iOS 8 will have health focus, work with iWatch, sources say
Apple's next mobile operating system will have an app called Healthbook, which will monitor your health and fitness, according to sources.
Apple is squeezing into its lycra jumpsuit and is getting ready to launch products with a health and fitness focus, according to a report.
Its next mobile operating system, iOS 8, will launch this year, and will double as a personal trainer, sources have told 9to5Mac. An app codenamed Healthbook will come as standard, and will monitor how many steps you've taken, how many calories you've burned, how many miles you've walked, as well as how much weight you've (hopefully) lost. It'll also play nice with Apple's much-rumoured iWatch timepiece.
As well as fitness stats, Healthbook will monitor your vital signs. These include blood pressure, hydration levels, heart rate, and glucose levels, sources tell 9to5Mac. You could also set it to remind you when it's time to take your pills.
I've contacted Apple for comment and will update this story if I hear back.
As the name suggests, Healthbook is likely to use a similar user interface to Passbook, Apple's digital replacement for wallets. You use it by swiping between virtual cards in a stack.
The iPhone 5S features Apple's M7 chip, which, the company said, will allow a new generation of health and fitness apps. But a wrist-worn device will be better placed for some functions, like monitoring blood pressure. This is where the iWatch comes in.
Healthbook could collate and display the health data recorded by the iWatch. (Apple recently hired an expert in using medical tech to measure blood glucose levels, whose knowledge could be used in the iWatch, let's not forget.)
According to the sources, iOS 8 is due to be released this year. If it does pack these new health monitoring skills, expect the iWatch to follow hot on its heels.
Do you use health and fitness apps? How could Apple improve them? What will the iWatch have to do to stand out from the crowd of fitness bands recently launched? Let me know in the comments, or jog on over to our Facebook page.