Using the health package in Flutter

Flutter is a popular cross-platform mobile app development framework, and health and fitness apps are gaining popularity. In Flutter, we can use the health package to process health data. This package provides access to the user’s health and fitness data, enabling the development of health-related features in applications. In this article, we will learn how to use the health package in Flutter and build a sample application.

What is the health package? The health package provides an interface for accessing health and fitness data in Flutter applications. With this package, we can access data such as steps, heart rate, sleep duration, and more, if the user grants permission. This allows us to provide users with more information or analyze the data in health and fitness applications.

Step 1: Setting up the Project Structure Before using the health package in a Flutter project, ensure that you have Flutter SDK installed and that the project is Flutter-compatible. Once Flutter SDK is installed, create a new Flutter project and add the health package to the pubspec.yaml file.

Step 2: Adding the health package To use the health package in a Flutter project, add the following dependency to the pubspec.yaml file:

dependencies:
  health: ^x.x.x

Replace x.x.x with the version number of the health package you are using. Then, update the Flutter project by running the command flutter pub get in the terminal.

Step 3: Using Health Data To process health data using the health package, follow these steps:

1. Import the health package:

import 'package:health/health.dart';

Request authorization to access health data:

await Health.requestAuthorization();

Retrieve the available health services:

List<HealthDataType> types = [
  HealthDataType.STEP_COUNT,
  HealthDataType.HEART_RATE,
  HealthDataType.SLEEP,
];

List<HealthService> services = await Health.getHealthServices(types);

Fetch data from a specific health service:

List<HealthDataPoint> data = await Health.getHealthDataFromTypes(
  DateTime.now().subtract(Duration(days: 7)), // Start date
  DateTime.now(), // End date
  HealthDataType.STEP_COUNT,
);

In this example, we fetch health data for step count and retrieve data from the last 7 days.

In this article, we learned how to use the health package in Flutter to process health data. The health package provides a convenient way to access and analyze user health and fitness data in Flutter applications. By using the features provided by the health package, we can develop applications that provide users with more information or perform analysis on health data. You can explore the documentation of the health package to learn more about its features and capabilities.

Now let’s build a sample application.

Sample Application: Step Counter

Below is an example of a step counter application using the health package:

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:health/health.dart';

void main() {
  runApp(MyApp());
}

class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return MaterialApp(
      title: 'Step Counter',
      theme: ThemeData(
        primarySwatch: Colors.blue,
      ),
      home: StepCounterScreen(),
    );
  }
}

class StepCounterScreen extends StatefulWidget {
  @override
  _StepCounterScreenState createState() => _StepCounterScreenState();
}

class _StepCounterScreenState extends State<StepCounterScreen> {
  List<HealthDataPoint> _stepData = [];

  @override
  void initState() {
    super.initState();
    _fetchStepData();
  }

  Future<void> _fetchStepData() async {
    try {
      List<HealthDataType> types = [HealthDataType.STEP_COUNT];
      DateTime now = DateTime.now();
      DateTime start = DateTime(now.year, now.month, now.day, 0, 0, 0);
      List<HealthDataPoint> healthData =
          await Health.getHealthDataFromTypes(start, now, types);
      setState(() {
        _stepData = healthData;
      });
    } catch (e) {
      print("Error: $e");
    }
  }

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(
        title: Text('Step Counter'),
      ),
      body: ListView.builder(
        itemCount: _stepData.length,
        itemBuilder: (context, index) {
          return ListTile(
            title: Text('Steps: ${_stepData[index].value}'),
            subtitle: Text('Date: ${_stepData[index].date}'),
          );
        },
      ),
    );
  }
}

This sample application uses the health package to fetch the user’s step count data and displays it on the screen using a ListView widget.

When you run the application, it will prompt for permission to access health data. Once permission is granted, it fetches the step count data and displays it in a ListView widget.

Using this sample application, you can see how to retrieve health data using the health package and utilize it in Flutter applications. You can refer to the health package documentation for more features and details.