Almost always one of three things: your meditation or fitness app isn't sharing to Apple Health, Tonic doesn't have read access yet, or you're checking before your next activity. Turn sharing on, grant Tonic read access, then finish one full session. Tonic reads it then, not the moment you reopen the app.
Why nothing showed up
This is the most common setup snag, and it is fixable. Tonic earns your apps by reading the activity your meditation or fitness app records in Apple Health. If Tonic sees nothing, the data usually isn't reaching Apple Health yet, Tonic doesn't have permission to read it, or you simply haven't finished an activity since you set things up. Work through these in order.
Fix it in four steps
- Turn on Apple Health sharing in the app you use.Meditation and fitness apps don't share with Apple Health by default. Open your app (Waking Up, Headspace, Calm, Strava, Strong, Peloton, and so on), go to its Settings or Profile, find "Apple Health," and turn sharing on. Steps are the exception: your iPhone counts those automatically, no app needed.
- Give Tonic read access in Settings.Open the iPhone Settings app, go to Health, then Data Access & Devices, tap Tonic, and turn on the activity types you want to earn with. The Health permission screen has a read section and a write section, and the read side is easy to miss, so make sure the types you care about are switched on here.
- Turn on Motion & Fitness for steps.If steps aren't counting, open Settings, go to Privacy & Security, then Motion & Fitness, and make sure Fitness Tracking is on. Without it, your iPhone isn't logging steps for anything to read.
- Complete one full activity.Finish a workout, finish a meditation session, or take a walk. Tonic picks up your next completed activity automatically. You don't need to keep Tonic open while you do it.
Detection happens at your next session, not the instant you reopen Tonic
This trips up a lot of people. After you turn on sharing, reopening Tonic won't show anything yet, because there's no new activity to read. Most apps only record a session to Apple Health when you finish it, not while it's in progress. So the fix is always: turn sharing on, then complete one full activity. Tonic catches it from there.
Quick checklist
| If this isn't counting | Check this first |
|---|---|
| Meditation minutes | Apple Health sharing is on in your meditation app, and you finished a full session |
| Workouts | Apple Health sharing is on in your fitness app, and the workout is finished (apps record on completion, not during) |
| Steps | Motion & Fitness is on. Steps need no app and no Apple Watch |
| Time outside (daylight) | You were wearing an Apple Watch outdoors. Daylight comes only from the Watch's light sensor |
A note on Garmin, Fitbit, Oura, and other wearables
These don't write to Apple Health directly. Their companion app (Garmin Connect, the Fitbit app, and so on) sends data to Apple Health one way, and you have to switch that on inside the companion app. Steps and workouts come through, though with a delay, and breathwork sessions generally don't sync at all. Opening the companion app nudges a fresh sync. For which data each device shares, see which fitness trackers and smartwatches work with Tonic.
Still stuck? Email [email protected].
Related: Why didn't my steps or workout earn time? (and why totals don't match my watch) · Which fitness trackers and smartwatches work with Tonic? · Can I earn time by going outside? (Apple Watch required)