How to Set Up the Apple Health App
To start using the Apple Health app, add a bit of data about yourself to the app. To do that, follow these steps:
How to Share Data with the Health App
With that done, you should also see if you have any apps that can share data with the Health app. To do that, follow these steps:
Use the Apple Health Summary View
When you open the Health app, it defaults to the Summary tab, broken into two main sections: Favorites and Highlights. The Favorites section displays data you marked with a star for quick access. The Highlights section summarizes recent activity data for the current day (and all previous days, weeks, months, and years you have data for). The exact data shown here depends on the data you get from various apps and health devices. The common sorts of data listed here include:
Steps walked for the day.Activity rings from the Apple Watch Activity app.Flights of stairs climbed.Exercise minutes.Mindful minutes spent meditating.Heart rate data.
You can view more detail on any of the data displayed on the Summary view by tapping it. The data for the item you tapped shows as a graph and numbers when you do this. You can view all your data for this item that’s stored in the app by day, week, month, or year by tapping the D, W, M, or Y buttons across the top of the screen. This screen also offers other options:
Add to Favorites: Tap the Star icon to mark this data as a favorite and have it appear at the top of the Summary tab.Show All Data: Tap this to view all data in this category stored in the app, and drill down into the specifics of how and when it was recorded.Data Sources & Access: Tap this to see all the apps and devices recording the data used to get this total.Units: If a piece of data can be shown in multiple units (for instance, Walking Distance can be shown as either miles or kilometers), tap this and make your choice.
Use the Apple Health Browse View
While the Summary tab tracks your activity, the Browse tab includes a search tab and health information by Health Categories such as Activity, Mindfulness, Nutrition, and Sleep. Other sections of Health Categories track:
Body Measurements: This includes height, weight, and Body Mass Index. Cycle Tracking: This tool tracks menstrual cycle and related data. As of iOS 13, the Health app has built-in support for this, so you don’t need extra apps. Vitals: Vitals tracked include blood pressure, body temperature, blood glucose, and heart rate. Other Data: This catch-all category includes blood glucose and items such as insulin delivery, and blood alcohol content, among others.
The Health Records and Heart sections on the Browse tab offer the following features:
Health Records: If your doctor, hospital, or other healthcare provider uses an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system compatible with the Apple Healthkit framework, and if you have iOS 11.3 or higher, connect to it here and download your medical records. Follow the onscreen instructions and log in to your account to access your records, where available. Check the Apple website to see if your healthcare provider supports it. Heart: Get data about your heart rate, electrocardiogram (ECG), blood pressure, and other key data from a heart rate monitor, Apple Watch Series 4, or another device. For more about getting an ECG with your Apple Watch, read How to Use an Apple Watch ECG.
Manage Apple Health App Data Sources
You can view all the apps and devices that send data to the Health app from your profile. In addition to the apps and devices you currently use, this may include all previous iPhones, Apple Watches, and other devices that ever recorded data for the app. You can’t add or remove sources from this section of the app. Instead, you can make an app inactive or delete data from a device by following these steps:
Use the Apple Health App Medical ID
The last element of the Apple Health app is the Medical ID. This is the digital equivalent of emergency medical data that first responders and others can use in situations when you cannot provide this key information. The Medical ID can be accessed from the iPhone Emergency Calling screen, so if you’ve been in an accident, it’s still accessible. It provides basic data like your name, date of birth, emergency contacts, medical conditions, allergies, and more.
How to Back Up Health App Data
It’s important to back up your Health data. After all, if you’ve been tracking your exercise, weight, blood sugar, or other health data for years, you don’t want to lose that data when you upgrade to a new iPhone or restore your iPhone from backup. You can automatically back up your Health data to iCloud. To do that, follow these steps: Apple encrypts your Health data during backup and transit to iCloud. If backing up sensitive data in the cloud makes you uncomfortable, back up your data to a computer. Learn more by reading How to Backup Your iPhone.
