Google releases Google Fit SDK so devs can build health apps

Google announced at its Google I/O event in June its new Google Fit health and fitness app development platform. Today, Google has released a preview software development kit (SDK) that developers can use to start developing apps.

Developers will be able to launch the Google Fit apps they build later this year when Google launches the full Google Fit SDK as part of Google Play services for handsets, Android Wear, and also the Web, Google says in a blog post today.

Google Fit provides a single set of application program interfaces (APIs) that app developers and device manufacturers can use to store and access activity data from fitness apps and sensors.

These sensors can exist on health devices like fitness wearables, smartwatches (with sensors), heart rate monitors, and connected scales.

So through the Google Fit platform, developers and device makers can get access to users’ fitness histories, enabling them to build more interesting features into their app — like personalized coaching, health insights, and fitness recommendations.

Developers will get access to three sets of APIs.

A set of sensor APIs will give apps access to biometrics sensors on Android devices (like Samsung’s Wear smartwatches).

A Recording API lets an app collect collect user fitness data from the cloud. For instance, Google says, a running app could ask to store a user’s location so it can map the run later.

A History API allows apps to read, insert, or delete user health data in the Google Fit cloud. For example, when the exerciser finishes her run, the running app can query the History API for all locations during the run and show a map.

Google says developers can start building app functionality using the data history stored on the device. But they will have to wait a little longer to be able to use health data from the Google Fit cloud. More information can be found at the Google Fit developers site.