How to get your Garmin workouts into Forta
Forta reads workouts from Apple Health on your iPhone, and the Garmin Connect app can send your Garmin activities there. In Garmin Connect, tap More, then Settings, Connect Apps and Apple Health, and allow the data you want to share. New activities then reach Forta each time your watch syncs with Garmin Connect. Two things don’t come across: GPS routes, and the full heart-rate line of an activity.
Updated October 12, 2026
Turn on Apple Health in Garmin Connect
- 1On your iPhone, open Garmin Connect and tap More, then Settings.
- 2Tap Connect Apps, then Apple Health under Available Apps.
- 3Tap Connect with Apple Health, choose what Garmin Connect may share (at least Workouts), and tap Allow.
- 4Sync your watch with Garmin Connect, then open Forta. Your Garmin activities are in the Workouts list.
To change what Garmin shares later, in the Health app, tap your profile picture in the upper corner, then, under Privacy, tap Apps and Connect (Garmin Connect’s name in Apple Health), and turn categories on or off.
What reaches Apple Health
| Data | Reaches Apple Health | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Workouts | Yes | Every activity uploaded to Garmin Connect. |
| Heart rate | Partly | All-day heart rate, but only the high and low values of an activity, not its full heart-rate line. |
| Route map | No | Garmin doesn’t write GPS tracks to Apple Health. |
| Daily steps | Yes | Also walking and running distance, and flights climbed. |
| Active energy | Yes | Also resting energy. |
| Exercise minutes | No | Garmin says data from a Garmin device doesn’t move Apple’s Activity rings. |
How long syncing takes
Garmin Connect sends new data to Apple Health after each sync with your watch, but only while the app is open on your iPhone. If Garmin Connect is closed, the transfer waits for the next sync with the app open. When you first turn sharing on, Apple Health also takes in up to two weeks of your past data.
Known gaps
- No route map: the GPS track stays in Garmin Connect, so Forta can’t draw the route of a Garmin activity.
- Heart rate during an activity arrives as its high and low values only.
- Only activities uploaded to Garmin Connect reach Apple Health.
- If an Edge cycling computer is the only device on your Garmin Connect account, Connect doesn’t appear in Apple Health.
Troubleshooting
- Keep Garmin Connect open while your watch syncs. Garmin says the app has to be in the foreground to send data to Apple Health.
- Check what Garmin may share: in the Health app, tap your profile picture in the upper corner, then, under Privacy, tap Apps and Connect, and turn on the categories you want.
- Steps or calories counted twice, or missing? When several sources send the same kind of data, Apple Health uses the one at the top of its list. In the Health app, tap Browse, Activity and Steps, scroll down to Data Sources & Access, tap Edit and drag Connect to the top.
- The same workout twice? If Garmin Connect and Strava both send your workouts to Apple Health, each one arrives twice, and Forta lists both. Keep workout sharing on in one of them.
- Still not in Forta? Pull down on Forta’s Workouts list to refresh it. If the workout is in Apple Health but not in Forta, check that Forta may read workouts: in the Health app, tap your profile picture in the upper corner, then, under Privacy, tap Apps and Forta, and turn on Workouts.
Other watches and apps
Forta reads any workout in Apple Health on your iPhone. How to get workouts from another watch or app into Apple Health:
Sources, checked October 12, 2026: Garmin Support: Sharing Your Garmin Connect Data With Apple Health; Apple: Manage Health data on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch.