Apple Delivers Powerful Insights into the New Frontier of Health
Apple today announced the launch of new health features on iOS 17, iPadOS 17 and watchOS 10, expanding two important areas across platforms and providing innovative tools and experiences.
New mental health features allow users to record short-term emotions and daily moods, view valuable insights, and easily access assessments and resources. iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch offer new vision health features that encourage healthy behaviors that reduce the risk of myopia; the Health app also comes to iPad, giving users a whole new way to view their health data. All new features, including existing health features, are grounded in science and built with privacy in mind.
“Our goal is to empower people to take ownership of their own health journey,” said Sumbul Desai, MD, Apple’s vice president of health. “With these new or a more comprehensive health and well-being tool. Mental health and vision health are both important but often overlooked. We are excited to introduce new features that provide valuable insights into your own health. These insights can help Users make decisions in their daily lives and have deeper conversations with physicians.”
mental health
Mental health is just as important as physical health, affecting the way people think, feel and act every day.
Research shows that reflecting on one’s own state of mind increases emotional awareness and resilience. Renowned in the field, Dr. Michelle Craske, Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at UCLA, says, “Research shows that recognizing our feelings can help us cope with negative emotions, cherish positive moments, and promote physical and mental health.” Studies conducted by researchers have shown that recognizing feelings reduces emotions such as sadness and anger, and has a positive effect on the body by lowering heart rate. In addition, according to a UCLA Digital Mental Health Study convened a survey of subjects, preliminary results showed that more than 80% of the subjects believed that reflecting on their emotions on the app provided by the study can improve emotional awareness, while about Half of the subjects said it improved their physical and mental health.
The Health app in iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 and the Mindfulness app in watchOS 10 offer users intuitive and engaging ways to reflect on their state of mind. Users can swipe eye-catching multi-dimensional graphics to choose how they feel, ranging from “very happy” to “very unhappy.” Then choose the thing that most affects their feelings at the moment, such as “travel” or “family”, and then describe how they feel, such as “grateful” or “worried”.
Users can slide the eye-catching multi-dimensional graphics to choose their own feelings and reflect on their psychological state.
Users can view valuable insights in the Health app, identify possible causes of their state of mind, whether it’s interpersonal interactions, or lifestyle factors like sleep or exercise, and use these insights to better manage their overall health.
Users can sometimes benefit from further support.According to a recent study, more than 30% of U.S. adults say they experience symptoms of anxiety or worry1. Assessments for depression and anxiety that are routinely performed in clinics are now readily available through the Health app and can be performed anytime. These assessments help users understand their level of risk, connect with locally available resources, and create a PDF to share with physicians.
These new features allow iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch users around the world to take better care of their mental health, and in the process increase awareness and acceptance of this important issue.
On the Health app, users can view invaluable keynote summaries of how they reflect on their state of mind over time.
vision health
Myopia is the leading cause of visual impairment in the global population.Myopia is estimated to currently affect more than 30% of the world‘s population2which may increase to 50%, or 5 billion people, by 20503。
Eye caregivers recommend several key behaviors that children can engage in to reduce myopia risk. Two of these are increasing the time spent outdoors in sunlight and increasing the viewing distance for using electronic devices or reading books.
The International Myopia Association recommends that children spend at least 80 to 120 minutes outdoors each day. Apple Watch with watchOS 10 uses an ambient light sensor to measure the amount of sunlight each day. Users can view the sunshine time detected by Apple Watch on the “Health” app of iOS 17 and iPadOS 17. Children without an iPhone can use “Family Settings” to pair their Apple Watch with their parents’ iPhone, allowing parents to view their children’s sunshine time through the “Health Sharing” function. Sun exposure has other physical and mental health benefits, so this feature is available to all watchOS 10 users.
Being too close while using an electronic device or reading a book is also a myopia risk factor confirmed by many studies. The new “Screen Distance” feature leverages the original depth-sensing cameras on the iPhone and iPad that drive Face ID to remind users to hold the device further away after holding it within 30cm of their face for a certain amount of time. “Screen distance” can remind young users to develop healthy eye habits, reduce the risk of myopia, and allow adult users to reduce digital eye fatigue.
iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 introduce a new “Screen Distance” function, which reminds users to take the device further away when the handheld device is less than 30 cm from the face for a certain period of time.
“Health” app lands on iPad
The Health app is the primary location for users’ health and fitness information, securely and privately, and provides meaningful insights for a healthier life. iPadOS 17 brings the Health app to iPad, designed to give users a wealth of detail at a glance, so they can view information from iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch, as well as supported third-party apps and devices, all in one place.
Users can now track and manage medications, use Period Tracker, record transient or daily moods, view their health records available at institutions and more, more directly on iPad. They can also choose to use Health Sharing to share data stored on the Health app with friends, family or caregivers. The Health app design on iPad has been optimized to fit larger on the screen, including a new look for Favorites and detailed interactive charts. Users can gain health data insights from Trends and Highlights, and take advantage of iPadOS features like Split View to multitask with other apps while viewing their health data.
Health and fitness developers can now use HealthKit on iPad, opening up new opportunities to create innovative health and fitness experiences under strict privacy and data security protocols, including the data users choose to share from the Health app.
iPadOS 17 brings the “Health” app to the iPad. Its design allows users to view rich details, view health and fitness information on iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch, and is compatible with third-party apps and devices. All tasks can be done in the Achieved on the same app.
privacy
Privacy is a fundamental requirement in the design and development of all health features at Apple. Apple’s health and fitness features center on user privacy and provide privacy protections such as transparency and control.
When the user’s iPhone and iPad are locked with a passcode, Touch ID or Face ID, all health and fitness data on the “Health” app, except for the “Medical Card”, will be encrypted on the device side. In addition, any health data synced to iCloud, whether in transit or stored on Apple servers, will be protected by encryption.If the user has the latest version4watchOS, iOS and iPadOS, with default two-factor authentication and passcode, their health and activity data will be stored in a way that Apple cannot read.
Health app data will never be shared with any third parties without the user’s express permission, and if users decide to share their health data, the Health app gives users fine-grained control over what data is shared and with whom. Users can view and manage permissions at any time.
more updates
- If the user has not recorded a scheduled medication, iOS 17, iPadOS 17 and watchOS 10“medication”feature allows them to choose whether or not to receive follow-up reminders. Even if the device is turned on silent or “focus mode”, users can set reminders as emergency alerts and receive notifications.
- New in iOS 17“log” The app allows users to reflect and practice gratitude by writing and recalling various moments in their lives. It takes the new “Journal Suggestions” API to the extreme, using on-device machine learning technology to provide personalized moments for users to write records.Suggested moments are intelligently selected from the user’s recent activities, including photos, people, locations, physical training, etc., making it easy to write diaries5。
launch date
The developer beta of iOS 17 will be available to Apple Developer Program members at developer.apple.com starting today. The public beta will be available on beta.apple.com starting next month. The new software will be available this fall as a no-charge software update for iPhone XS and later models. For more information, go to apple.com/ios/ios-17-preview. Listed features may vary. Some features may not be available in all regions or in all languages.
The developer beta of iPadOS 17 is available to Apple Developer Program members on developer.apple.com starting today, and the public beta will be available to iPadOS users on beta.apple.com next month. The new software features will be available this fall as a free software update on iPad (6th generation and later), iPad mini (5th generation and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later) , and on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro (2nd generation and later), 10.5-inch iPad Pro, and 11-inch iPad Pro (1st generation and later). For more information, go to apple.com/ipados/ipados-17-preview. Listed features may vary. Some features may not be available in all regions or in all languages.
The developer beta of watchOS 10 is available today at developer.apple.com to members of the Apple Developer Program. A public beta will be available to watch OS users at beta.apple.com starting next month. watchOS 10 will be available this fall as a free software update for Apple Watch Series 4 or later paired with an iPhone XS or later running iOS 17. Some features may not be available in all regions, languages or devices. Listed features may vary. For more information, go to apple.com/watchos/watchos-preview.