Apple HealthKit Second Impressions

Mark Davis November 14, 2014

Not long after last month’s Healthkit post, Jawbone updated their Blue app so it would connect directly with HealhtKit. So instead of data being transmitted from Blue Jawbone to Purple Jawbone to HealthKit, it now goes from Blue Jawbone to HealthKit directly. They did it quietly, with any communication to band owners. One day the app updated in the background and it was there. (Customer management, anybody?) So, the data flow got a lot simpler and the way it should be.

However, I haven’t been returning to the health app very often. There’s not much to look at, just a couple of charts. It’s an interchange platform. If I wasn’t in the health industry I would barely know about it.

When elephants dance it’s the ants that get crushed, the saying goes. This is very true in tech, particularly when an elephant like Apple makes a big move. In this case, Apple created HealthKit – a nascent healthcare interchange platform. There was already a very interesting interchange platform in early rollout called TicTrac. TicTrac is a platform the connects all of the leading wearables out there, keeping everything in one place. It also allows you to create goals and projects using your data, and provides strong visualizations. You can contract with TicTrack to develop you own branded health programs integrating all theses sources. In a lot of ways it’s what HealthKit could become.

TicTrac is a fine platform but it’s hard to compete against an emerging standard like HealthKit backed by a company like Apple. I recently saw the founders at an Ad Week conference, Health, Wellness & Wearables. They were optimistic about the future, but they will have to find a niche to thrive in.

In spite of HealthKit’s rather basic current state, the future looks bright. Mobile Health News just did a terrific rundown of 137 mobile apps with HealthKit connectivity. Here’s the article.

Based on MobiHealthNews’ analysis, here’s a quick breakdown of the top 10 most popular data types pushed to HealthKit and the top 10 most pulled:

Number of apps pushing various kinds of data (or “writing”) to Apple HealthKit.

34 percent of HealthKit apps (46) are pushing active calories data.

20 percent of HealthKit apps (28) are pushing weight data.

18 percent of HealthKit apps (25) are writing heart rate data.

18 percent (24) are pushing workouts data to HealthKit, even though the Apple Health app doesn’t have such a field.

15 percent of HealthKit apps (21) are feeding step count data into the platform.

15 percent (20) are sharing walking and running distance data with HealthKit.

10 percent of HealthKit apps (14) are pushing out sleep analysis data.

9 percent (12) are sharing nutrition data with the HealthKit ecosystem.

8 percent (11) are pushing out blood pressure data with HealthKit.

7 percent of HealthKit apps (9) are writing cycling distance data.

Number of apps pulling various kinds of data (or “reading”) from Apple HealthKit.

23 percent of HealthKit apps (32) are pulling weight data.

16 percent (22) are integrating step count data from HealthKit.

12 percent (17) are using active calories data from the platform.

10 percent of HealthKit apps (14) are using heart rate data pulled from the system.

10 percent (14) are pulling down blood pressure data from HealthKit.

9 percent (13) make use of walking and running distance data retrieved from HealthKit.

9 percent (13) are pulling nutrition data from HealthKit.

9 percent of HealthKit apps (12) are using sleep analysis data from the platform.

7 percent of HealthKit-connected apps are using the platform to pull in a user’s height.

7 percent (9) are pulling in a user’s birthdate from HealthKit.

Additionally, they report on some telemedicine app and patient engagement apps that are breaking new ground. It’s a good read.Even at just the tracker level, like my Jawbone Up, there’s a big upside. Harris Interactive just did a poll and found:

Nearly half of Americans are extremely or very interested in being able to check their blood pressure (48%) or their heart and heartbeat for irregularities (47%) on their smartphone or tablet, with an additional 23% and 22%, respectively, saying they’re somewhat interested. Perhaps the most common health application for mobile devices right now is the variety of apps and peripherals which can be used to track physical activity, and 43% of Americans say they’re extremely or very interested in this (with an additional 25% somewhat interested).

Add to this the transformation that will likely take place with the Apple Watch next Spring, and wearables are going to have an interesting year in 2015.