Apple makes strides to improve users’ health

Apple plans to release a Research Application that aims to improve users' health later this year

While the launch of new products like the iPhone 11 and the Apple Watch Series 5 received much attention when they were unveiled at the Apple iPhone press event, the announcement of the soon to be released research application to help improve users’ health was another big addition from the creators at Apple.

At the event, which was held September 10 at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California, Apple announced that a new application which will allow users to opt-in to health research by using their Smartwatch and Apple health app.

Although it is unclear when the Research Application will launch this year, the areas of study that users can participate in have been determined. As reported by The Independent, there will be three areas of study that will be focused on:

· Women’s Health: The Apple Women’s Health Study will concentrate on menstrual cycles and gynaecological conditions like infertility

· Hearing: The Apple Hearing Study will look at how sound affects your hearing health

· Activity: The Apple Heart and Movement Study will focus on how activity and mobility affects overall health

The new Research Application will allow users to have one portal to access any research they would like to opt-in to, according to Tech Crunch. In the past, users would have to download an individual application for each study.

Apple has already had users opt-in to research related to heart health after hearing from many people that their Apple Watch helped save their life, as reported in The Independent. The Apple Watch had a heart rate monitor built in to help track steps more accurately, but after hearing feedback from users, the company realized it may be offering more benefits than originally intended, Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer, told The Independent. After hearing this news, the company teamed up with Stanford Medicine to develop the Apple Heart Study, which uses data from the Apple Watch “to identify irregular heart rhythms.” Preliminary findings from the study were presented in March. It was reported that the research had over 400,000 participants and that data collected from users can “safely identify heart rate irregularities that subsequent testing confirmed to be atrial fibrillation, a leading cause of stroke and hospitalization in the United States,” according to Stanford Medicine.