basalEnergyBurned: HealthKit quantity type
HKQuantityTypeIdentifierBasalEnergyBurned · read from Apple’s documentation on 2026-10-02
HKQuantityTypeIdentifier.basalEnergyBurned (Objective-C HKQuantityTypeIdentifierBasalEnergyBurned) is a HealthKit quantity type in Apple's "Activity" group. Apple's abstract: “A quantity sample type that measures the resting energy burned by the user.” Apple's discussion says its samples use energy units and measure cumulative values, so in HKStatisticsQuery it takes .cumulativeSum. It is available from iOS 8.0 and watchOS 2.0. This site's verified cross-platform matrix lists it in its Calories row, beside ActiveCaloriesBurnedRecord, TotalCaloriesBurnedRecord on Android Health Connect, with the caveat “Modelled estimates, not measurements.”
What Apple says basalEnergyBurned is
A quantity sample type that measures the resting energy burned by the user.
Apple’s abstract, quoted from its basalEnergyBurned reference page, read 2026-10-02. Apple’s discussion of the type runs 66 words.
- Swift
HKQuantityTypeIdentifier.basalEnergyBurned- Objective-C
HKQuantityTypeIdentifierBasalEnergyBurned- Family
HKQuantityTypeIdentifier- Apple's topic group
- Activity
- Group page
- Activity
- Apple's reference
- basalEnergyBurned on developer.apple.com
Availability
The versions Apple’s documentation data gives for basalEnergyBurned, platform by platform, as read on 2026-10-02.
| Platform | Introduced | Deprecated |
|---|---|---|
| iOS | 8.0 | — |
| iPadOS | 8.0 | — |
| Mac Catalyst | 13.0 | — |
| macOS | 13.0 | — |
| visionOS | 1.0 | — |
| watchOS | 2.0 | — |
The rest of that release: HealthKit Types Introduced in iOS 8.
Sum or average, and in which units
Apple states both of these in the prose of the type’s discussion, not as properties, so they are derived from Apple’s sentence and the sentence is shown with each.
Aggregation style
cumulative — in an HKStatisticsQuery, use .cumulativeSum. Apple’s sentence:
These samples use energy units (described in ) and measure cumulative values (described in ).
Unit family
energy — every type in this family is on the HKUnit reference.
Apple states it in the same sentence as the aggregation style, quoted above.
Empty parentheses and a dangling “described in” mark links in Apple’s sentence to other documentation pages: the generator keeps the sentence’s text, not its links, and the quote is left as stored rather than repaired.
Can apps write basalEnergyBurned?
Apple’s documentation for basalEnergyBurned does not state that its samples are read-only. Apple states read-only status only in prose, and its silence is not a statement either way, so this page makes no claim that apps can save it.
On Android Health Connect
basalEnergyBurned sits in the verified cross-platform matrix’s Calories row, which names HKQuantityTypeIdentifier.activeEnergyBurned, .basalEnergyBurned on Apple and ActiveCaloriesBurnedRecord, TotalCaloriesBurnedRecord on Android. The row groups the metric; it does not pair each Apple type with one Android record.
Modelled estimates, not measurements. Note the asymmetry: Apple splits active/basal, Android offers active and total — don't add active to total.
The metric guide for this row: Calories on every platform.
Questions
- Should I sum or average basalEnergyBurned in HealthKit?
- Sum it. Apple's documentation for basalEnergyBurned describes it as measuring cumulative values, so an HKStatisticsQuery over it takes .cumulativeSum. Apple's sentence, as read on 2026-10-02: "These samples use energy units (described in ) and measure cumulative values (described in )."
- Which unit family does Apple give basalEnergyBurned?
- Energy. Apple's discussion of basalEnergyBurned says its samples use energy units: "These samples use energy units (described in ) and measure cumulative values (described in )."
- Does basalEnergyBurned have a Health Connect equivalent?
- This site's verified cross-platform matrix lists basalEnergyBurned in its Calories row, which groups HKQuantityTypeIdentifier.activeEnergyBurned, .basalEnergyBurned on Apple with ActiveCaloriesBurnedRecord, TotalCaloriesBurnedRecord on Android; the row groups the metric and does not pair each Apple type with one Android record. The caveat recorded with that row: Modelled estimates, not measurements. Note the asymmetry: Apple splits active/basal, Android offers active and total — don't add active to total.
- Which iOS version added basalEnergyBurned?
- iOS 8.0. Apple's availability data for basalEnergyBurned lists iOS 8.0, iPadOS 8.0, Mac Catalyst 13.0, macOS 13.0, visionOS 1.0 and watchOS 2.0.
Sources checked
- Apple — HKQuantityTypeIdentifier.basalEnergyBurned · read 2026-10-02
- Apple — HKQuantityTypeIdentifier · read 2026-10-02
Apple’s abstract and sentences are quoted for identification; the page layout, the capsule and the cross-platform pairing are AIFitnessAPI’s. Generated from Apple’s documentation by scripts/fetch-healthkit-identifiers.mjs, not typed by hand — the same data as the full identifier table.