In short: the choice between Samsung Health, Apple Health and the Fitbit app is made by your phone and watch, not by features: Apple Health is the hub on iPhone, Samsung Health on Galaxy devices, the Fitbit app on Fitbit and Pixel devices. All three collect steps, heart rate and sleep well; none is a medical record. Pick the one your devices use, and keep the medical record in an app that reads from it.
At a glance
| Which one you use | Decided by your devices: iPhone → Apple Health; Galaxy phone and watch → Samsung Health; Fitbit or Pixel Watch → the Fitbit app |
|---|---|
| Core measurements | All three: steps, distance, heart rate, sleep stages, resting heart rate |
| Extras | ECG, blood oxygen and temperature depend on the watch, not on the app |
| Sharing with other apps | HealthKit on iPhone; Health Connect on Android |
| Clinical records | Only Apple Health, and only from participating hospitals in the US, UK and Canada |
| Labs, diagnoses, documents, family | None of the three: add a personal health record that imports from the hub |
People compare these three as if one could replace the others. In practice each is tied to a platform, and the real questions are which measurements you get, whether other apps can read them, and what happens to labs, diagnoses and the rest of your health, which none of the three is built for. This guide answers those in order and ends with a table. Anpheros Daily is mentioned as the kind of app that sits on top; it does not replace any of the three for measurements.
Which one you can actually use
Which hub you use is decided by your devices: Apple Health exists only on the iPhone and collects from the Apple Watch; Samsung Health runs on Android (and, with fewer features, on iPhone) and collects from Galaxy Watches and Galaxy Ring; the Fitbit app runs on Android and iPhone and collects from Fitbit trackers and the Pixel Watch. An Apple Watch needs an iPhone, a Galaxy Watch works fully only with a Galaxy phone.
The cross-platform cases are narrow. Samsung Health on an iPhone shows Galaxy Watch data but does not integrate with HealthKit the way iPhone apps do; the Fitbit app on an iPhone can write to Apple Health only through third-party bridges. If you have mixed devices in a family, the practical rule is one hub per person, chosen by their phone, and a shared record above them.
What each one measures
All three record the same core set from a watch or the phone: steps, distance, active minutes, heart rate during the day and at night, sleep stages and resting heart rate. Beyond that, the differences come from the hardware: ECG and irregular-rhythm notifications on Apple Watch, Galaxy Watch and Pixel Watch (in countries where cleared), blood pressure on Galaxy Watch (after calibration with a cuff, in some countries), blood oxygen and skin temperature on all three, and body composition on Galaxy devices.
What none measures reliably is anything a doctor would act on without confirmation: the blood pressure estimate is not a cuff reading, the sleep stages are an inference, and the ECG is a single lead. Our guide on How Accurate Are Smartwatches? Heart Rate, SpO2, Sleep, ECG explains how far to trust each number, and How to Measure Blood Pressure at Home Correctly (and Log It) how to measure blood pressure properly with a cuff and keep readings a doctor can use.
Sharing data with other apps
Apple Health shares through HealthKit: any iPhone app can read or write with your permission, per data type, and the data stays on the device and in iCloud. Samsung Health and the Fitbit app share on Android through Health Connect, the system layer that any Android app can read with your permission; Samsung Health writes most data types to it, and the Fitbit app writes a growing set.
This is what makes a separate medical record possible: an app such as Anpheros Daily reads steps, heart rate, sleep, weight and blood pressure from HealthKit on iPhone and from Health Connect on Android, so the same record follows a person across phones. Details of the two layers are in Apple Health & Health Connect: How Your Data Syncs.
Medical records, family and export
None of the three is a medical record: they do not hold lab results, diagnoses, hospital documents or a family's records in one account. Apple Health goes furthest, with Medications (reminders and interactions), the Medical ID, and Health Records from participating hospitals in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada; Samsung Health and the Fitbit app stay with fitness and sleep, with Samsung adding medication reminders in some regions.
Family sharing is limited everywhere: Apple Health can share selected data with another iPhone user, the Fitbit app supports family accounts for children's devices, Samsung Health has none for a medical purpose. Export is per app: Apple Health gives an XML archive, Samsung Health and Fitbit give CSV or JSON downloads of activity data, none gives a clinical format. For a record that includes what the doctor produces, see Personal Health Record (PHR): Meaning, Apps & Templates.
Comparison table
| Apple Health | Samsung Health | Fitbit app | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phone | iPhone only | Android (full), iPhone (limited) | Android and iPhone |
| Watches and trackers | Apple Watch | Galaxy Watch, Galaxy Ring | Fitbit trackers, Pixel Watch |
| Core measurements (steps, heart rate, sleep) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ECG, blood oxygen, temperature | On Apple Watch, where cleared | On Galaxy Watch, where cleared; blood pressure after cuff calibration in some countries | On Pixel Watch and some Fitbit models |
| Sharing layer for other apps | HealthKit | Health Connect | Health Connect |
| Medications and reminders | Yes (iOS 16 and later) | In some regions | No |
| Clinical records from hospitals | US, UK, Canada, participating providers | No | No |
| Emergency information | Medical ID on the lock screen | Emergency contacts and medical info on Galaxy phones | No |
| Family in one account | Selected sharing between iPhone users | No | Child accounts for Fitbit devices |
| Export | XML archive; FHIR for Health Records | CSV / JSON of activity data | CSV / JSON of activity data |
| Cost | Free | Free | Free; Fitbit Premium for extra analysis |
Details are as published by Apple, Samsung and Google in October 2026, and feature availability varies by country; check the current pages before relying on them.
Which to choose
Choose by device and stop there: Apple Health if you have an iPhone, Samsung Health if you have a Galaxy phone and watch, the Fitbit app if you have a Fitbit or Pixel Watch. Switching hubs to gain a feature rarely pays, because the feature usually depends on the watch, not the app, and the history does not move cleanly.
Then decide separately where the medical facts live. If you only want activity and sleep, the hub is enough. If you want labs, medications, allergies, vaccinations and documents for yourself or a family, in a form a clinic can read and that survives a change of phone, add a personal health record that imports from the hub; how to choose one is in Best Medical Records Apps 2026: How to Choose One.
Related pages
- Apple Health & Health Connect: How Your Data Syncs: what HealthKit and Health Connect are and how data reaches your record.
- How Accurate Are Smartwatches? Heart Rate, SpO2, Sleep, ECG: how accurate smartwatch heart rate, SpO2, sleep and ECG measurements are.
- Apple Health Alternatives 2026: Android, Family, Export: the alternatives when you leave the iPhone or want a record that is yours.
- Best Health Tracker Apps Without Subscription (2026): health tracker apps without a subscription.
- How to Measure Blood Pressure at Home Correctly (and Log It): measuring blood pressure at home with readings your doctor can use.
Sources
- Apple: Health app
- Apple Developer: HealthKit
- Samsung Health
- Fitbit app
- Android Developers: Health Connect
Frequently asked questions
Can Samsung Health sync with Apple Health?
Not directly. Samsung Health on an iPhone shows Galaxy Watch data but does not write to HealthKit, and Apple Health has no Android version. Data can meet in a third app that reads both: a personal health record that imports from HealthKit on iPhone and from Health Connect on Android.
Is Samsung Health or the Fitbit app better on Android?
Neither is better in general; each is built for its own devices. Samsung Health gets the most from Galaxy Watches (ECG, blood pressure after calibration, body composition), the Fitbit app from Fitbit trackers and the Pixel Watch. Both write to Health Connect, so other apps can read from either.
Which of the three stores medical records?
Only Apple Health stores clinical records, and only from participating hospitals in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, through Health Records. Samsung Health and the Fitbit app store fitness and sleep data. For labs, diagnoses and documents in other countries, a personal health record app is needed.
Did Google Fit become the Fitbit app?
Google has moved its consumer health app effort to the Fitbit app and the Health Connect platform on Android and has been winding down the Google Fit app and its APIs. Data in Google Fit can be exported, and new Pixel devices use the Fitbit app.
Try it in Anpheros Daily
Whichever hub your watch uses, Anpheros Daily reads it: steps, heart rate, sleep and blood pressure from HealthKit or Health Connect, next to your labs, medications and documents, in one record on any phone.
How it works in the app →
Anpheros builds a medical record that the patient controls and can share with any clinic, on an HL7 FHIR R4 platform, based in the EU. These guides help you understand and organise your health; they do not replace your doctor.
About Anpheros →
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