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WWDC 2023: Apple unveils health features for iOS 17, iPadOS 17 and watchOS 10. What are these?
Mental health and vision health are important, but often overlooked, the company said while announcing the features.
On day 1 of its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple unveiled a host of new products and features, including health-related ones for iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and watchOS 10, with a special emphasis on mental health.
“Our goal is to empower people to take charge of their own health journey. Mental health and vision health are important, but often overlooked, and we're excited to introduce features that offer valuable new insights to provide users with an even better understanding of their health,” an Apple release quoted Sumbul Desai, the company's Vice President, Health, as saying.
Mental Health
The Health (for iOS 17and iPadOS 17) and Mindfulness (in watchOS) apps allow users to express how they are feeling, ranging from ‘Pleasant’ to ‘Very Unpleasant.’
Here, they also get valuable insights to identify what exactly is contributing to their state of mind. Also, the depression and anxiety assessments often used in hospitals to determine an individual's ‘risk-level’, are easily available in the Health app.
Vision Health
The International Myopia Institute recommends 80-120 minutes outdoor minutes a day for kids. Accordingly, with watchOS 17, Apple Watch introduces the ability to measure the time spent in daylight, which can be done using the light ambient sensor. Children who do not have an iPhone can use Apple Watch's Family Setup to pair the Watch with their parent's iPhone. This way, parents, too, get to see the amount of time their kids are spending outdoors.
To lower the risk of Myopia, meanwhile, a feature called Screen Distance urge people to move their device away after the distance between them and the device has been less than 12 inches for an extended period of time.
Health app comes to iPad
iOS 17 brings the Health app to iPad, which has been designed in such a way that users get to see information from iPad, iPhone, Watch, as well as compatibly third-party devices, all in one place.
People can: track and manage their medications, use Cycle Tracking, log momentary emotions and daily moods, view available health records from multiple institutions, and more. They can also use iPadOS features such as Split View to multitask with other apps while viewing their health data.
