Apple Health

524 'Apple Health' stories July 2011 - September 2014

Apple's next big thing

When the Apple Watch was originally released in 2015, it was pitched as a great watch, an intimate way to communicate, and a comprehensive fitness device. While the original Apple Watch (later renamed Series 0) lacked GPS and was generally a slow device, it has shown dramatic improvements year over year particularly for Apple’s health initiatives.

When Apple released the Series 1 and Series 2 Apple Watches, it added heart rate monitoring for Apple Health. When you enable heart rate monitoring, you can also turn on heart rate notifications, so you know if your heart rate remains above or below a chosen beats per minute (BPM), or to occasionally check for an irregular heart rhythm. Irregular rhythm notifications are available only with watchOS 5.1.2 or later in certain countries.

With Apple Watch Series 4, Apple added a electrocardiogram monitoring (also known as ECG and EKG). The ECG app on Apple Watch (Series 4 or newer) can record your heartbeat and rhythm using the electrical heart sensor and then check the reading for atrial fibrillation (AFib). It then records that information into the Apple Health app.

Since the release of Apple Watch, there have been countless stories of people’s lives being saved by the health advancements in Apple Watch and Apple’s Health initiatives.

If you have an Apple Watch Series 4 or newer, here’s a how to guide on how to take an ECG.

Apple also includes a Health app on the iPhone where it easy to learn about your health and start reaching your goals. It consolidates data from iPhone, Apple Watch, and third-party apps in one place.

NYT: iWatch to feature flexible display panel, wireless charging, iPhone 6 to have ‘one handed mode’

Benjamin Mayo Sep 4 2014 - 12:12 pm PT

82 Comments

The New York Times is weighing in on Apple’s imminent iPhone event, corroborating past information as well as adding some new tidbits about Apple’s newest iPhones (the ‘iPhone 6’) and its brand new wearable (dubbed ‘iWatch’).

Most interestingly, it says that the iWatch will feature a flexible display. Assumedly, this will allow the product to morph to fit comfortably on user’s arms. KGI’s Ming-Chi Kuo predicted Apple’s use of a flexible panel in July. The screen is protected by sapphire glass. As 9to5Mac has reported countless times, the device will feature health and fitness tracking capabilities, for things like footsteps and heart rate. The report claims Apple has “put an enormous amount of time and money” to make the sensors track “much more accurately than existing fitness devices”.

In terms of software, the device will rely on HealthKit for health tracking and Handoff, one of Apple’s iOS 8 continuity features, to seamlessly share content between devices. Handoff could be used for sharing SMS texts between the phone and the watch, for instance. 9to5Mac discussed how Handoff might interact with Apple’s wearable a couple of months ago.

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KGI on iWatch: 8 GB storage, 512 MB RAM, 1.3 and 1.5 inch screen, gold option

Benjamin Mayo Sep 4 2014 - 5:49 am PT

10 Comments

A new report from KGI’s Ming-Chi Kuo sheds some interesting light on the iWatch specifications. Kuo believes the iWatch will feature 8 GB of internal storage, with 512 MB of RAM. Naturally, these stats are lower than current iOS devices (which have upwards of 16 GB of storage and 1 GB of RAM), but still seems high for a wearable smartwatch. This may suggest the device can act more independently from an iPhone than most assume. 8 GB of storage space is quite a lot and could be used for things like caching maps, or perhaps enable offline voice recognition.

KGI also believes the iWatch will come in two sizes, with a 1.3 inch and a 1.5 inch screen. This reflects longstanding rumours that Apple is targeting two sizes, to make it appeal to both gender’s fashion preferences. Kuo seems less sure on what materials will make up the product, but ‘guesses’ aluminium based on Apple’s tendencies to use the metal across its products. There is also mention of a gold color option, which would match with the iPhone 5s and iPhone 6’s gold varieties.

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Apple updates iOS 8 terms, disallows developers from selling data acquired through HealthKit

Mike Beasley Aug 28 2014 - 6:30 pm PT

5 Comments

Apple has updated its iOS 8 terms of use, according to The Guardian, to note that developers are not allowed to resell any information gained through the upcoming HealthKit framework. The HealthKit software was announced as part of a larger event earlier this year, but it was only with the most recent beta that Apple made note of this restriction.

The move is not unexpected, as it would be very much against Apple’s modus operandi to allow developers access to such crucial data without some restrictions on its use in place as a protection for users. Similar restrictions exist for the Touch ID API, which doesn’t allow developers to access user fingerprint data at all, let alone store it.

There is one exception to this rule, however…

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Bloomberg corroborates Apple wearable to be announced at Sept. 9 event

Mike Beasley Aug 28 2014 - 2:12 pm PT

25 Comments

As we reported earlier today, Apple has sent out invitations to the press for a September 9th media event. During that event the company will likely unveil the next-gen iPhone, but a report from Re/code also indicated that it may debut a wearable device at the same time. A new report from Bloomberg lends further credence to this claim:

Now the Cupertino, California-based company will attempt to repeat that feat [the success of the iPod, iPhone, and iPad] in wearables, an emerging group of devices that track people’s activity and health. Apple will introduce a wearable gadget along with new iPhones on Sept. 9, a person with knowledge of the plans said. Notices for the event, which will also take place in Cupertino, were sent out today.

As we’e exclusively reported in the past, Apple has been assembling a team of fashion and fitness experts to create a wearable device with a focus on health and fitness applications.

Apple will reportedly unveil its wearable product alongside new iPhones next month

Zac Hall Aug 27 2014 - 10:27 am PT

96 Comments

via <a href="http://www.twitter.com/EA_Roa" target="_blank">@EA_Roa</a>

Last month Re/code’s John Paczkowski reported that Apple plans to introduce its new iPhone models at an event scheduled for next month, and today Re/code’s Paczkowski reports that Apple will also reveal its wearable product (i.e. iWatch/iBand) alongside the new iPhones:

Apple now plans to unveil a new wearable alongside the two next-generation iPhones we told you the company will debut on September 9th. […] The new device will, predictably, make good use of Apple’s HealthKit health and fitness platform. It will also — predictably — make good use of HomeKit, the company’s new framework for controlling connected devices — though it’s not clear how broadly or in what way.

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Ralph Lauren introduces iPhone-connected ‘Polo Tech’ fitness tracking shirt

Jordan Kahn Aug 26 2014 - 1:36 pm PT

2 Comments

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zipGvqaSJiE]

Ralph Lauren has announced it’s about to introduce a new iPhone-connected, sensor-filled Polo shirt capable of tracking and sending biometric data directly to your smartphone.

The Ralph Lauren Polo Tech shirt features sensors knitted into the core of the product to read biological and physiological information. With Ralph Lauren’s leadership in the design community, the compression shirt also has a sleek look in black with a signature yellow Polo Player logo. The second-skin fit enhances comfort and agility.

The company described a bit about how the technology it’s using from Canadian company OMsignal works:

With OMsignal, the data collected by the shirt is stored by a “black box,” which includes an accelerometer and gyroscope, which capture movement and direction. That ”black box” transmits the data into the cloud, where it is plugged into a number of algorithms that gauge important performance-oriented biometrics, including heartbeat and respiration, as well as some psychometrics, such as stress level and energy output.

While you can’t buy one yet, the product will be making its debut on ball boys and players during the US Open where Ralph Lauren is an official outfitter for the event. There’s no word on when exactly you’ll be able to get one for yourself, but Ralph Lauren is taking sign-ups for those interested in learning more when it officially launches next year.

Tim Cook pays a visit to VA hospital in Palo Alto where doctors use iPads to treat veterans

Mike Beasley Aug 21 2014 - 4:20 pm PT

11 Comments

Tim Cook took some time to visit a VA hospital in Palo Alto today, accompanied by Rep. Anna Eshoo of the CA-18 congressional district, according to a photo the executive tweeted. The Palo Alto VA hospital is one of many medical facilities around the country using Apple’s iPads to help treat members of the U.S. armed forces.

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Apple unsurprisingly working with more healthcare providers ahead of iOS 8’s Health launch

Mike Beasley Aug 11 2014 - 11:28 pm PT

8 Comments

Reuters noted today that Apple is working with healthcare professionals at hospitals across the country, including Mount Sinai and John Hopkins, in preparation for the rollout of the HealthKit system in iOS 8. The goal is to ensure that medical personnel are ready to read data from the system when it ships later this year.

This move is hardly surprising, as Apple intends HealthKit to serve as a collection place for all of a user’s health-related data, which can be valuable—even lifesaving—during a medical emergency. In fact, the Mayo Clinic demoed the first HealthKit-enabled application earlier this year during WWDC:

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Apple files for HealthKit trademarks w/ classifications for watches, fitness sensors, & medical devices

Jordan Kahn Aug 5 2014 - 9:33 am PT

4 Comments

Apple has just filed for HealthKit trademarks in both the US and Europe ahead of iOS 8’s launch this fall and in at least one filing includes watches in a list of goods that could take advantage of the health-tracking software.

While the filing in the US (filed July 31) only includes classifications for computer software and covers the HealthKit text, a filing in Europe (published yesterday) extends classifications to include health, fitness, and exercise sensors, medical devices, and watches:
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Crowd-funding project aims to use iPhone kit to “eradicate malaria from an entire Indonesian island”

Ben Lovejoy Jul 29 2014 - 4:49 am PT

1 Comment

A crowd-funded project aims to use an iPhone-based malaria diagnosis kit to detect and treat the disease on the Indonesian island of Bangka. The team believes that early detection and treatment can enable the complete eradication of the disease from the island, and pave the way for larger-scale roll-outs in Africa.

We want to prove that we can have a significant effect on malaria case management throughout one of these regions. The first study of this kind will take place on Bangka Island in Indonesia. With this study, we have set ourselves the goal of eradicating malaria from the entirety of Bangka Island during malaria high season.

The IanXen RAPID kit comprises an iPhone with portable microscope attachment, blood slides and lancet pen. A blood drop is placed on the slide, examined through the microscope by an app with the result available within five seconds.

By enabling diagnosis to be carried out with fully portable kit and at a much lower cost than conventional equipment, IanXen hopes that it will be deployed much more widely.

3.3 billion people live at risk of malaria across 106 malaria-endemic countries. Although the risk is widespread, cases and deaths are concentrated in Africa. In 2010, over 80% of 216 million estimated cases and over 90% of 655,000 estimated deaths occurred in Africa.

Prompt diagnosis and effective treatment are the cornerstones of malaria case management; patients recover rapidly if diagnosed and treated early.

A donation of £5 ($8.50) helps fund the project and gets you a mention in the project’s twitter feed, with higher donation levels available.

Changing the lives of people with Alzheimer’s, one iPod and one playlist at a time

Ben Lovejoy Jul 22 2014 - 4:03 am PT

5 Comments

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVkrI1R0XjA]

Alive Inside, a documentary film being shown in selected theaters across the U.S., tells the story of a social worker using iPods and personalized playlists to bring new life to nursing home residents with Alzheimer’s.

Dan Cohen puts together playlists of music from when the patients were young, transfers them to an iPod and then plays them to patients who had been unresponsive to conversation, generating dramatic transformations, reports Re/code.

Audiences first encounter Henry hunched over in his wheelchair, head down, hands clasped firmly together, unresponsive to the world around him.

As soon as a pair of headphones are placed on his head, the 94-year-old dementia patient opens his eyes, sits up straight and begins swaying and humming along with the music. Henry speaks animatedly about his favorite band leader, Cab Calloway, and even begins to emulate the jazz artist’s style of scat singing — at one point launching into a rendition of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.”

Cohen discovered that music tapped into parts of the brain that could not be reached in other ways, and could revitalize people even in late-stage dementia, “demonstrating music’s ability to combat memory loss and restore a deep sense of self to those suffering from it.”

Described as “a joyous cinematic exploration of music’s capacity to reawaken our souls and uncover the deepest parts of our humanity,” Alive Inside won the Audience Award at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Apple is reportedly helping to promote the film, and a list of theaters where the film can be seen is available here.

Apple seeds iOS 8 beta 4 to developers with redesigned Control Center, Health improvements, more

Mark Gurman Jul 21 2014 - 9:54 am PT

53 Comments

Apple today released iOS 8 beta 4 to developers. It is now available via Software Update in Settings for those running earlier betas of iOS 8 on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The new update likely brings further design enhancements and bug fixes. iOS 8 comes out this fall and adds new features like health tracking, improved messaging, more efficient email management, and bolstered photo editing. We’ll be updating this post (below) as we discover new changes, and you can send us what you find to tips@9to5mac.com.

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Misfit teams up with Beddit to sell branded sleep tracking hardware, integrates with iOS app

Mark Gurman Jul 10 2014 - 9:59 am PT

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Misfit, the creator of the popular shine fitness tracking wearable, and Beddit, the creator of sleep analysis hardware, today announced a partnership that brings sleep tracking to Misfit’s iOS app. The Beddit is a thin strip-like sensor that you place under your bed sheets. It can track heart rate, respiration, movement, snoring, sound, and sleep cycles, and it will now connect to Misfit’s app. Apple’s iOS 8 Health app will feature sleep analysis, and Misfit says it has no current information regarding an integration for sleep analysis with the Health app. Apple’s upcoming iWatch is expected to include some sort of sleep analysis functionality as the company has brought on the world’s top expert in sleep analysis, Roy E. Raymann. Misfit today has also begun selling a branded version of the Beddit via its online store for $149.

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Apple recruits top software engineer from wearables firm, pointing to iWatch activity tracking features

Mike Beasley Jun 26 2014 - 3:43 pm PT

6 Comments

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ndQmCX8IXM&start=1]

Alex Hsieh discusses progress on the Atlas software (February 2014)

Atlas Wearables chief software engineer Alex Hsieh has been recruited by Apple to work on the iWatch project, according to a change on the developer’s LinkedIn page, as originally noted by Network World. Atlas Wearables is perhaps a bit more obscure than some other wearable tech companies, but the firm focuses on devices that can track users’ physical activity. It seems clear that the Cupertino company has hired Hsieh to work on the firmware for its upcoming iWatch, which is widely expected to be revealed to the public later this year. Perhaps most notably, Hsieh’s work at Atlas included an API that allowed third-party developers to integrate the company’s hardware with their applications, similar to Apple’s new HealthKit framework. Perhaps most interesting here is that Apple hired Hsieh before the Atlas has even hit the market. The device is available for pre-order on the Atlas Wearables website, but as seen in the video above, much of the device’s core features were still lin development as late as February. Apple has hired a host of medical, tech, and fashion experts, and even professional athletes, to help craft its iWatch, as 9to5Mac has previously reported. The device itself will reportedly be available later this year in multiple models with as many as 10 sensors for gathering health-related data.

WSJ: Apple planning multiple iWatch models with as many as 10 health-related sensors

Mike Beasley Jun 20 2014 - 12:31 am PT

19 Comments

iWatch concept: Espen Oxholm

The Wall Street Journal has published a new report claiming that Apple’s upcoming entry to the smartwatch market will sport ten or more sensors for collecting health data. The report also claims that the company is working on multiple versions for the wearable device, which is expected to be released later this year.

The iWatch is expected to be a health-focused device and will likely work with Apple’s new Health application, which it debuted earlier this month at its Worldwide Developer Conference. The application and its associated framework, called HealthKit, already have built-in support for certain types of devices without the need for a third-party application.

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Nike+ FuelBand app gets push notifications for challenges, upcoming events, more

Jordan Kahn Jun 19 2014 - 4:21 pm PT

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Nike updated its Nike+ FuelBand companion app today with one notable new feature: the ability to receive push notifications for a number of different features within the app. Those include things like challenges, upcoming Nike events, exclusive video content, and more.

The new push notifications, along with bug fixes and some other minor improvements are available now in version 2.3 of the app. Nike might be planning to get out of the hardware side of its FuelBand business in the near future, but for now the FuelBand is still available for sale and the update a welcomed one by users.

What’s New in Version 2.3

• You can now stay connected to Nike via push notifications – receive the latest info on challenges and upcoming Nike events as well as exclusive video content.
• Bug fixes and other improvements.

Ahead of Apple’s HealthKit, WebMD app now tracks health & fitness data from connected accessories

Jordan Kahn Jun 16 2014 - 6:22 am PT

4 Comments

WebMD today launched “Healthy Target”, a feature within its iOS app that lets users track health data from a variety of sources like activity trackers, glucose meters, and other iPhone-connected health and fitness accessories. The feature lets users set goals, track habits, get easy to understand summaries of biometric data, and also provides progress reports and inspiration along the way. WebMD says the feature “will provide valuable assistance to individuals looking to manage chronic conditions like Type 2 diabetes and obesity, as well as to a broader audience interested in achieving their fitness goals or more generally living a healthier lifestyle.” The feature acts a lot like Apple’s new Health app, which is about to launch alongside its new HealthKit platform for developers this fall with iOS 8.
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FDA details high-level meeting with Apple: “Moral obligation to do more” with health, innovative sensors

Jordan Kahn Jun 9 2014 - 11:57 am PT

19 Comments

Following Apple employees’ meeting with the FDA to discuss “mobile medical applications” earlier this year, AppleToolbox has published a response from the FDA to a Freedom of Information Act Request asking for more information about what was discussed.

A response to the request took three months to complete, and arrived just after Apple introduced its new HealthKit platform and Health app for iOS 8 last week. While much the FDA’s answer sounds like Apple was discussing HealthKit, the response also gives some interesting clues that Apple is working on health products that go beyond the sensors currently in the iPhone and iPad:

With the potential for more sensors on mobile devices, Apple believes there is the opportunity to do more with devices, and that there may be a moral obligation to do more… Sensors already exist on medical devices. For instance, Apple’s devices have cameras and accelerometers. There is still an opportunity to innovate, but Apple wants to make sure they are on the side of the FDA.

So we can assume Apple was likely meeting with the FDA for HealthKit, which takes advantage of the iPhone’s sensors and data collected by third-party apps through already available accessories, but it was also discussing implications of possibly tapping into additional sensors and doing more in the way of measuring health data. It won’t be any surprise to those that have followed our reports on iWatch as far back as last year, and we’ve continued following as Apple builds a team of medical, fitness, and sensor experts to work on the project.
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HealthKit supports some Bluetooth products natively, lets accessory makers skip app development

Jordan Kahn Jun 5 2014 - 8:10 pm PT

7 Comments

Withings Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor

Apple’s new HealthKit platform and Health app for iOS 8 acts as a central location for users to store and share health data from third-party apps, but Apple is also supporting some Bluetooth accessories natively in the Health app. That means that some accessory manufacturers will be able to skip the process of developing a companion app for their product and instead allow HealthKit to automatically connect to and control the device itself.
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Runtastic talks potential for HealthKit, plans integration for its health & fitness apps

Jordan Kahn Jun 5 2014 - 10:23 am PT

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Runtastic, the popular iOS app that has long been among the top 10 fitness & health apps on the App Store, is looking forward to Apple’s new HealthKit platform and planning to support it in a future update. Like the other companies we spoke with earlier this week including Strava, RunKeeper, iHealth, and Withings, Runtastic is embracing HealthKit and thinks it will ultimately make its iOS app better for users. We spoke with the company’s CEO and Head of iOS development to get their thoughts on HealthKit…
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RunKeeper, Withings, Strava, & iHealth plan HealthKit integration, excited for medical industry tie-in

Jordan Kahn Jun 4 2014 - 11:44 am PT

13 Comments

Whenever Apple introduces a new feature baked into iOS that was previously a domain ruled by third-party apps like its new HealthKit platform and Health app in iOS 8, questions inevitably come up about how it will impact other developers and competing platforms. That’s why we were interested in finding out how some of the top fitness and health app developers and accessory makers are reacting to Apple’s HealthKit announcement.

We reached out to some of the big names in the health and fitness app world, as well as companies like Withings and iHealth that sell iOS-connected health and medical accessories such as blood pressure monitors through Apple stores. Not only did all of the companies we spoke with— RunKeeper, Withings, Strava, and iHealth— confirm they are already planning integration with their ecosystems, they also talked about how having one central location for users to manage health and fitness data will indeed be a good thing for the business.

RunKeeper CEO Jason Jacobs told me he’s excited that Apple is bringing “some of the other key players in the ecosystem (doctors, EMRs, etc) into the discussion” and confirmed both his RunKeeper and Breeze app will soon support Healthkit. Others are also excited for integration with the medical industry that currently uses a highly fragmented record keeping system for health data.

Here’s what they had to say:
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A closer look at iOS 8’s Health app (Video)

Dom Esposito Jun 2 2014 - 8:55 pm PT

17 Comments

Apple has officially announced its Heath app and HealthKit SDK confirming our detailed reports from earlier this year. The new HealthKit platform will allow developers of various health and fitness apps to have all related data populate within the Health app in iOS 8.

Apple’s Health app will serve as a central hub for all incoming data from companies like Nike, fitness apps, devices, and even possibly information from your doctor. Apple is working with the Mayo Clinic and other healthcare related companies to expand the Health app’s functionality and provide you with the most important information about yourself…

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Gallery: First look at iOS 8 with Health app, Notification Center widgets, and more

Mike Beasley Jun 2 2014 - 1:41 pm PT

22 Comments

Earlier today Apple announced the next version of its iOS software, iOS 8, during the WWDC keynote today. Below you’ll find a gallery of all the new bells and whistles in the latest operating system. If you’ve got some screenshots you’d like to send us, you can send them to tips@9to5mac.com.

The new software includes features like iOS-to-Mac continuity, quick-reply for first- and third-party apps, a new predictive text keyboard, changes to the Mail app, HealthKit framework and Health app, Family Sharing features, new Photos cloud storage, an updated iCloud pricing scheme, new commands for Siri, App Store changes including beta distribution, a Touch ID API, third-party keyboards, new iCloud management and development features, a home automation framework, and even support for a brand new programming language.

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Apple officially introduces iOS 8 “Healthkit” platform & “Health” app

Jordan Kahn Jun 2 2014 - 11:13 am PT

7 Comments

Following our reports earlier this year that exclusively revealed details and screenshots of Apple’s Healthbook app, Apple today just officially announced the app confirming the details of our reports. Apple’s new platform, codenamed Healthbook, will be officially known as ‘HealthKit’ on the developer side of things, and will come with an accompanying app for iOS 8 called ‘Health’.
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