Fitness Data Types

Google Fit provides a set of fitness data types under the com.google namespace.

Data types define the format of the values inside data points. A data point can represent:

• An instantaneous reading or observation
• An aggregate with statistics over a time interval

Google Fit defines data types for instantaneous observations and data types for aggregate data. Data points consist of values for the fields of a data type and timestamp information. Points that represent instantaneous observations include a timestamp, and points of an aggregate data type also include the start time for the interval.

Google Fit also lets you define new data types.

For more information about inserting data points, see Work with the Fitness History.

Data types

Google Fit features the following data types:

Public data types

Standard data types provided by the platform, like com.google.step_count.delta. Any app can read and write data of these types, with some limited exceptions.
For more information, see Public Data Types.

Private custom data types

Custom data types defined by an specific app. Only the app that defines the data type can read and write data of this type.
For more information, see Custom Data Types.

Restricted data types

Google Fit restricts write access for the data types in HealthDataTypes to only certain developers.
For more information, see Restricted Data Types.

Public data types

Google Fit defines public data types for instantaneous readings and data types for aggregate data.

Data types for instantaneous readings

These data types are defined as public fields of the DataType class. Their field names start with the TYPE_ prefix.

Data Type Name	Description	Permission	Fields (Format—Unit)
com.google.activity.sample	Instantaneous sample of the current activity.	Activity	activity (int—enum) confidence (float—percent)
com.google.activity.segment	Continuous time interval of a single activity.	Activity	activity (int—enum)
(deprecated) com.google.calories.consumed	Total calories consumed over a time interval.	Activity	calories (float—kcal)
com.google.calories.expended	Total calories expended over a time interval.	Activity	calories (float—kcal)
com.google.cycling .pedaling.cadence	Instantaneous pedaling rate in crank revolutions per minute.	Activity	rpm (float—rpm)
com.google.cycling .wheel_revolution.rpm	Instantaneous wheel speed.	Location	rpm (float—rpm)
com.google.distance.delta	Distance covered since the last reading.	Location	distance (float—meters)
com.google.heart_rate.bpm	Heart rate in beats per minute.	Body	bpm (float—bpm)
com.google.height	The user's height, in meters.	Body	height (float—meters)
com.google.nutrition	Food item information	Nutrition	nutrients (Map<String, float>—calories/grams/IU) meal_type (int—enum) food_item (String—n/a)
com.google.power.sample	Instantaneous power generated while performing an activity.	Activity	watts (float—watts)
com.google.speed	Instantaneous speed over ground.	Location	speed (float—m/s)
com.google.step_count.cadence	Instantaneous cadence in steps per minute.	Activity	rpm (float—steps/min)
com.google.step_count.delta	Number of new steps since the last reading.	Activity	steps (int—count)
com.google.weight	The user's weight.	Body	weight (float—kg)
com.google.activity.exercise	A user's continuous workout routine.	Activity	exercise (int—enum) repetitions (int—count) resistance type (int—enum) resistance (float—kg) duration (int—milliseconds)

Table 1: Fitness data types for instantaneous readings

Set data point values

To create data points for an instaneous DataType object, assign values with the correct format. The following example shows you how to assign the food item as a string, the meal type as a constant from the Field class, and nutrient contents as mapped float values by calling the setKeyValue() method.

DataSource nutritionSource = new DataSource.Builder()
        .setDataType(DataType.TYPE_NUTRITION)
        ...
        .build();

DataPoint banana = DataPoint.create(nutritionSource);
banana.setTimestamp(now.getMillis(), TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
banana.getValue(Field.FIELD_FOOD_ITEM).setString("banana");
banana.getValue(Field.FIELD_MEAL_TYPE).setInt(Field.MEAL_TYPE_SNACK);
banana.getValue(Field.FIELD_NUTRIENTS).setKeyValue(Field.NUTRIENT_TOTAL_FAT, 0.4f);
banana.getValue(Field.FIELD_NUTRIENTS).setKeyValue(Field.NUTRIENT_SODIUM, 1f);
banana.getValue(Field.FIELD_NUTRIENTS).setKeyValue(Field.NUTRIENT_POTASSIUM, 422f);

After setting data points in your app, you can insert, read, or delete the data from the fitness history with the History API.

Data types for aggregate data

These data types are defined as public fields of the DataType class. Their field names start with the AGGREGATE_ prefix.

Data Type Name	Description	Permission	Fields (Format—Unit)
com.google.activity.summary	Total time and number of segments in a particular activity for a time interval.	Activity	activity (int—enum) duration (int—ms) num_segments (int—count)
com.google.heart_rate.summary	Average, maximum, and minimum beats per minute for a time interval.	Body	average (float—bpm) max (float—bpm) min (float—bpm)
com.google.nutrition.summary	User's nutrition intake during a time interval.	Nutrition	nutrients (Map<String, float>—calories/grams/IU) meal_type (int—enum) food_item (String—n/a)
com.google.power.summary	Average, maximum, and minimum power generated while performing an activity.	Activity	average (float—watts) max (float—watts) min (float—watts)
com.google.speed.summary	Average, maximum, and minimum speed over ground over a time interval.	Location	average (float—m/s) max (float—m/s) min (float—m/s)
com.google.weight.summary	Average, maximum, and minimum weight over a time interval.	Body	average (float—kg) max (float—kg) min (float—kg)

Table 2: Fitness data types for aggregate data

Using fitness data types on Android

On Android, the fitness data types are defined as public fields of the DataType class. How you invoke the Fitness APIs with the data type depends on what you want to accomplish:

• To record fitness data, use the Recording API to create a subscription for each data type you want to record.
• To read fitness data, use the History API to submit a read request for each data type.
• To insert data into the fitness history, use the History API to submit an insert request for each data type.
• To create sessions, use the Sessions API to insert or record fitness data with session metadata.

Exceptions

Whilst any application can write data to a public data type, there are certain data types which can only be read by the application that wrote the data.

Data Type Name	Description	Fields (Format—Unit)
com.google.location.sample	The user's current location.	latitude (float—degrees) longitude (float—degrees) accuracy (float—meters) altitude (float—meters)
com.google.location.bounding_box	A bounding box for the user's location over a time interval.	low_latitude (float—degrees) low_longitude (float—degrees) high_latitude (float—degrees) high_longitude (float—degrees)

Custom data types

Google Fit enables you to create custom data types for your app and to use them to store fitness data. When you create custom data types, ensure that:

• Google Fit does not already provide a similar data type
• The data type name is clear
• The data type name accurately represents the underlying data
• The prefix of the data type name matches your app's package name

Note: Custom data types are not available to use in other apps. Only the app that creates a custom fitness data type can use it.

Create a custom data type

To create a custom data type for the first time, use the ConfigClient.createCustomDataType method:

// 1. Build a request to create a new data type
DataTypeCreateRequest request = new DataTypeCreateRequest.Builder()
    // The prefix of your data type name must match your app's package name
    .setName("com.app.custom_data_type")
    // Add some custom fields, both int and float
    .addField("field1", Field.FORMAT_INT32)
    .addField("field2", Field.FORMAT_FLOAT)
    // Add some common fields
    .addField(Field.FIELD_ACTIVITY)
    .build();


// 2. Invoke the Config API with:
// - The Google API client object
// - The create data type request
PendingResult<DataTypeResult> pendingResult =
    ConfigApi.createCustomDataType(mClient, request);


// 3. Check the result asynchronously
// (The result may not be immediately available)
pendingResult.setResultCallback(
    new ResultCallback<DataTypeResult>() {
        @Override
        public void onResult(DataTypeResult dataTypeResult) {
            // Retrieve the created data type
            DataType customType = dataTypeResult.getDataType();
            // Use this custom data type to insert data in your app
            // (see other examples)
            ...
        }
    }
);

Retrieve your custom data types

To access a custom data type, use the ConfigClient.readDataType method:

// 1. Invoke the Config API with:
// - The Google API client object
// - The custom data type name
PendingResult<DataTypeResult> pendingResult =
    ConfigApi.readDataType(mClient, "com.app.custom_data_type");

// 2. Check the result asynchronously
// (The result may not be immediately available)
pendingResult.setResultCallback(
    new ResultCallback<DataTypeResult>() {
        @Override
        public void onResult(DataTypeResult dataTypeResult) {
            // Retrieve the custom data type
            DataType customType = dataTypeResult.getDataType();
            // Use this custom data type to insert data in your app
            // (see other examples)
            ...
        }
    }
);

Create data points of custom data types

To create data points for the custom data type above, obtain each component of the data point and assign a value with the correct format as follows:

// Create a data point for a data source that provides
// data of type "com.app.custom_data_type" (created above)
DataPoint dataPoint = DataPoint.create(myDataSource);

// Set values for the data point
// This data type has two custom fields (int, float) and a common field
dataPoint.getValue(0).setInt(mField1IntValue);
dataPoint.getValue(1).setFloat(mField2FloatValue);
dataPoint.getValue(Field.FIELD_ACTIVITY).setInt(mActivityValue);

When you create custom data types that contain both int and float fields, you can't use the DataPoint.setFloatValues() and DataPoint.setIntValues() methods for those fields. In this case, obtain the components of the data point and assign a value to each component individually as shown in this example.

Restricted data types

Because health data is potentially sensitive, Google Fit restricts write access for the data types in HealthDataTypes to only certain developers. Apps need user permission to read and write data of a restricted type. Any application can read fitness data of a restricted data type, but only Google-approved applications can write data of this type.

Note: Google has temporarily stopped taking new requests to write to restricted data types. We are updating our policy and process for reviewing requests and will update this documentation again when we resume.