Apple has taken aggressive steps to push health, fitness and wellness services further. Its Fitness+ workout subscription service has expanded to more devices and no longer requires an Apple Watch. Rumor has it that iOS 17 will include a new journaling app, often seen as a key sanity exercise (though Apple may not be touting it as such). Now Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is announcing that Apple is planning a new AI-powered health coaching service, new technology to track emotions and moods, and finally, an iPad version of the Health app.
The coaching service, named Quartz, would use data from Apple Watch and the Health app to “make suggestions and create coaching programs tailored to specific users,” according to the report. The report says the service will have its own monthly fee and will have its own app, though it’s possible this could be interpreted to mean it’s part of the larger Fitness+ subscription. The service isn’t expected to launch until 2024 and could be postponed or delayed, so it won’t be unveiled at WWDC next month.
What will be showcased at WWDC, as part of iPadOS 17, is an iPad version of the Health app. iPads are already popular in healthcare settings, so this should increase the app’s popularity in the healthcare sector.
The Health app will allow users to record vision information for the first time (such as myopia), eventually allowing users to track changes to their vision correction prescription over time. Mood tracking will also make its debut. First, users will answer questions about their day and enter their mood manually. But the long-term goal would be to make this automatic by using algorithms that will listen to your speech and the words you type on your devices, along with other data, to get a picture of your mood. Knowing Apple, all of this will likely happen on the device in a way that doesn’t compromise your privacy.
