Fitness, health & well-being

3 min read

FEATURE Amazing iPhone hacks

Fitness, Health & Well-being

Use your iPhone to guard your physical and mental health

You can log your moods and keep an eye on your mental well-being in the Health app.

One of the best things about the iPhone’s Health app is its versatility. You can link many health-related apps offered by third parties to your Apple Health app, allowing health and medical data gleaned by the third-party app to be imported into Health. This is especially useful for apps that support health-related peripherals such as smart scales, fitness monitors and blood pressure meters. Set up your device, pair it with its dedicated app and then link that app with Health, and information it records is imported into your Health app.

To link a third-party app with Health, open the Health app and tap your account picture in the top-right corner. Under Privacy, tap Apps and Services and then tap the app you want to link. Choose what you want to share with Health there.

Personal check-in

A new feature that arrived in the Health app with iOS 17 is logging your moods. Open the Health app and, in the Browse tab (foot of the screen), tap Mental Wellbeing then State of Mind. Tap Get Started, or Log if you’ve used this feature before. Tap Emotion then Next, and input how you feel. At the end of the day, do the same for your overall Mood. You can then review your potential level of anxiety or depression in Browse > Mental Wellbeing.

Another new feature is Screen Distance. This is turned on by default for children under 13 in a Family Sharing group. It alerts when you hold your iPhone too close to your face for extended periods (at least 30cm away is recommended). To turn it on and off, go to Settings >Screen Time > Screen Distance.

Top 5 apps that link with the Health app

>Free (IAP) withings.com

>This app records readings from Withings’ health devices and compiles them together. It works seamlessly with Apple Health, enabling you to keep your information in one place.

>Free (IAP) helloclue.com

>Track your menstrual cycle, predict when your period will start and find out when you’re most fertile. You can sync data with Apple Health, the app’s developed by scientists, and your data is secure.

>Free garmin.com

>If you use a Garmin fitness tracker, you can use this app to record your progress and sync it with your iPhone’s Health