Moving your data
Strava and Apple Health: what syncs each way?
Updated · 3 min read
- Steps
- Cardio
- Heart
- Sleep
Short answer
Turn on Strava's Send to Health to send activity type, distance, time and calories to Health. Strava imports Apple Workout app workouts up to 30 days old.
On iPhone, Strava and Apple Health sync in both directions once you connect them, with one switch in Strava for each direction. Strava sends its activities to Health, and it imports only the workouts that Apple's Workout app recorded in the past 30 days.
What syncs each way
| Direction | What syncs | What doesn't sync |
|---|---|---|
| Strava to Health | Activity type, distance, time, calories and route | The route of an activity that another company's app recorded, such as Zwift |
| Health to Strava | Workouts from Apple's Workout app in the past 30 days | Workouts that another company's app wrote to Health |
Steps
- Open Strava. On the You tab, tap the settings icon in the upper corner.
- Tap Manage Apps and Devices then Health. Tap the plus icon. Tap Connect.
Step 2
Where to tap
- Manage Apps and Devices
- Health
- On the Health Access page, turn on Workouts & Routes, which allows data sharing between Strava and Health. Under Allow Strava to Read Data, turn on Heart Rate if you record with Strava's Apple Watch app.
- To send Strava activities to Health, open You then settings icon then Manage Apps and Devices then Health in Strava. Turn on Send to Health.
Step 4
Where to tap
- You
- settings icon
- Manage Apps and Devices
- Health
- To bring Workout app activities into Strava, turn on Automatic Uploads on the same screen. If an automatic upload fails, Strava sends a push notification that asks you to import the activity by hand. To add one activity at a time instead, tap Import next to that activity in the list on the same screen.
- To get an alert when a new Workout app activity is ready to upload, turn on Notifications for new workouts on the same screen.
If it still doesn't work
- Strava activities are not in Health
Check that Send to Health is on, as in step 4. Force close the Health app. Open Strava. Pull down on your You feed to refresh it.
- A Workout app activity is not in Strava
Check that you recorded it with Apple's Workout app in the past 30 days. Then import it as in step 5.
- A Workout app activity shows as imported but is not in Strava
It may be a duplicate: Strava does not allow duplicate activities. Look in your activity history for one with the same date and time. Delete it, then import again.
- A Workout app activity is not in the import list
In Strava, open You then settings icon then Manage Apps and Devices then Health. Tap Connect with Health. Then open the iPhone's Settings app, tap Apps then Health then Data Access and Devices then Strava, and turn on all the permissions that Strava needs, such as Workouts & Routes from step 3.
- Heart rate from a Strava activity is missing in Health
Athlytic, a third-party app maker, says that most of the time there is a delay before Strava writes heart rate to Health. It advises that you wait at least an hour after the workout.
- An activity in the Strava app has no heart rate or no map
To check Strava's heart rate permission, open the Health app and tap Browse then Heart then Heart Rate then Data Sources & Access, the list of apps and devices that contribute heart rate data. Check that Heart Rate and Workouts are turned on for Strava. Strava says it cannot add missing heart rate, GPS or map data to an activity after the upload. If a permission was off, only activities that you upload after you turn it on show that data.
Questions
Does Strava send heart rate to Apple Health?
Not reliably. Heart rate is not on Strava's list of what it sends to Health, and Athlytic, a third-party app maker, says Strava often does not sync heart rate to Health properly. Athlytic suggests that you record in Apple's Workout app, which it says saves heart rate data to Health, and let Strava import the workout.
Does Strava get cycling power and cadence from Apple Health?
Yes, for indoor and outdoor rides that you record with Apple's Workout app while the sensors are connected to the watch. You need iOS 17 or later, watchOS 10 or later and Strava version 403 or later. Then, in Strava, open You > settings icon > Manage Apps and Devices > Health and tap Connect with Health to accept the new permissions, even if you connected before. For runs, Strava reads power but not cadence at this time.
How do I stop Strava writing some data to Apple Health?
Open the Health app and tap the Profile button in the upper corner. Under Privacy, tap Apps > Strava. Turn off each data type that you do not want Strava to write. To stop all of it, turn off Send to Health, as in step 4.
Sources
- 1Apple Health and Strava, Strava Help Centersupport.strava.com (opens in a new tab)
- 2How Do I Get Power and Cadence Data from Apple Health?, Strava Help Centersupport.strava.com (opens in a new tab)
- 3Strava Apple Watch App, Strava Help Centersupport.strava.com (opens in a new tab)
- 4Manage Health data on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch, Apple Supportsupport.apple.com (opens in a new tab)
- 5Using Strava With Athlytic, Athlyticathlyticapp.helpscoutdocs.com (opens in a new tab)