Apple Health

Apple Watch will include fitness and health tracking features

Update: Fitbit statement below the fold…

If you’re in the market for a Fitbit device and you’re shopping at the Apple Store, you’ll probably have to shop elsewhere to purchase the fitness tracker. Following report from Re/Code last month that Apple planned to drop the Fitbit line of wearable devices from its Apple Store lineup, Apple has today removed the Fitbit Flex and other Fitbit products from its online store following low inventory over the past week. While its unclear why Apple is no longer selling Fitbit products through its retail channels, on the surface the move is similar to Apple’s decision to discontinue selling Bose headphones and speakers at its retail and online stores.

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Image via GigaOm

Jawbone announced two new additions to its family of wearable products tonight. The first new device is the Jawbone Up3, which sports a seven-day battery and a capacitive touch sensor on top, as well as a new set of sensors for tracking health data. The new sensors allow the Up3 to detect data such as skin temperature, respiration, or hydration, although it currently has no way to track a user’s heart rate. That feature is said to be coming in a future update.

The Up3 will cost $180 when it launches, though Jawbone has given no indication of when exactly that will be.

The Jawbone Up Move will be the cheaper of the two…

Update: Microsoft has now announced the Microsoft Band, a $199 fitness band that does everything described below. It goes on sale Thursday.

Microsoft hasn’t officially announced its wearable device, but it seems the company has accidentally published its desktop syncing client to the Mac App Store early. Whoops. The device is called the Microsoft Band (possibly Lumia Band, according to some currently non-functional support URLs) and sports a 310 x 102 resolution display.

The Microsoft privacy policy for the app lists some of the Band’s features: “Microsoft Band sensors help you keep track of things like your heart rate, steps, calories burned, and sleep.” Links in the document claiming to lead to a page with additional data, such as a list of sensors, currently lead to a 404 page.

Other key feature include the ability to get phone notifications on the Band, create reminders using Cortana, and more:

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Nike has updated its Nike+ Running app for iPhone with optimized support for the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus screen sizes as well as integration with Apple’s Health app for iOS 8. The new version takes full advantage of the new iPhones so text and images no longer scale up. Integration with HealthKit means the Nike+ Running app can now add NikeFuel data and workout data to the Health app that comes installed on iOS 8. 
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Apple has decided to disable one of the features of the Health application, specifically the blood glucose tracking capability, until it can issue a fix for issues reported by users in the UK and Australia, CNET reported tonight. The feature will apparently be removed through an incoming software update (perhaps iOS 8.1, or possibly 8.0.3) while the company prepares a patch to remedy the problem. Apple has also provided a longer explanation on its support website:

While it’s true that the HealthKit framework supports measurement standards for both the United States and abroad, a bug that exists in the current version prevents users from manually entering or viewing blood glucose levels using anything other than United States measurements (mg/dL, or milligrams per deciliter) within the actual Health application. The UK and Australian standard is the millimole per litre (mmol/L).

Apple issued a statement on the problem, saying…

According to Re/code, Apple may soon drop the Fitbit health tracking devices from its retail stores. The report lacked a specific reason for Apple planning to no longer carry Fitbit bands but noted Fitbit’s lack of support for HealthKit on iOS 8 so far as well as Apple’s own fitness tracking device plans with the release of the Apple Watch in 2015.

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Fitbit, makers of popular fitness tracking wearables and apps, has confirmed it currently has no plans to support Apple’s new iOS 8 Health app. After a bit of a delayed launch last month, a long list of developers have rushed to integrate support for HealthKit, Apple’s new frameworks that allow developers to share and tap into data from one central location on the user’s device: the new Health app in iOS 8. Fitbit, however, has confirmed in a few responses on its customer forums that it isn’t working on integration much to the frustration of its users that have been awaiting an update:
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iHealth, maker of various iPhone connected healthcare accessories, today announced that its iOS apps are being updated with HealthKit integration. That means that the users of the company’s Wireless Blood Pressure Monitors, Blood Glucose Meters, Wireless Scale, and other health tracking accessories will be able to sync data with the new iOS 8 Health app.
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Over the weekend Apple shared a short list of HealthKit apps that work with the new Health app on iOS 8 after a few apps hit the App Store on Friday with HealthKit support included. Several more iPhone apps using HealthKit to share data with Apple’s Health app on iOS 8 have become available and more are anticipated from some big names shortly. We’ll continue to update the list below over the next few weeks with iPhone apps and accessories with HealthKit and Health support to give you a comprehensive list of apps that can put your Health app to better use.
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Now that Apple has announced its entry into the fitness-tracking wearable space with the Apple Watch, Jawbone, the makers of the UP and UP24 activity trackers, has introduced a version of its UP iPhone app that works without requiring the fitness band. Instead, the new version of Jawbone’s health and fitness iPhone app adds support for Apple’s HealthKit feature and Health app on iOS 8 making UP’s software for tracking activity and sleep as well as logging meals more valuable to iPhone users wanting to fill the new Health app with data.
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Now that Apple is 8.0.2 rolled out and we’re all relatively stable with a Healthkit-enabled OS, Apple is giving us a new section of the App Store for health-related apps. 

Experience an entirely new approach to wellness where your fitness app can talk to your calorie tracker, your doctor can be automatically notified of updates to your health data, and great apps work together for a healthier you. This handpicked collection highlights the best fitness, nutrition, and medical apps customized for iOS 8.

Red prices on pink background?  They must have moved that Maps launch and iOS 8.0.1 guy over to design. 
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In addition to FitPort and MyFitnessPal, a few more app updates with HealthKit support have become available on the App Store. These updates allow you to share health and fitness data with Apple’s new Health app on iOS 8 now that Apple has enabled HealthKit with the release of iOS 8.0.2 after issues in iOS 8.0 and iOS 8.0.1.

First up is WebMD for iPhone. Users of the WebMD iPhone app can now allow the health information service’s Healthy Target feature to communicate with data shared with Apple’s health app. The benefit to this is WebMD uses this information to create “actionable insights on your health data”. WebMD’s update was previously available on iOS 8 launch day until Apple pulled HealthKit-enabled apps due to a late-discovered bug.

Carrot Fit is another app affected by the launch day issue, but its back today with full HealthKit integration. The unconventional workout app uses data from Apple’s Health app to monitor workouts, weight, and dieting for monitoring your fitness. This is how Carrot describes Fit’s HealthKit integration:
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MyFitnessPal, an app focused on helping you track your diet habits and caloric intake, has released a new version today with support for HealthKit and Apple’s new Health app on iOS 8. The new version allows users to interface three types of data with Apple’s Health app and other HealthKit-enabled apps: meal summaries, weight syncing, and workout data from exercises. Specifically, MyFitnessPal can share meal data you add to the app with other HealthKit apps while weight and workout data can be shared back and forth with other apps.
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After a series of botched updates, which meant HealthKit apps could not launch alongside iOS 8’s release, Apple has finally started allowing apps that integrate with the Health app into the App Store. The first of many is FitPort, which acts as a replacement dashboard for Health information, with all data being synced back into the Health database.

On opening the app, the Health permissions screen opens which asks users to individually enable access to health statistics. This allows users to be very selective about what information they share with third-party apps. Users have to explicitly enable read and write capabilities for every health data type the app wants to integrate. Just like asking for location access, this sheet is presented by the OS, meaning all apps benefit from this level of privacy.

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New in iOS 8 you are able to create a Medical ID in the Health App. Even though the rest of the Health app is down, the Medical ID is fully functioning. The Medical ID is important because in case of an emergency, medical responders can look at your phone and know any allergies or medical conditions you have and know who to contact for you without unlocking your phone. To continue to make a Medical ID, press the word Create Medical ID in red.

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