DataType.ELEVATION_LOSS: Wear OS Health Services data type
Read from Google’s documentation on 2026-10-04 · Google’s DataType reference last updated 2026-08-06
DataType.ELEVATION_LOSS is a DeltaDataType constant of Wear OS Health Services (androidx.health.services.client.data.DataType), declared as DeltaDataType<Double, IntervalDataPoint<Double>>: each value is a Double delivered in an IntervalDataPoint. Google describes it as: “A measure of the loss in elevation since the last update expressed in meters. Elevation gains are not counted in this metric (so it will only be positive or 0).” Google's Health Services permissions table lists it under ACTIVITY_RECOGNITION. The same reference defines ELEVATION_LOSS_TOTAL, an AggregateDataType (AggregateDataType<Double, CumulativeDataPoint<Double>>).
What Google says DataType.ELEVATION_LOSS is
A measure of the loss in elevation since the last update expressed in meters. Elevation gains are not counted in this metric (so it will only be positive or 0).
Quoted from Google’s DataType reference, last updated 2026-08-06, read 2026-10-04.
Declared type
Read from the constant’s declaration in Google’s reference: the data-type class, then the value type and the data-point class it delivers.
- Constant
androidx.health.services.client.data.DataType.ELEVATION_LOSS- Declared type
DeltaDataType<Double, IntervalDataPoint<Double>>- Data-type class
DeltaDataTypeGoogle: “DataType that represents a granular, non-aggregated point in time.”- Value type
Double- Data-point class
IntervalDataPoint- Added in
- not printed for this constant; Google’s reference prints “Added in 1.0.0” for the DataType class in
androidx.health:health-services-client - Deprecated
- not marked deprecated in Google's reference
Permission
Google’s Health Services permissions table lists DataType.ELEVATION_LOSS under ACTIVITY_RECOGNITION. The row as printed, read 2026-10-04:
CALORIES CALORIES_DAILY DISTANCE_DAILY DECLINE_DISTANCE DISTANCE ELEVATION_GAIN ELEVATION_LOSS FLAT_GROUND_DISTANCE FLOORS FLOORS_DAILY GOLF_SHOT_COUNT INCLINE_DISTANCE PACE REP_COUNT RUNNING_STEPS SPEED STEPS STEPS_DAILY STEPS_PER_MINUTE SWIMMING_LAP_COUNT SWIMMING_STROKES CALORIES_TOTAL WALKING_STEPS UserActivityInfo UserActivityState | ACTIVITY_RECOGNITION
Above the table, the same page lists the permissions Health Services uses, verbatim:
- READ_HEART_RATE for reading heart rate information.
- ACTIVITY_RECOGNITION
- ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION
- BODY_SENSORS on Wear OS 5.1 (API level 35) and lower
- BODY_SENSORS_BACKGROUND between Wear OS 4 (API level 33) and Wear OS 5.1 (API level 35), inclusive
Its aggregate counterpart
By Google’s naming on the same reference (a delta constant NAME beside an aggregate NAME_TOTAL or NAME_STATS): ELEVATION_LOSS_TOTAL, declared AggregateDataType<Double, CumulativeDataPoint<Double>>. Google describes it as:
A measure of the total loss in elevation since the start of an active exercise expressed in meters. Elevation gains are not counted in this metric (so it will only be positive or 0).
Health Connect and HealthKit
No one-to-one pairing. This site’s cross-platform matrix pairs HealthKit types with Health Connect records only, so this page names no counterpart. What it does have is a metric guide: Floors Climbed and Elevation API: Floors, Elevation Gain and Altitude lists DataType.ELEVATION_LOSS beside the types on the other platforms this site covers whose own descriptions name the same metric, each quoted, so you can see where they differ rather than assume they match.
Questions
- What permission does DataType.ELEVATION_LOSS need on Wear OS?
- ACTIVITY_RECOGNITION. Google's Health Services permissions table (read 2026-10-04) lists ELEVATION_LOSS in the row "CALORIES CALORIES_DAILY DISTANCE_DAILY DECLINE_DISTANCE DISTANCE ELEVATION_GAIN ELEVATION_LOSS FLAT_GROUND_DISTANCE FLOORS FLOORS_DAILY GOLF_SHOT_COUNT INCLINE_DISTANCE PACE REP_COUNT RUNNING_STEPS SPEED STEPS STEPS_DAILY STEPS_PER_MINUTE SWIMMING_LAP_COUNT SWIMMING_STROKES CALORIES_TOTAL WALKING_STEPS UserActivityInfo UserActivityState | ACTIVITY_RECOGNITION".
- Is DataType.ELEVATION_LOSS a delta or an aggregate data type?
- A delta type: Google's reference declares it as DeltaDataType<Double, IntervalDataPoint<Double>>. Google describes DeltaDataType as "DataType that represents a granular, non-aggregated point in time."
- What value type does DataType.ELEVATION_LOSS deliver?
- Double, in an IntervalDataPoint, per the declaration DeltaDataType<Double, IntervalDataPoint<Double>>. Google's description: "A measure of the loss in elevation since the last update expressed in meters. Elevation gains are not counted in this metric (so it will only be positive or 0)."
- Which aggregate constant goes with DataType.ELEVATION_LOSS?
- By Google's naming on the same reference, ELEVATION_LOSS_TOTAL (AggregateDataType<Double, CumulativeDataPoint<Double>>). Google describes it as: "A measure of the total loss in elevation since the start of an active exercise expressed in meters. Elevation gains are not counted in this metric (so it will only be positive or 0)."
Sources checked
- Google — DataType.ELEVATION_LOSS (Health Services reference) — last updated 2026-08-06 · read 2026-10-04
- Google — Health Services permissions — last updated 2026-01-19 · read 2026-10-04
Google’s descriptions are quoted for identification; the page layout and the capsule are AIFitnessAPI’s. Generated by scripts/fetch-health-services-data-types.mjs, not typed by hand — the same data as the full data-type table.