This week saw the long-awaited launch of iOS10 and WatchOS3 for Apple users, and with those a number of new health and fitness-related features. We've captured a number of those as they were announced, but now that they're out here's a roundup of all the new tricks your Apple device can now do around your health.
HL7 comes to Health. Apple has added support for the Health Level 7 Continuity of Care Document to iOS 10. According to Dr. Ricky Bloomfield, who brought the news to MobiHealthNews's event this summer from WWDC, a doctor will be able to create a continuity of care document (CCD), let their patients have access to it, and patients, in turn, can share that document with other caregivers and clinicians.
SOS, an emergency services app for the Apple Watch. A new app called SOS, will turn the Watch into a sort of a combined personal emergency response device and medical bracelet, allowing the wearer to contact emergency services and then displaying their emergency medical information on the screen afterwards. It also alerts emergency contacts to the user's location and situation.
iOS users can become organ donors through their phones. With iOS 10, the Apple Health app includes a new feature, allowing iPhone users across the United States to become organ, eye, and/or tissue donors with just a few taps. It's part of the Medical ID feature which is attached to SOS. Users will have the opportunity to sign up when they set up their medical ID, and if they elect to become a donor, an icon will show that in the app as well.
A new meditation app for the Apple Watch called Breathe. Breathe is an app that walks users through short deep-breathing exercises. Users can set a timer and have their Watch remind them to breathe at particular times of day, which makes the ubiquity of the Watch an asset. The app can also guide users through breathing exercises using only haptic feedback if they don't want to look at their screen.
The Apple Watch will work better for wheelchair users. With the new WatchOS, one group that might previously have found the "Stand" ring awkward (at best), will now have a special version of the app geared toward them. Apple worked with nonprofits the Challenge Experts Foundation and the Lake Shore Foundation to develop algorithms that can track meaningful activity metrics for wheelchair users.
"Now wheelchair users will have a setting," Jay Blahnik said at an Apple event earlier this summer. "The 'Time to Stand' notifications will be changed to 'Time to Roll', there will be two workouts specifically dedicated to wheelchair users, and the activity rings will be optimized for wheelchair pushes."
Automatic sleep tracking is incorporated into new alarms. A new version of alarms in Apple's clock app prompts users to set alarms for bedtime as well as to wake up. Because it now tracks when users go to sleep and when they wake up, the clock app can export sleep analysis data to Apple Health so users can track trends.
New social sharing features for the Apple Watch. The company has added a social aspect to activity tracking, allowing users to share not just their activity rings, but more granular data as well, with other Watch users they know. They also introduced three new Watch faces that integrate the activity rings directly into them, allowing those who use the Apple Watch primarily for fitness to see their progress at a glance without having to open an app.
WatchOS3 improves some third-party health apps. One app, Cardiogram, is attempting to use Apple's built-in heart rate monitoring and present it to users in a way that's more meaningful and easier to read, as well as training an algorithm (in collaboration with UCSF) to detect atrial fibrillation from Apple Watch readings. WatchOS3's full-screen "complications" will make it easier for Cardiogram users to track their heart rate throughout the day. Runkeeper, which has been on the Apple Watch since launch, adds new features including automatically starting activities, at-a-glance workout stats, and a faster and more responsive app.