Apple Watch Adds Readiness Scores as Health App Gets Major Update

Apple has announced a new Readiness score for Apple Watch and a redesigned iPhone Health app, adding daily recovery guidance, a Health Age feature and tools that combine watch data with blood test results. Yes, Mark Gurman called this correctly yet again.

Readiness analyzes recent activity, vitals and sleep each morning to estimate how prepared your body is for the day. It provides a score with one of four recommendations: Recover, pace yourself, ready or go for it. The score can update throughout the day and appears on Apple Watch and in the iPhone Fitness app.

We’ve seen other health trackers offer readiness scores, so it’s nice to see Apple finally join the game.

The updated Heart Rate app and new watch face complications will display higher-frequency heart rate data. Heart rate variability, or HRV, also joins Vitals in both its overnight view and a new daytime view.

In the redesigned Health app, an Insights tab uses Apple Intelligence to summarize recent changes, such as sleep trends or a new VO2 max peak. It also offers personalized suggestions that adapt to users’ data, such as adding intervals to a regular run.

Health Age combines metrics including VO2 max and sleep with blood biomarkers to show how those measures compare with a user’s actual age. A new Longevity tab assesses areas such as sleep, movement and heart health against clinical guidance.

Users can manually add lab results or sync medical records. In the U.S., Apple says users will be able to order a panel covering more than 50 biomarkers for $119 US. Results are analyzed on iPhone alongside Apple Watch data, with related videos from clinical experts.

New movement and mobility assessments use iPhone and Apple Watch to evaluate physical performance and track progress. In a demonstrated VO2 max test, the iPhone camera tracked movement while a trainer demonstration and real-time instructions guided the user through stepping in place. This is pretty cool as now you can do a VO2 max test anywhere.

The redesigned Health app launches later this year, starting in U.S. English, with more languages to follow.