June 5, 2023
press release
Apple provides powerful insights into new areas of health
iOS 17, iPadOS 17 and watchOS 10 introduce mental health and visual health features, and the Health app comes to iPad.
Cupertino, California Apple today announced new health features in iOS 17, iPadOS 17 and watchOS 10, expanding into two impactful areas and offering new tools and experiences across platforms.
New mental health features allow users to record their momentary and daily emotions, see useful insights, and easily access assessments and resources. The iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch offer new vision health features that encourage healthy behaviors that reduce the risk of myopia, and the Health app is coming to the iPad, giving users new ways to view their health information. All of these new features — and existing health features — are science-based and built with privacy.
“Our goal is to empower people to take control of their own health journey. With these new features, we’re expanding the comprehensive range of health and wellness tools we offer to our users on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch,” said Sumbul Desai, Apple’s vice president of health. “Mental health and visual health are important, but We’re excited to introduce features that are often overlooked, and that provide valuable new insights for users to better understand their health.These insights help users make everyday decisions and have more informed conversations with their doctors.
Mental health
Mental health is just as important as physical health and affects how people think, feel and act every day.
Research shows that reflecting on one’s own state of mind can help build emotional awareness and resilience. Echoing many in the field, according to UCLA Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, Dr. Michelle Kraske, “identifying our emotions has been shown to help us manage difficult emotions, appreciate positive moments, and improve well-being. Several studies by researchers have shown that identifying emotions can reduce emotions such as sadness and anger, and has a positive effect on our body by lowering heart rate. Additionally, in a survey of participants in the UCLA Digital Mental Health Study, preliminary results showed that more than 80 percent of participants who reflected on their feelings in the study app increased emotional awareness, and nearly half said it increased well-being.
The Health app in iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 and the Mindfulness app in watchOS 10 bring an engaging and intuitive way for users to reflect on their state of mind. Users can scroll through engaging, multi-faceted shapes and choose their mood in a range from the most pleasant to the most unpleasant. Then, they can choose associations that have a strong influence on their emotions, such as travel or family, and express feelings such as gratitude or anxiety.
In the Health app, users can see useful insights to identify what’s contributing to their mental state — associations or lifestyle habits like sleep or exercise — and use those insights to better manage their overall health.
There may be times when users can benefit from additional support. In a recent survey, more than 30 percent of American adults reported experiencing symptoms of anxiety or depression.1 The same depression and anxiety assessments often used in clinics are now easily accessible in the Health app and can be taken anytime. These assessments can help users determine their exposure level, connect to resources in their region, and create a PDF to share with their doctor.
These new features will enable iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch users around the world to better care for their mental health, while helping to increase awareness and acceptance of this important topic.
vision health
Myopia, or nearsightedness, is the leading cause of visual impairment worldwide. It is currently estimated to affect more than 30 percent of the population.2 And it is expected to grow to 50 percent or 5 billion people.3 In the year 2050
Eye care providers recommend a few key behaviors in children to reduce the risk of myopia. Two of these features include spending more time outdoors in daylight and increasing your viewing distance, such as a device or book.
The International Myopia Institute recommends that children spend at least 80-120 minutes a day outdoors. With watchOS 10, Apple Watch introduces the ability to measure time spent using the daylight sensor. Users can view daylight hours on Apple Watch in the Health app on iOS 17 and iPadOS 17. Children who don’t have their own iPhones can use Family Settings to pair their Apple Watch with their parent’s iPhone. Visibility into the time their children spend in daylight sharing health. Time spent in daylight provides additional benefits for physical and mental health, so this feature is available to all watchOS 10 users.
Looking too closely at a distant object, such as a device or book, is also a well-documented risk of myopia. The new Screen Distance feature uses the TrueDepth camera that powers Face ID on iPhone and iPad to encourage users to move their device away after holding it for longer than 12 inches. Screen distance can remind young users to engage in healthy viewing habits that can reduce the risk of myopia, and give older users a chance to reduce digital eye strain.
The health app comes to the iPad
The Health app is a central, secure and personal place for the user’s health and fitness information, and provides users with meaningful insights to live a healthy life. In iPadOS 17, the Health app comes to iPad and is designed to provide users with rich, detailed information at a glance from iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch, as well as compatible third-party apps and devices, all in one place.
Now users can track and manage their medications, use cycle trackers, record their moods and daily moods, view their health records from multiple facilities, and more right on the iPad. You can also choose to share the information stored in the health application with loved ones or caregivers using health sharing. Health app design on iPad optimized for larger display, new view for favorites and detailed interactive charts. Users can receive insights into their health data with Trends and Highlights and use iPadOS features like Split View to multitask while viewing their health data with other apps.
Health and fitness developers can now use HealthKit on iPad, with strong privacy and data security protocols to create new health and fitness experiences that data users choose to share from the Health app.
Privacy
Privacy is fundamental in the design and development of all Apple Health features. Apple’s health and fitness features put users’ privacy at the center and offer them protections including transparency and control.
When iPhone and iPad are locked with a passcode, Touch ID, or Face ID, all health and fitness data in the Health app—except Medical ID—is encrypted on device. In addition, health information synced with iCloud is encrypted in transit and on Apple’s servers. And if a user has the latest version4 By default, watchOS, iOS, and iPadOS use two-factor authentication and a passcode to store their health and activity data in a way that Apple can’t read.
Data in the health app is never shared with any third party without the user’s express consent, and if users decide to share their health data, the health app gives users strict control over the types of data they share and with whom they share it. You can review and manage permissions at any time.
More updates
- In iOS 17, iPadOS 17 and watchOS 10, the Medicines The feature gives users the option to receive follow-up reminders if they miss taking prescribed medications. Users can set reminders as critical alerts, allowing them to go through even if the device is muted or focused.
- The new one Journal App on iOS 17 allows you to reflect and practice gratitude by writing and reminiscing about life’s moments. It leverages the new journal feedback recommendations to deliver personalized insights about your device using machine learning. Suggested Moments intelligently organizes a user’s recent activity, including photos, people, places, experiences and more, making it easy to get started.5
- Apple Fitness + introduces customized plansA new way to receive a customized workout or meditation program based on day, duration, type of exercise and more. Stack, which allows users to choose many sports activities and meditations that they can easily go back to; And Audio focusThis gives users the ability to prioritize the sound of music or the voice of coaches.
Availability
The iOS 17 developer beta is available to Apple Developer Program members starting today at developer.apple.com, and the official beta will be available at beta.apple.com next month. New software features will be available for iPhone X this fall as a free software updateS And later. For more information, visit apple.com/ios/ios-17-preview. Features are subject to change. Some features may not be available in all regions or in all languages.
The iPadOS 17 developer beta is available starting today for members of the Apple Developer Program at developer.apple.com, and the official beta will be available next month for iPadOS users at beta.apple.com. New software features will be available this fall as free software updates for iPad (6th generation and later), iPad mini (5th generation and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), 12.9-inch iPad Pro (2nd generation and later) . ), 10.5-inch iPad Pro, and 11-inch iPad Pro (1st generation and later). For more information, visit apple.com/ipados/ipados-17-preview. Features are subject to change. Some features may not be available in all regions or in all languages.
The watchOS 10 developer beta is available starting today to members of Apple’s developer program at developer.apple.com. A public beta will be available for watchOS users next month at beta.apple.com. watchOS 10 will be available this fall as a free software update for Apple Watch Series 4 or later paired with iPhone X.S or later, running iOS 17. Some features may not be available in all regions or languages or on all devices. Features are subject to change. For more information, visit apple.com/watchos/watchos-preview.
About Apple
Apple revolutionized personal technology when it introduced the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s five software platforms – iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS – provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and power new services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s more than 100,000 employees are committed to making the best products on earth and leaving the world a better place than we found it.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Indicators of Anxiety or Depression Based on Reported Symptom Frequency,” April 26–May 8, 2023, www.cdc.gov/nchs/covid19/pulse/mental-health.htm.
- WHO, “World Report on Vision,” October 2019, www.who.int/news/item/08-10-2019-who-launches-first-world-report-on-vision.
- Brian A. Holden, Timothy R. Fricke, David A. Wilson, Monica Jong, Kovin S. Naidoo, Padmaja Sankaridurg, Thien Y. Wong, Thomas J. 2000 to 2050”. Eye treatmentVolume 123, Issue 5, 2016, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0161642016000257.
- “Latest version” refers to iOS 12 or later.
- The Journal app and Journal Suggestions API will be available in a software update later this year.
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