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Via Health Connect · Android

Use a Garmin Watch With CalorTracker

CalorTracker does not connect to a Garmin account. Garmin Connect can send your steps and calories burned to Android's Health Connect, and CalorTracker reads them from there. It is a one-way route: Garmin sends, and nothing flows back to Garmin.

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What syncs

What CalorTracker reads through Garmin and Health Connect
DataWhat CalorTracker does with it
StepsGarmin lists steps among the data it sends to Health Connect; CalorTracker uses them for your daily step count.
Active caloriesGarmin lists active calories burned among the activity data it sends, and CalorTracker reads active calories, so they count toward the day's calories burned. Garmin's total calories burned are not read, because they include the energy your body burns at rest.
Workouts (exercise sessions)Garmin's article does not name exercise sessions in its list, so this page does not promise that a Garmin activity arrives as its own workout entry. CalorTracker imports a workout when the data in Health Connect contains one, and its Today card shows what it read.

Before you start

  • An Android phone on Android 14 or newer. Garmin says this feature is only available on Android 14 and above.
  • The CalorTracker app and the Garmin Connect app on the same phone, with your Garmin device paired in Garmin Connect.
  • Health Connect, which is built in on Android 14 and newer. Garmin says the setup varies by phone and points to Android's "Get started with Health Connect" help.

Set it up in 5 steps

  1. 1. Turn on Health Connect sharing in Garmin Connect

    Follow Garmin's article "Sharing Your Garmin Connect Data With Health Connect" (linked under Sources below) to switch the sharing on and allow the data it lists. The exact steps vary by phone, so this page does not give a menu path. Once enabled, Garmin Connect syncs to Health Connect after each successful device sync.

  2. 2. Open Health Connect in CalorTracker

    In the CalorTracker app, open Settings and tap Health Connect (or open Activity and tap Connect Health Connect). If Health Connect is not installed, the app offers an Install Health Connect button.

  3. 3. Tap Connect Health Connect and allow access

    Android shows a permission sheet for exercise, steps and active calories. Allow all three. CalorTracker only reads them.

  4. 4. Wait for the first import

    CalorTracker imports the last 30 days. The dialog then shows what it read today: steps, active kcal and workouts, and the app those numbers came from.

  5. 5. Choose what to import

    Switch workouts or daily steps and calories off if you only want one of them. From then on CalorTracker syncs when you open the app and when you come back to it, and Sync now refreshes by hand.

Garmin's article says the transfer is one-way and Garmin does not read anything from Health Connect. CalorTracker does not read heart rate, distance, routes, sleep or weight from Health Connect, so those stay out even though Garmin can send some of them. This page covers Health Connect on Android and does not cover iOS.

If it does not work

Garmin Connect has no Health Connect option on my phone.
Garmin says the feature is only available on Android 14 and above. Check your Android version first, then follow Garmin's article, which notes that the setup varies by phone.
My Garmin workout does not show up as a workout in CalorTracker.
Garmin's list of what it sends to Health Connect names steps and calories burned but not exercise sessions, so a workout entry is not guaranteed. CalorTracker's dialog shows today's steps, active kcal and workouts it read, so you can see what arrived. Daily steps and active calories are read either way.
Nothing has arrived since I set it up.
Garmin Connect syncs to Health Connect after each successful device sync, so sync your Garmin device in Garmin Connect first, then tap Sync now in CalorTracker.
The app says a permission is missing, or the permission sheet does not appear.
Android stops showing the permission sheet after a couple of refusals. Open the Manage permissions link in CalorTracker's Health Connect dialog (it opens Health Connect's own settings), allow exercise, steps and active calories for CalorTracker, and sync again.
Why does my step count differ from my watch?
Your phone and your band can both count steps, and Health Connect combines overlapping records using the app priority in its own settings. CalorTracker's Automatic setting counts your band or watch on every day it recorded and the Health Connect total otherwise. Once more than one app has written steps, a Source of truth list appears in the dialog where you can pin one app to count only that one.
I see one workout twice in Health Connect. Does it count twice?
No. A workout recorded by more than one app is merged, and the dialog says how many it merged.
Do imported calories change my daily calorie goal?
Only if you turn on the option to add activity calories to your budget on the Activity page. Otherwise they appear as activity and leave your target alone.
Why do my calories differ from my Garmin?
CalorTracker reads active calories and not total calories, which include the energy your body burns at rest, so a Garmin figure for total calories reads higher. Garmin sends both kinds to Health Connect, and only the active figure is read.

Privacy

  • Read-only. CalorTracker never writes, changes or deletes anything in Health Connect.
  • This data is never sold, never passed to data brokers or advertisers, and never used for advertising.
  • If you use an optional AI feature after allowing AI data sharing, a summary of up to the last 7 days of activity figures (type, duration, steps, calories) can go with the request. Raw records and the names of the apps or devices that recorded them are not sent.
  • You can revoke access in Health Connect’s settings, or turn sync off in CalorTracker, and it stops reading at once. The full wording is in section 6 of the privacy policy.

Sources and last verified

What each maker says about its app on this page comes from the maker’s own pages below, read on . Apps and menus change, so check the maker’s page for your device. Next review due by .

  1. Garmin Support: Sharing Your Garmin Connect Data With Health Connect: https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=JToBEy0jfe6pIygark2Ui5

Your activity, next to your food

Once your steps and workouts are in, CalorTracker shows the calories you burned beside the calories you ate.

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