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Apple brings back its redesigned Health app for testing

The iPhone giant released iOS 27.3 beta 1 with the overhauled Health app it pulled from the final iOS 27.2 build, adding an Insights tab, a Longevity tab and camera-based fitness assessments ahead of a wider rollout next month.

by TechDefused · Edited by IL
The image shows a close-up of a person's hand holding a pen over a tablet on a desk. A stethoscope is visible, indicating a medical setting, possibly related to healthcare work. — Credit: Photo by Nappy on Unsplash c Photo by Nappy on Unsplash

Apple released iOS 27.3 beta 1, reintroducing a redesigned Health app that developers first saw in the iOS 27.2 beta before it was stripped out of that version's final release.

Its release notes at the time said the app had only ever been intended for the earlier beta, and that users' data remained visible in Settings even without it.

The app now returns with three features Apple detailed in a company announcement: an Insights tab surfacing daily summaries across heart, sleep, readiness, fitness, vitals and cycle tracking.

It is paired with a "For You" section of personalised recommendations and clinician-made videos and articles.

A Longevity tab tracks seven longer-term areas: heart health, sleep, mental wellbeing, movement, metabolic health, hearing and nutrition.

At its centre is a Health Age score, which compares a user's real age with measures taken by the Apple Watch.

These include VO2 max, a gauge of how efficiently the body uses oxygen during exercise, as well as resting heart rate, sleep and heart rate variability.

Users can also add blood test results, such as A1c, which tracks blood sugar, and LDL, often called bad cholesterol.

The third new feature lets people carry out physical assessments at home, using the iPhone camera and Apple Watch.

It measures flexibility, strength, balance, how the body moves and VO2 max.

Apple said the video analysis runs entirely on the device, and no footage is recorded, stored or shared.

The returning Insights tab is built to support Apple Intelligence-powered Personal Guidance, while the earlier 27.2 beta had also tested readiness scoring for Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 owners and a public beta with 17 guided assessments.

by TechDefused