How to enable health on iphone. How the smartphone counts steps and whether the data is correct. Export health data
If you might think that the Health app is just another pointless program, you should definitely reconsider. Unlike the Stocks, Compass, or Tips apps, the app is one of the few apps that can't be uninstalled. Just set up "Health" properly, and it will turn into a powerful tool, useful for maintaining or achieving good shape.
The Health app satisfies the most demanding health and fitness requirements. For example, based on the HealthKit API, it lets your Apple Watch collect data about your daily activity, heart rate, and completed workouts.
However, the Health app is not just a data store. With each iOS update, Apple improves the program. Still think that "Health" is just wasting your device's memory space? We advise you to look at the application from a different angle! Especially if you are an Apple Watch owner. You will certainly appreciate the useful and well-presented content of the application, which can help you implement your personal fitness plan.
The iPhone Health app has come a long way
The Health program was born very modestly and has overcome a long way of development. Released in 2014 as part of iOS 8, the app was fairly simple and could only present user health data in a boring statistic format. In order to find useful information, one had to scroll through a number of characteristics unknown to most users, such as expiratory flow rate or perfusion index. The appendix contained several unfinished (simplified at best) diagrams.
Application "Health" as part of iOS 11 is a bird of a completely different flight. It provides a convenient, at-a-glance overview of key statistics about your health in the Today tab. Interactive charts allow you to evaluate data visually. Customize the display of your favorite statistics. For example, you can even display maps of your training routes.
tab "Today" has such a strange name because it displays not only the information of the current day. Here you can view graphs of your activity by day, week, month and even year. Apple has added so many features to the app that it's easy to get confused. So just remember: double-clicking on the Today tab will always display information for the current day.
Health and Activity apps: what's the difference?
If you're using an Apple Watch, the app "Activity" is installed on your iPhone automatically. Externally, the Health and Activity programs look very similar, but they have one important difference: Activity displays only the data received by the Apple Watch, while Health handles all information about the user's health and activity.
This means that when you register a workout with your Apple Watch, you'll see it appear in both apps. However, any activity or workout logged on iPhone will only appear in the app. "Health". It is "Health" that is the repository of your medical data (blood type, presence / absence of allergies, etc.).
I would like to believe that with the release of Apple will present us with a combined version of the applications " Health" and "Activity", which will help eliminate duplication that confuses the user.
How to complete the application "Health" useful statistics
The age-old adage from the fitness world that says " What you put in is what you get”, is also true for the Health app. It will be useful to you exactly to the extent that you enter exactly the data you need into it.
Great news for Apple Watch owners - most likely, you are already viewing a lot of useful statistics. Four apps built into Apple Watch automatically add your information to Health: Activity, Workout, Heart Rate, and Breathing.
To make sure your settings are correct, launch the Watch app on your iPhone and make sure the heart rate and fitness trackers are active. Also make sure you turn on the activity tracker. If you haven't already, launch the Activity app on your Apple Watch and follow the instructions.
If you don't have an Apple Watch, don't despair either. The built-in coprocessor in iPhone (for iPhone 5s and later) collects information about your activity when you are on the move and the phone is in your pocket or purse. You may find that the device has already counted the number of steps, the time spent standing, and even the number of stairs climbed (the latter function works on iPhone 6 and newer devices, as it uses the device's built-in barometer).
The best part is that such statistics - this is only a small part compared to all the possibilities of the "Health" program. You only need to set the application settings correctly.
Collect nutrition and sleep data from third-party apps with HealthKit
When you go to the "Health" tab, you will see four large squares with the most popular types of data that the Health application processes: "Activity", "Awareness", "Nutrition", "Sleep".
If you have an Apple Watch, filling out the Activity and Mindfulness categories is well served by Apple's built-in apps. (For example, you can use the native Breathing app to capture minutes of “mindfulness.”) However, for the Nutrition and Sleep categories, today’s picture is that you will need to use third-party apps to fully download the data.
In order for you to choose programs to your liking, the Health app is equipped with handy recommendations. Just click on one of the squares and you'll see a list of apps that collect that particular kind of data. Here you will also see links to download them in .
For example, for tracking sleep on the iPhone, the popular Sleep Cycle app is suitable, and in the case of the Apple Watch, you should try the Pillow program.
Update data with third-party devices
If you're serious about tracking health data, you'll probably find the built-in sensors in iPhone and Apple Watch not good enough. In such a case, there are many special gadgets that are compatible with the Health app.
Apple recently bought Beddit, a company that makes a sleep tracker that you can place under your sheets in your bed. Not cheap ($149) , but with comfort, because you do not have to sleep with a watch on your arm.
When it comes to heart rate tracking, the Apple Watch's optical sensors aren't accurate enough. For example, serious athletes prefer Polar Bluetooth heart rate chest straps, etc. These are electrode sensors, the reliability of which is much higher compared to optical ones.
Worthy of attention and floor scales with interface Wi-Fi. You can enter your weight in the Health app manually, but on a regular basis, this can become quite a hassle. To automate the process, for example, Nokia Body Composition Wi-Fi Scale smart scales are useful. By collecting data from the gadget, "Health" will be able to graph the change in your weight. Scales can also provide an estimate of body fat percentage, but the accuracy of such measurements is not always satisfactory.
Conflict of information received from different sources? Prioritization of data sources will help
As you start using more and more apps to record health and fitness data, duplication and data conflict issues arise. For example, if you log a workout on your iPhone while wearing your Apple Watch, both devices will record the number of calories you burned during the session. If the Health program reads this data twice, you will see incorrect information as a result.
To solve this problem, Apple compares the date, time, and duration of logged activities. If they match, then data from one source is ignored, and data from another is uploaded to the Health app. By default, the priority is given to data coming from the Apple Watch, but you can customize the prioritization yourself. To do this, simply select the desired data type (for example, "Steps"). Now click " Data sources and access", and then select the option " Change» in the upper right corner of the screen. Now you can change the order of an element in the list of data sources by simply dragging it up and down. To do this, hold down the icon with the image of three gray stripes, located to the right of the program name. Sources at the top of the list take precedence over those below. All results will be displayed, but if data of the same type conflicts, only the source with the highest priority will be considered in the statistics.
Third Party Applications: Access Control Settings
In the "Sources" tab, you can see a list of all third-party programs that the user has approved access to the Health application. Even if you have other health and fitness apps installed on your iPhone, they will never appear in the list unless you have given them access to the Health app data.
Most third-party programs that integrate with the Health app ask for access permission the first time they open it. However, some work differently, requesting access to certain types of information only when you use the functions associated with that data.
You can revoke the app's access to Health data in the Sources tab. However, it is worth thinking carefully before committing such an action. If you revoke access, the program will not receive a notification, so the next time you use it, it will not even be able to warn you about it, which no longer records your health and fitness data.
Favorite Settings: Turn Health into Your Personal Fitness Dashboard
Customize the Today tab by adding certain types of metrics to your favorites category. To do this, select the type of data you want to display in the Today tab and make sure the Add to Favorites toggle is active.
By setting your favorite settings, you can turn Health into a personal dashboard that matches your fitness goals exactly. For example, let's show what data will be useful to you if you are going to lose weight, go in for bodybuilding or run a marathon:
"Favorites" for those who want to lose weight
If you want to reduce your weight, this usually means a desire to reduce body fat. In this case, it makes sense to make weight and fat as the chosen indicators. In order to lose weight, you will need to reduce the number of calories you eat and increase the number you burn, so Energy Value and Activity Energy are also on the favorites list.
- Percentage of body fat
- Energy value
- Activity energy
"Favorites" for bodybuilders
Bodybuilders desire to gain weight, but by gaining muscle, not fat. Therefore, “Weight” and “Lean Body Mass” are sent to the list of favorites. The bodybuilder also pays attention to the ratio of macronutrients (proteins, fats, carbohydrates) in his diet, so they should also be included in the favorites. If a bodybuilder isn't eating, it usually means they're working out at the gym, so another item on the list is Workout.
- Lean body mass
- Squirrels
- Carbohydrates
- Total Fat
- Workout
"Favorites" for marathon runners
If you are preparing to run a marathon, then one of the most important aspects of your plan should be volume, because you will need to run many kilometers. Therefore, we add indicators such as “Workouts” and “Walking and running distance” to the list of favorites. With these activities, you will also need to track your calorie intake to make sure you are consuming enough. Finally, add a Resting Heart Rate to keep track of your overall cardio fitness (lower resting heart rate is usually higher).
- Workout
- Walking and running distance
- Activity energy
- Energy value
- Pulse at rest
Export health data
Health app is not only a data import tool. You can also export data from there using HealthKit.
Dieting apps (Lose It!, MyFitnessPal, and others) count your active calories so they can use that data to adjust your daily intake.
Unfortunately, not all fitness programs today receive training data from the Health app. The Strava app, however, promises to add such an option in the near future.
There is also an option to export the entire application infobase. To do this, go to your profile in "Health" (the silhouette icon located in the upper right corner of the screen on the "Today" tab) and click "Export Health Data".
Plan your fitness with the Apple Health app
The Health app, which brings together many disparate elements, can give you a complete overview of your fitness history, displaying all the important statistics in one simple panel. In addition, devices such as the Apple Watch make it easy to automatically download the data you need.
If you're serious about getting in shape, the constant real-time feedback that Health provides will serve you well on your way to your goal. Well, "buried" the program in the "Unwanted" folder? Maybe now is the time to get it out of there and turn your attention.
Do not miss Apple news - subscribe to our Telegram channel, as well as to
The Health app for iOS ("Apple Health" or "HealthKit") will appeal to people who play sports and. And even if you are not fond of such training, the program will definitely come in handy for you. It shows how far you have walked. It can be used to count calories. She makes a sleep schedule. It can create a medical card.
The program is synchronized with many medical and fitness applications. For example, with pulse and pressure meters. So it will be possible to collect all the information, systematize it and view it in one place. Available to work with other devices from Apple. For example, with smart watches, sensors or fitness bracelets. You can also use third-party devices that support sending data via Wi-fi or Bluetooth: blood pressure monitors, scales, sleep trackers.
There are many health apps for iOS
This program first appeared on iOS 8. It is available on iPhone and iPod Touch. The Health app for iPad and other devices has not yet been released. But analogies can be used. For example, "Cardiograph" for measuring heart rate or "MyFitnessPal" for counting calories and planning a diet.
It is important to remember that all such utilities are not medical devices. Of course, "Health" shows information about heart rate and pressure. But it cannot be used to diagnose or treat any disease. In this case, it is better to take specialized devices.
Nowadays, more than ever, being an attractive person means being healthy. Therefore, the increase in the number of sports accessories or various applications that allow you to track the number of kilometers traveled, calories burned and much more is not at all surprising. Not far behind the times and Apple, which recently released, one of the important innovations of which was the Health application (English Health), as well as a new set of tools for HealthKit developers. And if the latter does not really interest us, as users, then what is “Health” and how to use it is a topical issue. Let's try to figure it out.
"Health" is your personal medical card containing information about your date of birth, height, blood type, allergies, chronic diseases, medications taken, contact information in case of emergency, and so on, as well as recent medical data collected in "Health" from other iPhone apps built with HealthKit. In general, Health is an application that allows you to aggregate all the information at your disposal about the state of health and training in one place.
How to use the Health app on iPhone
There are two ways to use the Health app:- as a medical card that can play an important role in an emergency when strangers help you;
- as an aggregator of data from other applications.
From now on, in any emergency, the person caring for you will simply need to open your medical file to know how to contact your contact person in case of an emergency or if you are allergic to anything.
The second option for using the Health app will be especially attractive to people who lead an active lifestyle and use various fitness apps. Of course, in the present, not all fitness applications are compatible with Health, but such programs are still, and the rest is a matter of time.
As noted earlier, Health collects incoming information, such as heart rate, calories burned, blood sugar or cholesterol, in one place. This will allow you to see a complete picture of your health, which is useful for analyzing your current lifestyle, training effectiveness, and so on.
Here, offhand, a small selection of applications that work with "Health". True, not all programs have support for the Russian language:
- FitStar Personal Trainer (free) - training plan;
- Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker (free) - calorie counter;
- Human (free) - activity and calorie counter;
- MotionX 24/7 (33 rubles) - sleep control;
- CARROT Fit (99 rubles) - personal training plan;
- Zova (free) - workouts for women;
- 7 Minute Workout (free) - 7-minute workouts;
Of course, you can use only one section of "Health" - "Medcard", which will definitely be very prudent of you, or you can, if you have not tried it yet, start using various applications designed to help you with your workouts. In any case, following the course of a healthy lifestyle has never been easier.
If you did not find an answer to your question or something did not work out for you, and there is no suitable solution in the comment below, ask a question through our . It's fast, simple, convenient and doesn't require registration. You will find answers to your and other questions in the section.
The Health app in iOS: why is it needed, what data is recorded in it, what useful settings are there? To learn how to lead a healthy lifestyle with Apple, read our article.
Apple Health is an aggregator of your body data on your iPhone. The application collects data from various fitness applications installed on your smartphone, as well as from Apple Watch, analyzes them and arranges all the information in a convenient way to give you a comprehensive picture of your health.
Apple health. Categories
Apple Health: Health categoriesThere are four different categories of data in the Health app. They allow you to quickly get an idea of your diet, sleep patterns, exercise, and other important things.
- Activity: This category collects data about your physical activities and sports activities. Here you will find out how many steps you took per day, how long you sat still and how many calories you burned.
- Dream: For a good sleep, an adjusted biorhythm is very important. In this category you can find information about how long your sleep lasts and what time you go to bed.
- mindfulness: In this category you will find data about your breathing rhythm. In addition, you will be able to get an idea of how regularly during the day you took breaks that help avoid the development of stress.
- Nutrition: Are you counting calories, want to eat less fat, or do you think you're consuming too much caffeine? In the "Food" category, you can analyze your menu and make the necessary adjustments.
In addition, the application has additional categories: heart, body measurements, reproductive health, tests, key indicators.
Apple health. Fitness tracking
Apple Health If you're on iOS 8 or later and don't see the Health app, you may need to update to the latest version of iOS.
In addition, to properly use the Health app, you may need to enable the Fitness Tracking setting:
- Open iPhone settings.
- Select a category Are common, then press Confidentiality.
- To use the features of the Health app, in the section Health > Fitness tracking move the slider to the right.
Apple health. Application Search
Some of the functions that collect information about your activity and health are performed automatically by your iPhone and Apple Watch. These include step counting and heart rate measurement.
But you can integrate many other health data collected through third-party apps into the Health app:
- Open the Health app and tap on one of the four categories.
- You will be prompted to watch an explanatory video. In addition, you will see apps that match that category. Touch any of the apps to learn more about it and download it.
- If you're already using any health data apps, search for them in the search box on the Health app's home screen and add them.
Additional settings for the Apple Health app
Apple Health: Apple Watch integration - If you would like to manually enter your blood pressure values, click metadata, and then Basic indicators. Select the data type, for example, Pressure and click on the plus icon. Enter values manually.
- You can also import your health data if you have used other apps before. Log in to the Health app, select the required data and find the item Export. This is usually an icon in the shape of a rectangle from which the arrow is pointing. Select Add to "Health". Then in the Health app, under metadata select item Health status and click on it to view the required information.
- In order to motivate yourself to exercise more or go on a diet, you can activate the function of informing about your daily progress in the application. Just click Today at the bottom of the app to view statistics on various data.
- You can add the information that is most important to you in Favorites. Press metadata, then to the category and data type. Select statistics or information and below select Add to favorites. IN Favorites you can easily see information for the current month about your muscle gain, diet or heart rate.
- If you have an Apple Watch, your smartwatch data is automatically populated into the Health app. To do this, the watch and iPhone just need to be synchronized with the smartphone. You can receive data about your heart rate, movement and breathing from your smart watch.
Due to upcoming release Apple Watch getting ready to come out standalone app Apple Health on iOS 8, which will monitor the health of its owner. The long-awaited wearable device will sync with iPhone and transfer all data about your activity and heart rate so that you can see a complete picture of your physical condition in your personal account.
However, as you may know, the application Apple Health already works quite successfully with most of the popular fitness trackers and other devices on the market.
If you already have a device Jawbone, Nike or misfit then you can sync the data Apple Health using the companion app.
Despite protocol HealthKit, the app works well with third-party apps and devices and keeps track of your activity, sleep, weight, body fat, blood pressure, nutrition, body temperature, and more.
To be honest, you don't need any additional devices at all to enjoy the basic features. Apple Health thanks to the motion sensors that are in iPhone, GPS technology and M-series coprocessor.
In this way, you can collect information about the number of steps, calories burned, flights of stairs climbed and distance, just by wearing your iPhone with myself.
We present to your attention instructions for use Apple Health.
Application personal account
When you open the application, you see a lot of graphs that show you your health statistics for the day, week, month, year.
By clicking on a data point, for example, "Distance", you will see all the information on this parameter, you can also manually add a new data point, which will be visible when using other devices, or even remove it from the application panel.
Using the Apple Health app with devices
Application Apple Health can work autonomously for owners iPhone, but for this he still needs a person who would constantly carry a smartphone with him. If you go, for example, to the toilet and leave your phone on the desktop, it will not track the number of steps you have taken, the distance you have walked, and the number of flights of stairs you have overcome.
For a better picture of your daily activity Apple Health can be synced with other fitness trackers or smartwatches you wear all the time using the companion app on your device (other devices such as a heart rate monitor or smart scale can also be used for this).
There are a number of applications that work well with Apple Health thanks to the protocol HealthKit.
For example, every time you use a scale Withings Smart Body Analyzer, tonometer Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor or a special sleep tracker Aura Smart Sleep System, all received information via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi is sent to the application Health Mate from Withings. If you want this data to be included in the application Apple Health, then you just need to allow him to use them.
Usage Apple Health with other apps
If you have been using the application for several years MapMyFitness or RunTracker, That Apple Health helpfully imports the entire history of your data from these apps.
This process will be slightly different for each application, but here are a few examples:
When you connect the application, you will see it in the list of sources. Now you can automatically receive information, as well as share manually entered data with other applications.
Changing data in your personal account
The idea of creating a personal account is that the user can quickly access the necessary information without delving into the application itself. This makes sense if you can easily add or remove categories based on your goals.
For example, if you carefully track your caffeine intake, you can go to Health Data > Nutrition > Caffeine > Show in Dashboard.
Similarly, you can see the number of calories burned during physical activity and rest, the amount of fat in the body, sleep analysis, and more.
There are so many parameters that manufacturers have quite reasonably limited the amount of data that can be viewed in your personal account.
Adding data manually
There are two ways to add information to the application Health: the first is the automatic addition of data from connected devices and applications, for example, from Apple Watch; the second method involves entering information manually. Although it is better and more convenient to use automatic synchronization, there are times when you have to add metrics manually.
For example, if you're tracking asthma inhaler use, you'll need to add the information manually. Just find the metric you need in the health tab and add a data point. This will work if, for example, you were out for a run, but forgot to take your device with you, and want to manually add the distance you walked.
Sleep tracking with Apple Health
The point is that the Apple Watch no sleep tracker, i.e. so that information about your sleep gets into the application Health, you'll have to use another wearable device or app.
A really good fitness tracker can measure sleep quality by your level of mobility (for example, Jawbone, misfit And Garmin Vivofit), while applications like Sleep Time+(which work if you put your iPhone under the pillow at night) will send the received data back to the application Health.
Manage your nutrition with Apple Health
Tracking your diet using mobile apps can already be a chore, and having to manually add information such as sodium intake in the Nutrition section of the Apple Health only worsens the situation.
However, if you are using an application like Weight Watchers, writing down everything eaten in a day there, or U.P. Coffee to track the amount of caffeine consumed, they can also send information to Apple Health if they have access to it.
All the foods you add contain information about their nutritional value: the amount of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, sodium, and other smaller categories (there are 38 in total), such as the content of potassium, magnesium, umm ... copper in food.
Medical ID
Ability to create a medical ID in the app Health can save your life.
On this tab, you can add your anthropometric data, information about your health, allergies, medications you take, blood type, your status as an organ donor, and also leave the number of a person who can be called in an emergency.
If you turn on Emergency Access, people can view your profile from the lock screen iPhone. Now all you have to do is swipe to unlock the screen, press "Emergency" and select "Medical ID" from the dialing menu.
Apple Health and your doctors
With regular use, the application Apple Health provides the most enthusiastic users with a huge amount of health data that will help you in the future to improve your knowledge, see the main trends, make the right choices and change your lifestyle so that you live a long life without diseases.
The relatively new idea of "Count Yourself" will allow users to see the real connection between, for example, increased training difficulty and improved sleep, all of which is quantified.
In addition, the creators Apple Health hope that the application will affect our medical care. There are plans to develop a project according to which users will be able to send information collected by the application to their attending physicians. This should lead to early diagnosis of possible diseases, more targeted preventive measures and a better understanding of the patient's health status.
The app is also user-friendly as it has a Results section. For example, if the user iPhone regularly takes a blood test, then he can enter the data into the application and monitor changes over a long period of time.
Working with ResearchKit
During a recent event spring forward company Apple announced the release Research Kit which will allow application users Health use and share your data for medical research.
The study of the cardiovascular system, which is conducted by Stanford University, signed up 11,000 people within 24 hours. The researchers admit that it would take them about a year to collect so much real data, so this is a big step forward.
IN App Store there are already applications that allow you to participate in research that fights Parkinson's disease, diabetes, asthma and breast cancer. Just drive in Research Kit looking for App Store and you will see them. For some of them, you will have to take tests, while others will take data from the application. Health.
Company Apple absolutely sure that all data remains anonymous.