Could sleep tracking be coming to Apple Watch? According to sources speaking to Bloomberg, the company is working on such an app, while another new app will gauge fitness levels based on timed heart rate spikes.
Sources also also note Apple is looking at health as its next disruptor, with its recent scores of expert hires aimed at creating software to better analyze patient data. The end goal for Apple and its medical team is to evolve HealthKit into a tool to improve diagnoses for people, claim sources.
As Bloomberg notes, Apple could solve interoperatiblity and analysis in the medical industry, allowing data to easily be transferred between hospitals, while making it easier for doctors to extract important points from vast amounts client information. The $8 trillion global health-care industry is seen as a big opportunity, ripe for disruption.
For those hoping for more sensors in Apple Watch, such as a glucometer or blood-pressure sensor, that would not help the majority of users, claim sources familiar with Apple’s plan, noting an accelerometer can produce useful data on a person’s general well-being. Also, any added health sensors would require FDA approval, seen as a tougher hurdle to cross.
Toronto doctor Mike Evans, recently revealed he was hired by Apple to work in a new health innovation role at the company, after he was discovered via his popular YouTube health series.
Rumours of Apple Watch including more sensors in the future were reported two years ago, but in the latest update, we only saw the addition of GPS, an extra microphone hole, added water resistance and an improved display. Other far-reaching claims have said new sensors could be built into upcoming watch bands.
Apple Watch battery life just isn’t ready for sleep tracking yet. While we can easily get a full day’s usage out of Apple Watch, wearing it to track sleep would mean the battery would be nearly depleted by the time you wake up. What do you do then? Charge the device in the morning?
