Health connect doesn't set your step count goals, because what it does in the back end (because that's what it is, the back end API) is set a way to read and write that data.
The front end, Google Fit, also connects to health connect on the back end. And the Fit app is not given a shutdown here, just the API it also uses in the back end.
I suspect Google will stop developing Fit, as they kind of already have. However, all these varieties of other apps out there (Fitbit, Withings Health Mate, Samsung Health, MyFitnessPal, etc) can use health connect data, and do allow you to set goals. They use the same data, and now are more interoperable with Health Connect than they were with the Fit API.
I've got a polar h10 myself, I know their app still connects to Fit not health connect, but I'm sure they will update.
I actually made an app to make use of health connect with my polar h10 for entirely different purposes, it's really a pretty minor backend change for them to make, so I'm sure Beat will get an update.
Lots of people interact with trans folks on a daily basis and have no idea. I'd bet she encountered someone trans at some point in her life and had no idea.
Not really the question I was answering, but that's not actually a health connect problem.
Withings had an issue, and the way they were connecting to it, which caused a battery drain.
To be specific, withings health mate was constantly reading health connect data, which caused a massive power drain.
I'm not aware of any other battery issues with health connect other than Withings and their Health Mate app (specifically reading, not writing).
(Edit: why, why would autocorrect change writing to riding? For shame. To me, for not noticing sooner.)
Just to be clear - it's the API that's shutting down, not the app. Not that Google has put in effort for the app either, it hasn't updated since health connect afaik, but health connect is the health and fitness tooling going forward.
Fitbit has health connect support now, so even if they shift and drop Fit (I hope not, though I also hoped they wouldn't kill the web interface), and make Fitbit the main Google fitness app, it will still work with Fitbit as the app.
I've got an order pending while I decide which setup I want to play with first - but I have a feeling I'm just going to go with one portable and one to leave in the office, and go from there.
Regardless of it's potential use for protests, it's a fun project!
You can take a look at the meshtastic project - https//www.meshtastic.org - people have made some pretty wild solutions, it's pretty cheap to build too.
Sometimes you can blame the partnership agreement for that. Some manufacturers will have a MAP (minimum advertised price) and the distributor would be in violation of their contract if they showed it publicly.
Though that just shifts to being a manufacturer problem with the same result. Just saying it may not be the distributor being weird about pricing.