The Health and Fitness apps are two of the iPhone apps I use the most. I run marathons, and these apps are integral for keeping track of my progress. Apple has updated these apps over the years, bringing useful new features to the two apps, but there’s always room for improvement.
I’d want to see artificial intelligence in the Health app to connect all the data points the iPhone and Apple Watch collect about me. The AI might help me improve my training by interpreting these data points. It could also inform me about the best time of day for training based on recent readings, sleep duration, and food intake.
The AI might even help me rest better than I am by ensuring I’m not overdoing it. Finally, the AI could keep track of past performance, including training sessions and races.
All of that is wishful thinking for the time being, mainly because of the state of Apple Intelligence. Apple doesn’t yet have the type of advanced AI that could offer such features.
If a new report from Mark Gurman is accurate, we might get an AI-powered feature in Health via the iOS 19.4 update, which should drop about a year from now.
The Bloomberg reporter said in his Power On newsletter that Apple continues its work on advanced heath-tracking features for the Apple Watch, including blood sugar and blood pressure sensors. Neither is ready to launch anytime soon from the looks of it.
Gurman says that Apple is many years from delivering a noninvasive way to measure blood glucose. As for having the Apple Watch measure hypertension, that project has hit a few roadblocks.
Gurman says Apple’s AI agent initiative for the Health app might have a quicker payoff than those endeavors. I assume Apple would show off the AI Coach feature at WWDC 2025, even if it won’t launch on iPhone until the spring of 2026 when iOS 19.4 rolls out.
The AI agent built into the app would replicate “to some extent” a real doctor.
Called Project Mulberry (a successor of Project Quartz), the AI Coach initiative involves a “completely revamped Health app. The project is supposedly a priority for Apple’s Sumbul Desai, who has run the company’s health team for years. Apple COO Jeff Williams is also “heavily involved” in the AI health program.
The AI Coach will supposedly deliver the Health experience I want from iPhone:
The idea is this: The Health app will continue to collect data from your devices (whether that’s the iPhone, Apple Watch, earbuds, or third-party products), and then the AI coach will use that information to offer tailor-made recommendations about ways to improve health.
In addition to the current health parameters Apple devices can record, the new Health app will also focus on food tracking, a feature Apple has largely ignored. It’s unclear what “going big” on food tracking is, but the reporter says the initiative would challenge apps like MyFitnessPal and Noom.
That sounds exciting, at least in theory. But, again, Apple’s first try at AI wasn’t great, so I’ll temper expectations.
Gurman further describes the work behind the AI Coach experience, saying that Apple is training the AI agent with data from physicians working on its health projects.
“Apple is also looking to bring in outside doctors, including experts in sleep, nutrition, physical therapy, mental health and cardiology, to create videos,” Gurman wrote. The content should make some health conditions easier to understand and offer iPhone users guidance on making changes.
The company is supposedly opening a facility near Oakland, California, where physicians will shoot their content. A major doctor personality might host the new service. Some people are supposedly calling it Heath+ internally, though it’s unclear whether the service would require a subscription.
Finally, Gurman also says that Apple is working on health features that would let the AI agent study users’ workouts and provide feedback.
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