One of the coolest features of the new Apple Watches is their health and activity tracking functionality. Apple apps will analyze and report your activity for you, but you may want to manually export and view all of your health data. Fortunately, you can do this with your Apple Watch Series 4 or 5.
Here's how to export these reports and convert them into a format you can easily analyze.
Series 4 and 5 Apple Watches still collect health data when worn. This information is primarily about heart health, such as your resting heart rate, fitness tracking, and metrics taken.
When you export this data, you can track your fitness goals and health over time. This can be useful to a doctor or other healthcare professional or in different contexts, such as filing a health insurance claim. Even if you're not interested in your heart health, the information collected by Apple Watch can help you detect conditions such as sleep apnea, diabetes, and arrhythmia using third-party tools.
You may also want the data just out of curiosity. You might be wondering what your resting heart rate looks like at home compared to work. You might be curious about what gets your blood pumping the most – a morning jog or an evening walk. With your health information, you will be able to answer these questions.
To generate your health report, start by opening the Apple Health app.
Several sharing options will appear once the export process is complete. Select the option you want, then check it for your exported health data.
The exported report will be an XML file and not particularly easy to read – not the best for navigation and analysis. Fortunately, there are a few different apps and services, like the QS Access app, that will convert this data into more useful and readable formats, like an Excel spreadsheet.
Converting the XML to a readable format can take some time. If you choose to use an app to convert your activity data, the app can be configured to send you a notification when the activity is complete.
These applications can also allow you to customize your report data and present it in different formats. They also have their own analytics software that can help you identify highlights in your data, such as heart health, general fitness level, and potential issues.
You can export a report of your activity and health from your Apple Watch, but the default format won't be very readable.
Fortunately, there are a few apps and services you can use to convert your information into a readable format. If you want to get your Apple Watch health data, you will need to go through a third-party service. Once converted, these statistics can help you discover useful and interesting information about your health.
