Apple Health has been the center of attention with the latest iOS updates. Especially after the introduction of the Apple Watch, the company has cemented the position of the Health app as the ultimate hub for fitness activities.
Contents1. Add Activities to Stream2. Create a medical ID card3. Connect third-party apps to Apple Health4. Connect fitness tracking apps to Apple Health5. Sleep tracking6. Follow Mindfulness Minutes7. Use Siri8 Shortcuts. Export health data9. Delete health dataStay fit and healthy
Over the years, Apple has opened up the Health app APIs to allow third-party apps to access and write health-related data.
By default, Apple Health tracks steps and walking distance throughout the day. You'll be surprised to know that the app is able to track everything from vitamins to water intake, sleep to mindful minutes, and so much more.
At the same time, it also allows you to create and store health profiles and export the data to a separate file on a device.
In this article, we are going to talk about nine best Apple Health tips and tricks to use it like a pro. The list will include the functions mentioned above as well as a few others. Let's go.
Apple Health takes you to the summary tab on the home screen. It consists of floors climbed and steps only. However, you can add more tabs from the edit menu.
Tap the edit button in the top right corner, and it will allow you to add height, weight, water intake, sleep tab, etc.
Go to the All tab, and there you'll see the long list of activities supported by Apple Health. Articles are neatly organized into relevant categories. Tap the favorites icon and add them to the home screen.
You can also go to Browse> categories and add the activities as favorites on the main page.
This is useful in an emergency. I highly recommend that you set it up. On the homepage, tap on Medical ID and you can add all relevant health information and medical history in one place.
You can list your past medical conditions, notes, allergies, reactions, medications, blood type, weight, height, and even set the preferred emergency contact.
In critical situations, people can check your medical ID and help you appropriately.
Apple offers all fitness tracking capabilities in the Health app. Now, that doesn't mean the app itself does all the heavy lifting. Apple Health relies on third-party apps to fill in the gaps here.
Apple is quite generous in suggesting relevant apps based on activity. For example, you will find Adidas, iHealth, etc. on the home page. You can see apps like MyFitnessPal, Lose It in the nutrition section.
Now, when you install these apps on the phone, enable the permission to allow them to read and write data in the Apple Health app. You can also change the Apple Health permission.
In any section, scroll down to the Resources and Data Access menu to see detailed information about which apps are reading and writing data for that activity.
Not everyone can afford a high-priced Apple Watch. Most people opt for a relatively affordable fitness bracelet or smartwatch.
As expected, these devices cannot communicate with the Apple Health app. It only syncs with Apple Watch. In such cases, you need to connect the apps of the fitness bracelets to the Apple Health platform.
One can write data from apps like Fitbit and Mi Fit to Apple Health by enabling the required permission. Now your wearable talks to its app on the iPhone, which transmits the data to the Apple Health app.
Apple is expected to add sleep tracking in the next Apple Watch update. You can perform the same action on the iPhone itself.
One way is the Bedtime feature which tracks your sleeping hours based on the set time and phone movements in the morning.
You can also manually add sleep data in the Apple Health app. Apple suggests apps like Beddit and Sleep+ to track sleep and write data back to the app using the second tip above.
For more information, see our in-depth guide on how to track sleep on iOS.
In today's busy schedule, it is often advisable to take time off from work.
The iOS ecosystem is filled with such apps for relaxation and meditation. Apple recognizes it as a fitness activity and has added a mindfulness section in the Apple Health app.
You can choose from apps like Calm and Headspace to track peacetime.
Note: Check out our detailed comparison of Calm and Headspace to understand the differences and choose the best suitable option.By default, Apple offers various Siri Shortcuts for tracking activities. With Siri Shortcuts, you can log your water intake, add sleep hours, mindfully count minutes, and more. Here's how to set it up.
Go to Shortcuts> Gallery> Shortcuts from apps> Health and you'll see a bunch of ready-to-use shortcuts.
Tap it and add an associated voice phrase to activate Siri. I use it to track my water intake throughout the day. From the Siri Shortcuts widget, I tap the water logging option and add the current figure in an ounce.
Apple Health is only available on iOS. The company is also working to bring the app to macOS.
You can also export health data to other platforms. Open Apple Health, tap the profile icon on the top right corner and export health data to any platform. It will be saved as an XML file, so make sure you have compatible software to open the file.
For complete transparency, Apple allows users to delete complete health data from a device.
To take action, open Apple Health> Profile> Devices> Choose current device and delete data.
In the same menu, you can view the time and date of a recorded activity.
The Apple Health app is more than just a step tracking app. You can use it to track your health and activities with or without Apple Watch. Of course, the Apple Watch will only add more facilities to it. In the meantime, you can try the tips and tricks suggested above to get started. And if you have a tip or two up your sleeve, share it with us in the comments section below.
Then: Google Fit is also a capable app on iOS. Read the article below to find a detailed comparison between Apple Health and Google Fit.
