• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechBrainstorm Tech

Apple’s Big iPhone Health Push Has Begun in Earnest

By
David Meyer
David Meyer
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
David Meyer
David Meyer
Down Arrow Button Icon
April 28, 2016, 9:00 AM ET
Photograph by YASUYOSHI CHIBA AFP/Getty Images

Apple(AAPL) has started rolling out CareKit, the toolset it’s giving app makers to help them create medical services for iPhones.

The first four apps to take advantage of the tools include Glow’s Nurture and Baby apps, Iodine’s Start app for monitoring depression medication, and the One Drop diabetes-tracking app.

With these launch partners now having released their CareKit-enabled apps, Apple on Thursday released the toolset to all developers that want to use them.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

CareKit is a set of modules that app developers can integrate into their products—one for tracking medication and physical therapy, one for recording symptoms, one for using that information about symptoms to see how well treatments are working, and one for sharing medical data with doctors and family members.

The Glow fertility and pregnancy apps, for example, now tap into the Connect data-sharing feature to make it easier for a pregnant woman to alert her doctors or caregivers if she develops a fever. The Start app is using the medication-tracking feature to help people stick to their prescribed therapy, and it also uses Connect to allow users to send progress reports to their doctors.

As for One Drop, the app now lets users log their food intake and helps them take the right dosage of medication. Users can also track pain, hunger, and dizziness symptoms and map them against their glucose levels.

For more on Apple, watch:

The tracking takes place not only through what the users themselves observe, but through the sensors in their iPhones and Apple Watches—for example, the accelerometers in the iPhone can help people track their activity levels, and the Apple Watch has a heart rate sensor.

That’s a good thing, certainly, but a lot of doctors remain skeptical about “health” apps and how effective they really are.

These are early days for the field, and now that tools such as those in CareKit are getting out there, it’s up to developers and medical professionals to see what’s really possible and test how well it works.

About the Author
By David Meyer
LinkedIn icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Politics
Peter Thiel warns the Antichrist and apocalypse are linked to the ‘end of modernity’ currently happening—and cites Greta Thunberg as a driving example
By Nick LichtenbergFebruary 4, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Success
After decades in the music industry, Pharrell Williams admits he never stops working: ‘If you do what you love everyday, you’ll get paid for free'
By Emma BurleighFebruary 3, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Trump may have shot himself in the foot at the Fed, as Powell could stay on while Miran resigns from White House post
By Eleanor PringleFebruary 4, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Investing
Tech stocks go into free fall as it dawns on traders that AI has the ability to cut revenues across the board
By Jim EdwardsFebruary 4, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Investing
Ray Dalio warns the world is ‘on the brink’ of a capital war of weaponizing money—and gold is the best way for people to protect themselves
By Sasha RogelbergFebruary 4, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Commentary
I've studied nonviolent resistance in war zones for 20 years and Minnesota reminds me of Colombia, the Philippines and Syria
By Oliver Kaplan and The ConversationFebruary 3, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.


Latest in Tech

Sam Altman speaking into a mic.
AIOpenAI
OpenAI’s new model leaps ahead in coding capabilities—but raises unprecedented cybersecurity risks
By Sharon GoldmanFebruary 5, 2026
2 hours ago
tiktok
CybersecuritySocial Media
Gen Z are rebelling against TikTok USA by installing another app—founded by an Oracle alum
By Nick LichtenbergFebruary 5, 2026
3 hours ago
Amodei
Big TechBattle for Talent
Tech giants are shelling out up to $400K for AI evangelists to defend against surging American skepticism
By Jake AngeloFebruary 5, 2026
5 hours ago
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy
AIEye on AI
Hey Alexa—Amazon may be teaming up with OpenAI. Here’s why that matters
By Sharon GoldmanFebruary 5, 2026
5 hours ago
Palmer Luckey,
SuccessCareers
Forget a degree—$30 billion defense startup Anduril will fast-track your job application if you can win its AI drone-flying contest
By Preston ForeFebruary 5, 2026
6 hours ago
lewis, lee
InvestingMarkets
Michael Lewis and Tom Lee hold court on the $1 trillion software-stock carnage: ‘I think fear is not a bad thing to be long right now’
By Nick LichtenbergFebruary 5, 2026
7 hours ago