Report: Apple ran ‘highly secretive’ test of blood glucose app

A new report from Bloomberg today details that Apple quietly tested an app this year designed to “help people with prediabetes manage their food intake and make lifestyle changes.”

The test comes as Apple continues its work on a noninvasive glucose tracker, a long-running moonshot project that dates back to the Steve Jobs era.

Today’s report explains that Apple tested the app on select employees earlier this year, though it “doesn’t have plans to release the app.” Instead, Apple might “eventually integrate the technology into future health products,” such as its noninvasive glucose tracker.

The studies “were highly secretive” inside Apple, even compared to other projects, according to the report.

The employees involved in the test needed to validate that they were prediabetic with a blood test. That means they don’t currently have diabetes but may be at risk of developing the Type 2 version of the disease. As part of the test, they actively monitored their blood sugar via various devices available on the market and then logged glucose-level changes in response to food intake. 

The idea behind the system is to show consumers how certain foods can affect blood sugar — with the hope of inspiring changes that could ward off diabetes. For instance, if users logged that they ate pasta for lunch and that their blood sugar spiked, they could be told to stop eating the pasta or switch to protein.

As it stands right now, Bloomberg says Apple has paused the app test as it focuses on other health features. Running a test with employees, however, is similar to other health projects that the company has tackled, such as sleep apnea detection for the Apple Watch and hearing health features for AirPods.

Apple has been working on a noninvasive blood glucose monitoring technology for over a decade. Last year, it was reported that Apple had hit several “major milestones” as part of the work. Apple has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into the project, which is currently led as part of its hardware technologies group.

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