Why isn't a client's health data or workouts syncing?
Diagnose stalled health syncs — the wearable's own app, reset permissions, background limits — and tell the client exactly what to check.
Health data reaches Fitsly through the client's phone, never directly from the wearable. The wearable's app shares with Apple Health or Health Connect, and the client app reads from there. That means you can't trigger a sync from your dashboard — every fix runs through the client's phone.
Check the Integrations tab on the client's profile first. A platform that hasn't sent data in 7 days shows as Not syncing.
| Symptom | Likely cause |
|---|---|
| Data is a few hours stale | The client app hasn't been opened |
| Wearable data is missing | The wearable's app hasn't synced to Apple Health or Health Connect |
| Card reads Needs attention | Permissions were reset or data has stopped for a week |
| Card stuck at Not connected on iPhone | Don't Allow was tapped on the iOS sheet |
| Android only syncs when the app is open | No background access, or Android 13 or earlier |
Have the client open their app
The single most effective step. The client app syncs when it starts, each time it returns to the foreground, and every 5 minutes while it's open — on any phone.
To force one, the client opens Profile → App Integrations and taps Sync now on the Apple Health or Health Connect card. Sync now only shows while the card reads Connected; a card that needs attention shows a reconnect button instead.
Check the wearable's own app has synced
The client app can only see what the wearable has already shared with the phone's health platform. If a Garmin, Oura, WHOOP, Polar or COROS hasn't synced to its own app, nothing downstream will have it either.
- Open the wearable's app and wait for its sync to finish.
- Open Apple Health or Health Connect and confirm the data is actually there.
- If it is, tap Sync now on the Apple Health or Health Connect card in the client app.
Samsung Health and Pixel Watch share with Health Connect only, so they work on Android phones.
Check whether Health Connect permissions were reset
Health Connect access can reset after an Android update, an app update, or a Health Connect update. The client app notices the next time the client opens their Integrations screen.
- Open Profile → App Integrations. A reset shows the Health Connect card as Needs attention.
- Tap Reconnect Health Connect and allow access again.
- On the permissions screen, turn on every Shared with your coach switch, and allow everything Health Connect asks for. If any required permission is off, the client app treats access as not granted.
Syncing continues from where it left off, so nothing duplicates.
Check whether Apple Health access was turned off
On iPhone the app can't tell whether Health access was granted or revoked, so both sides keep showing Connected for up to 7 days after permissions are turned off. After 7 days without data, your view changes to Not syncing and the client's card shows Needs attention with a Reconnect Apple Health button.
If the client tapped Don't Allow on the iOS Health sheet, nothing can sync and the card stays at Not connected. iOS only shows that sheet once, so the fix is in Settings:
- Open Settings → Privacy & Security → Health on the iPhone.
- Tap the app's name and turn on the data to share.
- Come back to the client app, open Profile → App Integrations, and tap Connect Apple Health.
Check the phone's background sync limits
| Phone | Background syncing |
|---|---|
| iPhone | Syncs in the background when Apple Health records new data |
| Android 14 or later | About every 15 minutes, only if background access was allowed when connecting |
| Android 13 or earlier | No background sync — data moves only while the app is running |
Android background sync is best-effort: it needs network and a battery that isn't low, and some phone makers pause background work for apps that were swiped away.
Check Health Connect is installed and available
On Android 9–13, Health Connect is a separate app from Google Play. If it isn't installed or is out of date, Connect Health Connect shows "Health Connect needs setting up" with a Get Health Connect button. Phones older than Android 9 can't run Health Connect at all and show "Health Connect isn't available on this phone" instead of a Connect button.
Things to watch out for
- The workouts list only shows the 12 most recent workouts on the selected platform, and the first sync uploads only those 12.
- Android backfills 30 days unless the client allowed access to data older than 30 days when connecting; iPhone backfills up to 3 months.
- Steps only auto-log into a habit measured in steps, and sleep only into a habit measured in hours whose name contains "sleep" or "slept". Without a matching habit, the data still shows on the charts but never reaches habits.
- A metric with no synced entries shows 0 with a flat chart rather than a "no data" state. Open the card's detail panel to see "No entries yet".