Luke Szkudlarek - @LukeSz

iOS HealthKit API Observations for non-developers

13th July 2014

Luke Szkudlarek - @LukeSz

Why HealthKit APIThere are a lot of fitness Apps

Limited compatibility and data sharing between apps and devices

Developers spend time developing libraries to store/share data

HealthKit API was created to make data sharing, storing, analysis easier for developers

Luke Szkudlarek - @LukeSz

HealthKit API - Features- Central place for all health information, like an aggregator for all of your medical data

- Apps can now store and retrieve data in/from iOS HealthKit

- HealthKit can store various types of data, characteristics such as Blood type or DOB, and dynamic such as Pulse, number of steps, kcal burnt

- HKObject holds the data, its source could be anything e.g. step tracker, blood sugar monitor, other bluetooth devices

- HKObserverQuery will also notify every time data changes - meaning e.g. kcal count can be updated in real time

- Statistical data - interface to retrieve discrete (min, max, avg) and cumulative (sum) data and offers methods for more complex data calculations

- Offers some predefined meta data e.g. HKMetadataKeyFoodType, could be useful for kcal analysis

- iPhone only

Luke Szkudlarek - @LukeSz

HealthKit API - Benefits - Could be powerful once connected to wearable devices/data sources. It has a good integration mechanisms for bluetooth devices. It opens doors to a lot of wereables and 3rd party apps.

- Makes localisation easier by offering formatting data types & unit conversion (e.g. imperial to metric), important if your app is available worldwide

- Hardware vendors will be working hard to make their devices support HealthKit, which will essentially make iPhone the central data collector.

- Makes data patient sharing easier and researchers, other apps could benefit this from the information collected by 3rd party hardware, e.g. FitBit’s data can now be easily used in other apps.

- Opens a lot of possibilities for fitness apps, care, health monitoring

- Consider Privacy and Permissions settings (users have to agree to share data, this will be per object type, separate read and write permissions), this could present some challenges, but it’s good that Apple have protected this important information.

- Apple announced partnership with Epic, Mayo Clinic for HealthKit

Luke Szkudlarek - @LukeSz

App ideas and possible integrations- Patient data sharing - opens possibilities for hospitals, doctors to have an insight into patient’s data, integrations with hospital software will make this possible. It could change the way hospitals operate.

- Health monitoring and alerts - makes automated messaging and alerts possible, could be incredibly useful.

- Data intelligence - imagine all the information in place - workouts, blood pressure, blood sugar etc. there are a lot of possibilities for integrations, from more accurate symptom checkers to diabetes monitoring or virtual workout apps - that can adjust the intensity of your training based on your symptoms and readings.

- Medical insurance applications - apps that will validate the state of your health and could reduce/increase your insurance premium.

- Medication self-management - accurate recommendations based on data, patients will be able to evaluate effectiveness of medication and possibly adjust frequency/dose.

- Fitness tracking and risks - medical data can help understand individual capacity and training potential, this could reduce the risks of injury and improve the effectiveness of training

- Sleep quality monitoring

Luke Szkudlarek - @LukeSz

In the news...- On 25th June 2014 Google announced a similar data aggregation library called Google Fit

- Samsung announced SAMI and Simband platform, which will be able to compete with Google and Apple

- Hardware vendors started taking sides and it will be interesting to see what devices are available on each of the platforms

Luke Szkudlarek - @LukeSz

Sources- WWDC 2014 slides and videos

- https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/ios/samplecode/Fit/Introduction/Intro.html (FitnessApp sample code for tracking kcal)

- http://www.ianwaring.com/2014/06/05/an-initial-dive-into-apples-new-health-app-and-healthkit-api/

- http://9to5mac.com/2014/06/05/healthkit-supports-some-bluetooth-products-natively-lets-accessory-makers-skip-app-development/

- https://www.klick.com/health/news/blog/development/ios-8-healthkit-a-developers-perspective/

- http://www.theverge.com/2014/6/25/5842000/google-announces-google-fit-to-organize-all-of-your-health-data

- http://mashable.com/2014/06/27/healthkit-google-fit-apps/

- http://ehrintelligence.com/2014/06/17/apple-google-samsung-begin-fight-for-mhealth-dominance/