The Apple Watch might be handy for counting how many calories you've burned, but the company wants it to do even more. According to Bloomberg, Apple is working on new apps for the Apple Watch; which would monitor and track sleep patterns and heart rate.
While the current Apple Watch already tracks heart rate, it doesn't do anything with the information. The new apps are said to be more diagnostic in nature. Health experts who work for Apple are said to be "building improved electronic health record software that can better analyze and understand the implications of patient data".
In a conference at Amsterdam, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that tracking your health with the Apple Watch should be a similar necessity to keeping tabs with your car's performance.
"If you drive for a while and your car gets too hot, it says pull over. If you need an oil change, it says check your oil. What's the equivalent for the body?" Cook said. "The holy grail of the watch is being able to monitor more and more of what's going on in your body. If you could have a device that knew so much about you, it would be incredible, and would extend life and extend quality. I'm not saying one device will do all of that," he continued.
While there are many advantages to Apple's planned improvements for the Apple Watch, there are also several issues that might hinder it. As Cook admitted, health tracking and diagnosis won't happen from one single device. Also, the current Apple Watch has a short 10-hour battery life, which would make sleep tracking a bit difficult.
Despite these factors, Apple is set to carry on with the HealthKit improvements one step at a time. In a statement in his LinkedIn profile, Apple Health engineer Mohan Randhava said that he will be working on building "a set of application programs" that will change health care in the U.S. for the first time.
