Like many other geeks around the world, I was glued to news from the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco yesterday evening.
WWDC is an annual event where technology giant Apple show off their latest operating systems and product developments.
One which caught my eye at WWDC 2014 was the launch of HealthKit.
This is being described as an entirely new way to use your health and fitness information. From Apple:
“The new Health app gives you an easy-to-read dashboard of your health and fitness data. And we’ve created a new tool for developers called HealthKit, which allows all the incredible health and fitness apps to work together, and work harder, for you. It just might be the beginning of a health revolution.”
People are already using their smartphones to log and track a variety of health data.
My own daily routine includes measuring my resting heart rate before getting out of bed and recording my weight. Every workout is logged in Garmin Connect and Runkeeper.
I use iPhone apps to record these figures, but rarely review historic data or look for trends.
Other iPhone apps for tracking health data include calories burned, sleep quality, blood sugar levels and cholesterol. What the new Health app will be able to do is bring all of this data together, presenting it in a single location and making it easier to get a clear overview of your health.
I’ve written before about the desire many of us have to live a healthy retirement. In my opinion, the single most important non-financial step you can take is to stay in good health throughout your life.
The development of more health tracking apps and connectivity between devices could be good news for those who plan to take their health seriously in later life.
I can already imagine a time when individuals log a variety of data, monitor trends and share this information with their doctors, allowing them to collaborate in order to build an effective long-term plan to maintain excellent health.
Hopefully at WWDC 2015 we will see the launch of MoneyKit, bringing a similar philosophy to Financial Planning apps.
