HealthKit

More than half of top U.S. hospitals now trialling Apple’s HealthKit

According to Reuters Thursday, HealthKit trials are moving away from universities and into hospitals, with more than half of the nation’s top 23 hospitals having already rolled out their own trials of the HealthKit platform, or “are in talks to do so”. HealthKit allows third-parties to integrate and interact with the user’s health database on iOS 8 devices.

Fourteen of the nation’s top 23 hospitals confirmed to the news gathering organization participating in the HealthKit roll-out, including at least eight of the 17 hospitals on the U.S. News & World Report’s Honor Roll list, which ranks the best hospitals in the U.S.

Apple being questioned by the FTC regarding health data protection

The US Federal Trade Commission is seeking assurances from Apple that it will prevent sensitive health data from being used without the users’ consent, reports Reuters. The outlet says Apple representatives have met with FTC officials multiple times in recent months to discuss the matter.

More specifically, the FTC wants to be sure that Apple will not sell health data collected by its upcoming smartwatch and other devices to third party marketers, or allow app developers to do so. It also wants to be sure proper measures are being taken to protect the data against malicious attacks.

Argus activity tracker, now with iPhone 6 support and iOS 8 Health sync for workouts and calories

I’m a fitness fan and Azumio’s Argus is one of my favorite applications to track my steps, runs and bicycle rides. As I stopped using any health and fitness app which doesn’t export data to Apple’s Health application in iOS 8, I was pleasantly surprised learning that Azumio just issued a nice Argus refresh which rectifies the problem.

For starters, the new version 3.6 now runs natively on the bigger iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus screens. More importantly, Argus can now export your workouts and calories to the Health app.

Download Argus free in the App Store.

Fitbit currently has no plans to integrate with iOS 8 Health app

It looks like Fitbit won’t be sharing data with the new iOS 8 Health app anytime soon. Responding to a question in support forums, a representative for the company said that it “currently has no plans to integrate with HealthKit.”

The rep adds that HealthKit is an interesting new platform that Fitbit will be watching as it matures, as it looks for opportunities to improve the user experience. “But at the moment,” he says, it’s working on “other exciting projects.”

Jawbone launches all-new HealthKit-enabled Up software, no fitness band required

San Francisco, California headquartered wearable products company Jawbone on Monday released a brand new Up software for the iPhone in the App Store (not to be confused with the firm’s existing Up app).

Announced earlier in the month, the app features iOS 8 HealthKit integration, personalized fitness advice and other features, but without requiring Jawbone’s UP or UP24 fitness band.

The app lets you share Up’s food, fitness and sleep tracking data with iOS 8’s Health app, and vice versa. Jawbone has opened up its platform to third-party development so more than a hundred health and fitness applications and accessories for the iPhone and iPad now integrate with Up, with or without HealthKit, including Strava Running & Cycling, Wello, IFTTT, RunKeeper and MyFitnessPal.

New App Store section features “Apps for Health,” a collection of apps that support HealthKit

The App Store has been updated Saturday afternoon with an “Apps for Health” section in the Featured tab, which lists several apps that use iOS 8’s Health app to aggregate health and fitness data into a unified location for users.

After delaying HealthKit-compatible apps due to a critical bug in the first version of iOS 8, Apple released iOS 8.0.2 on Thursday and quickly began approving apps that take advantage of the health-tracking features the following day. Now, Apple has created this new section in an effort to promote apps that have received their HealthKit updates.

Although there may be more out there – and more are sure to come – Apple has 14 apps listed, and we’ve compiled them below with links to each.

MyFitnessPal brings its data to iOS 8’s Health app in latest update

As Apple earlier this morning began approving HealthKit-powered apps following yesterday’s release of the iOS 8.0.2 software update, makers of health and fitness software, life-tracking programs and food intake tracking apps are now releasing updates adding HealthKit compatibility.

Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker, a free of charge iPhone and iPad app by MyFitnessPal, has been bumped to version 5.6.6, for example.

Taking advantage of Apple’s HealthKit in iOS 8 which makes it easy for supported health and fitness apps to work together and share data through the stock Health app, the refreshed MyFitnessPal app now lets you add your meal summaries and sync your weight with HealthKit, as well as add excercices from other HealthKit-enabled apps to your diary.

Following iOS 8.0.2 release, Apple starts approving HealthKit apps

Friday, first HealthKit-enabled applications began appearing on the App Store following the iOS 8.0.2 release which, among other improvements, contains a fix for a bug which has prevented HealthKit apps from being approved in the first place.

As first spotted by 9to5Mac this morning, fitness and health related applications for the iPhone and iPad are now being approved with HealthKit compatibility following yesterday’s iOS 8.0.2 release.

Apple: we’re delaying HealthKit apps until month’s end over a software bug

Several health and fitness focused apps were updated in the App Store this morning with plenty useful new features that take advantage of the new HealthKit framework for developers, introduced alongside iOS 8.

An hour later, Apple pulled these newly-updated HealthKit apps from the store due to various software issues with its framework and has now told one journalist that a fix is underway and promised to put them back on the store by the month’s end.

Tim Cook already being questioned about Apple Watch and privacy

Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen announced this afternoon that he’s sent a letter to Tim Cook regarding the new Apple Watch and user privacy. Jepsen wants Cook to explain what data the device will collect, how that data will be stored, and what Apple’s policies are on apps that access health information.

Specifically, Jepsen asks whether Apple will allow consumers to store personal/health info on its servers, and if so. how will that information be safeguarded. He also wants to know what kind of data Apple Watch will collect from users, and how it and its developers plan to obtain consent for this collection from users.

Mayo Clinic to reportedly participate in HealthKit demo at today’s event

Representatives from the Minnesota-based Mayo Clinic will be participating in Apple’s media event later today, reports the Star Tribune. The outlet says the highly-regarded medical group will help show how data from iOS 8’s Health app, and possibly the so-called iWatch, can flow into the more sophisticated systems of a major health center.

Apple updates App Store guidelines with new rules for HealthKit and more

Apple posted an update this evening for its App Store review guidelines—a set of instructions for third-party developers on what iOS apps may or may not contain. Tonight’s refresh adds rules for upcoming iOS 8 features such as extensions, HealthKit and HomeKit.

Most of the changes are only pertinent to developers, but there are a few things worth mentioning. Perhaps the most important item, in light of recent events, is that Apple says apps using the HealthKit framework that store user health data in iCloud will be rejected.