An Obsidian health journal does not have to start on an iPhone. Health.md for Android can read user-authorized Health Connect data and write it to an Obsidian vault as Markdown, Bases-ready notes, JSON, or CSV.
The read happens on the Android device. The files go to a folder selected through Android's Storage Access Framework. Health.md does not require an account or relay the export through a Health.md health-data cloud.
Get Health.md for Android
Install Health.md on the Android phone that has access to your Health Connect records. Google Play is the current download destination:
Google Play offers free manual export actions followed by a one-time lifetime unlock, with no subscription. Check the installed app's purchase screen for its current allowance and access terms. F-Droid catalog publication is pending. Its build is configured for unlimited Health Connect exports without billing. The channels use different signing keys: switching requires uninstalling and does not migrate app state or purchases. See the Android channel comparison before choosing.
Want to inspect output first? Download the synthetic Android CSV excerpt. It contains fictional steps and walking distance rows, not a person's health records or a complete export. It is a CSV example for inspecting values and units; choose Markdown or Obsidian Bases for notes in your vault.
Set up the source
- Install Health.md from Google Play above.
- Open the Health Connect setup in Health.md.
- Grant only the categories you want to export.
- Confirm that the source apps or wearable services have already synchronized into Health Connect.
Health.md can only read what the installed Health Connect API exposes and what you authorize. A missing type is not evidence that the underlying event never happened.
Choose the vault
In Health.md, open the folder picker and select a writable folder inside the Obsidian vault. Android may expose local storage, Obsidian-managed folders, Syncthing, Google Drive, OneDrive, or another document provider.
A simple layout is enough:
Obsidian Vault/
Health/
2026-09-21.md
2026-09-22.md
Daily/
2026-09-22.md
If the provider does not expose persistent write access through Android's picker, Health.md cannot safely bypass it. Export to a local folder and let your chosen sync tool move the files instead.
For other destinations and a downloadable Android CSV excerpt, see the Health Connect export guide.
Pick a format
- Markdown is readable and works well for one note per day.
- Obsidian Bases keeps useful values in typed frontmatter.
- JSON is appropriate for scripts and Health.md visualizations.
- CSV works well for spreadsheets and data notebooks.
You can enable more than one format. Start with a single day and a small metric set, inspect the result, and only then backfill a longer range.
Keep platform semantics visible
Health Connect and Apple Health overlap, but they are not identical databases. Health.md shares public fields only where the meanings are proven equivalent. Provider-specific fields remain provider-specific, and unsupported data is reported rather than invented.
Daily sleep summaries use a local noon-to-noon journal window. On Tuesday morning, Monday night belongs to Monday's file even if bedtime was after midnight on Tuesday. Export Yesterday, or Monday and Tuesday for both sleep and activity. See the sleep-date examples.
Automate carefully
Android schedules use an exact alarm when you grant Alarms & reminders access, with durable WorkManager work as a fallback. Without exact-alarm access, the chosen time is a target rather than a guarantee. Health.md records history and can recover missed dates.
Scheduling requires the lifetime unlock in the Google Play build and is included in the F-Droid build. Both channels support the Health Connect folder workflow described here; direct cloud-provider integrations have separate channel limits.
After the first successful note, add more metrics, a schedule, or a second profile. Keep the initial workflow small enough that an empty permission, inaccessible folder, or late source sync is easy to diagnose.