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Apple's next big thing

When the Apple Watch was originally released in 2015, it was pitched as a great watch, an intimate way to communicate, and a comprehensive fitness device. While the original Apple Watch (later renamed Series 0) lacked GPS and was generally a slow device, it has shown dramatic improvements year over year particularly for Apple’s health initiatives.

When Apple released the Series 1 and Series 2 Apple Watches, it added heart rate monitoring for Apple Health. When you enable heart rate monitoring, you  can also turn on heart rate notifications, so you know if your heart rate remains above or below a chosen beats per minute (BPM), or to occasionally check for an irregular heart rhythm. Irregular rhythm notifications are available only with watchOS 5.1.2 or later in certain countries.

With Apple Watch Series 4, Apple added a electrocardiogram monitoring (also known as ECG and EKG). The ECG app on Apple Watch (Series 4 or newer) can record your heartbeat and rhythm using the electrical heart sensor and then check the reading for atrial fibrillation (AFib). It then records that information into the Apple Health app.

Since the release of Apple Watch, there have been countless stories of people’s lives being saved by the health advancements in Apple Watch and Apple’s Health initiatives.

Apple Watch ECG

If you have an Apple Watch Series 4 or newer, here’s a how to guide on how to take an ECG.

Apple also includes a Health app on the iPhone where it easy to learn about your health and start reaching your goals. It consolidates data from iPhone, Apple Watch, and third-party apps in one place.

Top Stories on Apple Health

Fitness Totals

Fitness Totals simplifies monitoring weekly, monthly, or yearly fitness activity on iOS

Apple’s Health solution has become a central clearinghouse over the past few years. Thanks to robust fitness tracking for workouts on Apple Watch, and now with Apple Fitness+ adding a new option for working out with the Apple Platform, there is a need for better tracking solutions with your data. Today, Fitness Totals launches as a way to easily compare weekly, monthly, yearly, and all-time totals for steps, running, cycling, and over a dozen other fitness activities. 

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Anti-insomnia app gets FDA approval, but costs $899

Anti-insomnia app gets FDA approval

We’ve recently seen a prescription-only PTSD Apple Watch app get FDA approval. The same has now happened for an iPhone-based anti-insomnia app – but it costs a cool $899!

The coronavirus crisis has accelerated work on app-based treatments for mental health conditions which have previously required prescription medications and/or in-person therapy sessions …

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Health Records on iPhone now available in UK and Canada

Health Records on iPhone UK and Canada

Apple has announced that the Health app can now display Health Records on iPhone for those in the UK and Canada.

Health Records was first launched in the US back in 2018, allowing healthcare providers to make their patient records available to the patient in Apple’s Health app. All records are encrypted, and by pulling together different records from different providers, it provides a more comprehensive single-point view of your health …

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Apple Watch Fall Detection could send your health data to emergency services

Apple Watch Fall Detection could get more sophisticated

Apple Watch Fall Detection has been credited with saving a number of lives, thanks to its ability to automatically call emergency services if it detects you falling and you don’t confirm that you’re ok.

But the feature could get even more sophisticated in future, with the ability to send comprehensive data to emergency services so they can get a sense of your condition before the ambulance arrives …

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Apple teams up with UCLA on mental health study using Apple Watch, iPhone, and Beddit sleep tracker

Health app data needs two small changes

Apple and UCLA are teaming up on a new three-year study to understand how factors including sleep, physical activity, heart rate, and daily routines can play a role in depression and anxiety. As first reported by CNBC, UCLA will use data collected by iPhone, Apple Watch, and the Beddit sleep tracker. The study begins this week.

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Feature Request: Make it easier to see your key Health app data at a glance

Health app data needs two small changes

Thanks to technology, there’s never been an easier time to work on your health, fitness, or weight. Instead of the old days, when you had to make an effort to time your exercises, keep your own records of your weight, calculate your own BMI, and so on, a combination of hardware and software means that almost all of it can be done automatically. And even better, your Health app data pulls together almost all of it in one place.

The app offers a vast array of stats, and helpfully allows you to favorite the metrics that are most relevant to your own goals so that they appear on the Summary screen when you open the app…


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Doctor says Apple Watch diagnosed his critical heart disease, saved his life

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The Apple Watch’s ECG feature can officially only indicate atrial fibrillation, but an anesthesiologist working at a California hospital says that it picked up on a critical heart disease so serious that he requires a bypass operation.

Dr. Donald W Milne from Antelope Valley Hospital shared the story with us and has also written to Tim Cook …


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Review: Lumen health accessory brings valuable metabolic testing to your pocket with iPhone and Apple Health

Review Lumen metabolic testing device iPhone iOS

If you like to use your iPhone and Apple Watch as part of your health and fitness journey, odds are good you value all the data they can offer. While that can include ways to track calories burned and consumed (and of course much more) there hasn’t been an easy way to do metabolic testing at home outside of expensive tests at clinics. Now a breakthrough handheld device called Lumen is making metabolic testing available to anyone and lets you know how to achieve optimal athletic performance, lose weight, build lean muscle, and more with a personalized nutrition plan. Better yet, Lumen has a great iOS app with Apple Health integration.


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European Heart Journal: Apple Watch ECG detects signs of coronary ischemia missed by hospital ECG

Since the Apple Watch added the ECG app with the Series 4, numerous stories have surfaced about how the app has contributed to saving people’s lives. Now, a new article from the European Heart Journal tells the story of an 80-year-old woman in Mainz Germany whose Apple Watch detected evidence of a heart condition missed by a hospital ECG.


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iPhone Run Tracker

OutRun is a simple iPhone run tracker that is privacy focused and integrates with Apple Health

I’ve been using my iPhone to track my runs since 2010 when I first signed up for RunKeeper when I had an iPhone 3GS. I’ve  only used a GPS watch for varying points in my running career, so for me, the iPhone has always been my primary run tracker. In recent years, many of the popular running apps have been moving towards a subscription model (which is understandable considering the apps need constant development), but I always believed there was room for a simple running that that was private by default and shared the data with Apple Health/Activity app. Finally, there is a simple iPhone Run Tracker, and its called OutRun.


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Echelon Connect Bike leverages iPad as the center of the at home fitness experience

Echelon Connect Bike

The Apple Watch has, rightfully so, has been at the center of Apple’s health story. We’ve seen countless stories of people getting healthy or being notified of health conditions thanks to the product. One company is taking an innovative approach to wellness thanks to a product most people haven’t considered: iPad. Echelon, located in my hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee, is offering a similar product to Peloton, but at a much lower entry price with its Echelon Connect Bikes. One of the ways they are doing that is by letting users leverage an iPad for the display instead of requiring them to use one built into the bike. In learning more about the product, I took a class on location at their studio using the EX3 bike.
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