--- title: "Samsung Health API: Galaxy Watch Data for Developers" description: "Samsung Health Platform API guide: Galaxy Watch data, stress score, body composition, skin temperature, OAuth 2.0 and developer program access." canonical_url: "https://openwearables.io/blog/samsung-health-api-galaxy-watch-data-for-developers" --- # Samsung Health API: Galaxy Watch data for developers [All posts](https://openwearables.io/blog) [Samsung Health](https://openwearables.io/blog/category/samsung-health) Open Wearables Team · May 6, 2026 · 5 min read ## Key takeaways - Samsung Health Platform provides server-side API access to Galaxy Watch data including heart rate, sleep stages, workouts, stress score, SpO2, HRV and body composition. - Access requires applying to the Samsung Health Developer Program; approval is not automatic and typically takes one to two weeks. - Galaxy Watch 5 and later adds BIA-based body composition measurements; Galaxy Watch 6 and later adds nightly skin temperature. - Stress score is Samsung's distinctive contribution among Android wearables, using HRV analysis to produce a continuous daily stress indicator. - Open Wearables normalizes Samsung Health data alongside other providers into a unified schema. ## Introduction Samsung Health is one of the largest health data ecosystems in the Android world. Galaxy Watch devices are worn by tens of millions of users globally, and the platform tracks a comprehensive range of biometrics beyond what most wrist-based wearables offer. With Galaxy Watch 5's BIA sensor for body composition and Galaxy Watch 6's skin temperature tracking, Samsung has progressively closed the gap with ring-form-factor devices like Oura and Ultrahuman on recovery-focused metrics. For developers building health apps targeting Android users, Samsung Health is often the primary data source for users who do not have a dedicated fitness wearable. It aggregates from Galaxy Watch, Samsung Health app manual entries, and compatible third-party apps. The Samsung Health Platform API provides server-side access to this data after user authorization. The integration is not frictionless. Developer program approval is required, OAuth implementation is standard but the endpoint URLs are specific to Samsung's ecosystem, and the data schema reflects Samsung's own terminology and organization rather than an industry-standard model. ## What Samsung Health platform provides Exercise and activity data includes workout sessions for over 80 sport types: running, cycling, swimming, walking, strength training, yoga, basketball and many others. For each session you get duration, start and end time, calories burned, heart rate (average, maximum, and per-minute series for supported sessions), distance for sports where it applies, and GPS data where the user was outdoors with the watch. Daily health metrics represent the continuous monitoring data that Samsung Health collects between workouts. This includes step count and distance walked, continuous heart rate readings from the Galaxy Watch, HRV measured at intervals throughout the day, stress score derived from HRV analysis, SpO2 spot checks, and respiratory rate. Sleep records contain total sleep duration, time in each stage (awake, light, deep and REM), sleep score, sleep efficiency, and breathing irregularity detection which can flag potential snoring or sleep apnea indicators. Body composition is available from Galaxy Watch 5 and newer devices that include the BIA (bioelectrical impedance analysis) sensor. Measurements include body weight, BMI, body fat percentage, skeletal muscle mass, body water percentage and basal metabolic rate. Skin temperature is available on Galaxy Watch 6 and newer. Like Oura and Ultrahuman, Samsung records nightly skin temperature deviation from the user's personal baseline. ## The developer program Unlike Garmin, Strava or Whoop which offer self-serve developer access, Samsung Health Platform requires an application to their developer program before you receive API credentials. The application asks about your company, use case, data handling practices and integration plans. Approval typically takes five to fifteen business days. Applications for consumer health apps in well-defined categories tend to move faster than applications for clinical or research use cases. Applying early in your development cycle is recommended. Once approved, you receive a client_id and client_secret tied to your application. API credentials are environment-specific: you receive separate credentials for development and production. ## OAuth 2.0 and data access Samsung Health uses OAuth 2.0 with the standard authorization code flow. The authorization endpoint is on Samsung's account server, and the token endpoint is on Samsung's Health API server. The scopes map to data categories: r:exercise, r:sleep, r:health, r:profile, r:body. Token management is straightforward compared to providers with rotating refresh tokens or short expiry windows. Refresh Samsung tokens using the standard refresh grant when the access token expires. Store refresh tokens securely per user and handle 401 responses as a signal to attempt token refresh before re-authentication. ## Samsung-specific features Samsung's stress monitoring is one of the platform's most distinctive capabilities. The Galaxy Watch measures HRV continuously throughout the day when the user is stationary and not exercising. It translates HRV into a stress score on a 0-100 scale, categorized as low (0-25), normal (26-50), high (51-75) and very high (76-100). This continuous stress monitoring is not available from most wearable APIs. Whoop measures recovery overnight; Oura measures readiness as a morning composite. Samsung measures stress dynamically throughout the day, which enables different product features: intraday stress pattern tracking, correlation of stress peaks with specific activities or times of day, and long-term stress trend analysis. ## Open Wearables and Samsung Health Open Wearables handles Samsung Health developer program credentials, OAuth 2.0 token management and data normalization. Galaxy Watch metrics are mapped to a schema shared with Garmin, Whoop, Polar and other supported providers. For multi-provider apps targeting Android users, this means a user with a Galaxy Watch and a user with a Garmin Forerunner both produce normalized daily health summaries through the same API endpoint. Self-hosted, MIT licensed, $0 per user. ## Faq ### How long does Samsung developer program approval take? Typically five to fifteen business days. Apply early in your development cycle rather than waiting until implementation is ready. ### Is Samsung Health platform available in all countries? Samsung Health Platform availability varies by region. Check the Samsung developer portal for the current list of supported countries and any regional restrictions on data types. ### Can i access Samsung Health data from non-galaxy Android devices? The Samsung Health app runs on non-Samsung Android devices, but Galaxy Watch-specific metrics require Samsung hardware. Standard metrics like steps and heart rate from the phone's sensors may be available. ### How does samsung's stress score compare to other providers' recovery metrics? Samsung stress score and Whoop Recovery Score measure related but different constructs. Samsung measures intraday stress throughout the day using HRV. Whoop measures overnight recovery. They are complementary rather than competing metrics. ### Does Open Wearables support Samsung Health's body composition data? Open Wearables normalizes Samsung body composition data including body fat, muscle mass and BMI where available from Galaxy Watch 5+ measurements. ## Open Wearables Open Wearables is an open-source platform that connects your application to wearable and health data providers through a single API. One normalized data model, multi-provider support in a single self-hosted deployment, no per-user fees, MIT licensed, and health intelligence built in: normalized recovery, sleep, activity and biometric data ready for your product layer. We offer custom deployment and integration support through Momentum. If your team needs help getting to production faster, we can set up and configure Open Wearables as part of a managed engagement. [Let's talk](https://www.themomentum.ai/lets-talk). [Book a demo](https://openwearables.io/book) to see how Open Wearables fits your use case. ## Samsung Health integration View the full [Samsung Health integration documentation](https://openwearables.io/integrations/samsung-health) on Open Wearables. ## See related articles [How to Connect Samsung Health to Your App](https://openwearables.io/blog/how-to-connect-samsung-health-to-your-app) [Google Health Connect Integration: Android Health Data for Developers](https://openwearables.io/blog/google-health-connect-integration-android-health-data-for-developers) [How to Access Google Health Connect Data in Your Backend](https://openwearables.io/blog/how-to-access-google-health-connect-data-in-your-backend) ## Keep reading Samsung Health · Jun 6, 2026 · 4 min read ### Samsung Health API integration guide for Android developers Samsung Health API is not a cloud API. It requires an on-device SDK. Learn how Open Wearables Android SDK handles permissions, background sync, and normalization. Samsung Health · May 6, 2026 · 6 min read ### How to connect Samsung Health to your app The Samsung Health integration pipeline covers developer program application, OAuth 2.0, token management, data querying and normalization before you ship a single product feature. Releases · Oct 26, 2026 · 11 min read ### Open Wearables 0.10.0: new dashboard, nutrition data and sync-aware webhooks Open Wearables 0.10.0 rebuilds the dashboard in SvelteKit, adds 42 nutrition series types with a meal event, tags every data webhook with the sync it came from and splits calories into total, active and basal energy. Contains breaking changes. ## Run it in your own cloud Open Wearables is open source and self-hosted. Start from the repository, or bring us in to stand it up in your account. [Get started](https://openwearables.io/docs/quickstart) [Book a demo](https://openwearables.io/book)