Since iOS8 we can install HealthKit apps on our iPhones. These apps are linked with the Health app from Apple; which means that you can send all kinds of health and sports data to the Health app and data can be taken out to use in many other applications. Therefore you only need to capture data once and use the app as a health dashboard for all your pursuits – from food to weight pattern and number of steps to sleep behavior. We chose the 10 best apps for HealthKit that you can use right now.
Please note that synchronizing with the Health app only works if you have installed iOS 8.0.2 or later. After installing the apps you usually get a pop up that allows you to specify which data you want to share with the Health app. But it can also happen that you just have to dive into the settings to find them.
Active sporting and exercise apps
With the apps that we mention below, you can record your exercise. In addition, the sensors in the iPhone often measures how active you’ve been, but there are also apps that mostly show the exercises and guide you in performing it.
Human – Activity & Calorie Tracker
This app keeps track whether you exercise daily 30 minutes. In the latest update of the several improvements have been made for iOS 8. For example you can check your progress using the widget on the Today screen. The collaboration with the Health app means that you can send your data to Health, so other apps can read the measurements. Human can now also read your body weight from other apps, to give a better estimate of the calories burned.
7 Minute Workout
There are many apps for the 7 minute workout, but this one already has support for HealthKit. After giving permission the app sends the calories burned to the Health app, so other apps can access them again. In the 7 minute workout you do each exercise for 30 seconds, interspersed with 10 seconds pause. You can do it anywhere, even in a hotel room or secretly during your work, when nobody is looking.
CARROT Fit
With CARROT Fit makes exercising less boring. This is an app made by the same people behind the other apps, such as the CARROT Alarm. Actually, it is a 7 minute workout, with another 12 additional exercises that you can unlock with an in-app purchase. Cooperation with HealthKit means that you can synchronize your weight and activity with the Health app. CARROT can also import data from other sports apps.
FitStar
FitStar is a personal trainer that you get for less than just 30 dollars per year. In return, you get customized training. The workouts automatically adapt to your performance goals. There are HD videos available to explain how to do the exercises and you can even play the workouts on the Apple TV, so you can continue your workout together in the living room. FitStar could make all connection with FitBit, Jawbone UP and MyFitnessPal to automatically read in your weight and activity. It has now also support for HealthKit.
Running and Walking with Endomondo
Endomondo was the first great running and sportapp which supported Apple’s Health app. Because of the problems with iOS8 and HealthKit, the Endomondo app had to be temporarily withdrawn again. But the version currently in the App Store is already made adjustments for iOS 8, including interconnection with Apple’s Health app. The app can send three types of information to the Health app: the distance you walk and run, the distance you ride and the number of calories you burn during exercise. Endomondo collects information when you use the app during exercise.
UP by Jawbone
Previously Jawbone had an app which required a fitness wristband
Other sports and exercise apps
There are many more apps that are customized for HealthKit and Health app. These are some other sports apps:
FitPort – Your Fitness Dashboard – FitPort was the first useful app for HealthKit. This is a dashboard, similar to the Health-app.
Wahoo Fitness – Bluetooth Powered Cycling and Running Workout Tracker – An app that lets you run, cycle and fitness. The link with HealthKit ensures automatic storage of data such as distance, calories and heart rate.
RunGap – Workout Tracker – RunGap can read data from multiple services such as Garmin, Endomondo, RunKeeper, Strava and runtastic. Handy if your friends use different services. Now with HealthKit, so you can share your sports data with more apps.
Garmin Connect™ Mobile – The central app for all sport watches, bicycle sensors and other sports accessories from Garmin can now HealthKit too.
Fitnet Personal Fitness Workouts – This app is a personal fitness plan, including more than 200 videos to help you on your way. You can shre the workouts with HealthKit.
Zova – Rhythm Based Fitness: Achieve and Maintain Your Workout Goal – Zova contains a collection of workouts that specifically targets women. You do the exercises to music and the rhythm stimulates enormously. Newly published app and immediately suitable for HealthKit.
Strava GPS Running and Cycling – By far the most popular app for bikers and cyclists. As with similar running and cycling apps, Strava captures the route later determine and measures how fast you are driving from A to B. All data is forwarded to the Health app.
Runtastic GPS Running, Walking, Jogging, Fitness Tracker and Marathon Training – One of the most popular running apps, now adapted for HealthKit. You can sync all your running activities effortlessly with HealthKit and Health app.
Map My Run – GPS Running and Workout Tracking with Calorie Counting – Yet another running-app, which shows your route on a map. Works just like the aforementioned apps with HealthKit by reading workout data.
HumanaVitality — a comprehensive wellness rewards program – A wellness program where you can earn Vitality Points. Especially designed to get you and your colleagues to the gym. Less focused on hard sports. The app reads the data in from other fitness apps via HealthKit.
Nutrition and diet
Apps that have to do with nutrition and diet, often only look at one measure: the calories. Anyone who knows a little about food, knows that only gives a glimpse of the whole picture, but fortunately there are also quite detailed apps that you can pass all kinds of information.
Noom Coach
Noom Coach will help you lose weight. The app creates a personalized plan to lose weight and thereby provides tips and feedback. The aim is to to permanently change your eating habits in instead of a crash diet. Every morning Noom Coach gives a number of things which you need to focus on and during the day you get motivation from the app. The HealthKit support ensures that you can read the burned calories from other apps.
Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker by MyFitnessPal
This app is widely used to track eating habits and calories. The creators of the app were quick to offer support for Apple’s Health app. You can send your eating summary from the app to health, but conversely also works: data read from the Health app can be used in MyFitnessPal so you do not have to enter it again. The app also reads weight and physical effort. After running with a different app, you see that reflected in the Health-app and in MyFitnessPal. Your daily calorie target is even adapted to it.
Yummly
Yummly contains more than one million recipes. You can also create a digital recipe book with your favorite cooking mixtures and baked goods. There’s also a shopping list in the app. Support for HealthKit means that you can keep track of your eating habits. The app does this by sending all eaten meals to the Health app.
Relaxation and sleep
With HealtKit it is of course not only about sports and food. There must also be time for relaxation. Apps use your heart rate to see how relaxed you are, or measure your sleep behavior on the basis of movements.
MotionX 24/7
MotionX 24/7 is an app that features all sorts of attempts to Combining not only sleep, but sleep cycle, right time to wake up, snoring, heart rate, weight loss and daily exercise. But the emphasis is on sleep and snoring. You put the iPhone for example in a sports armband
Omvana
With Omvana anyone can learn to meditate. The app contains a huge collection of meditation programs where you often have to pay for. Give Omvana access to consult your HealthKit data, you’ll get suggestions for matching relaxing music. Omvana use your birth date, blood pressure and heart rate to see how stressed you are. Then you get served a suitable meditation. That’s all: the app does not store data, it uses the data from the Health-only app to measure your stress level.
Centered
Learn to better cope with stress by using this app. Centered contains a holistic program to meditate and keeps track of whether you make enough time for it. There are two circles: one is directed to mindfulness, the other on the number of steps. The aim is to meet the two circles so that you are completely balanced.
Sleepio
This app wants to help you with your sleeping and does so convincingly with detailed explanations and many practical tips – that you will hear while lying in bed. Part of Sleepio is keeping the sleep you had previous nights. That information will be send to the Apple’s Health app. Sleepio was made by Professor Colin Espie of the University of Oxford. He is a cartoon character present in the app.