your data isn't syncing up and it's been a few hours, it's a good idea to open up the goal and sync it. If the manual sync doesn't work, definitely get in touch with us at [email protected]!

We're also restricted to doing only one background sync an hour, so if you're getting close to your deadline when you add the data to Apple Health, we may not be able to pick up on it. In that case it's a good idea to sync it up manually. Your device may also need to be unlocked in order for us to be able to sync.

If the lack of syncing derailed you, then don't worry: just reply to the legitimacy check email and we'll get everything sorted out.

I added data for yesterday and Beeminder won't sync it up.

This should only apply to older versions of the app. On those versions, we only automatically sync data for the current day, but you can go to the goal in the app and tap "sync last 7 days" to pull it in. If you have problems with that, please let us know!