Apple’s upcoming watchOS 11 introduces the Vitals app, aiming to revolutionize health monitoring for Apple Watch users, particularly during sleep. Dr. Sumbul Desai, Apple’s Vice President of Health, highlighted the app’s capabilities in a recent announcement.
For years, Apple Watch has offered limited sleep tracking as part of its health and well-being features. With the introduction of watchOS 11, the Vitals app requires users to wear their Apple Watch while sleeping to obtain comprehensive health insights.
In an interview with CNET, Dr. Sumbul Desai explained that the Vitals app provides a daily health snapshot based on data collected by the Apple Watch during sleep. This includes metrics like sleep patterns, heart rate, respiratory rate, blood oxygen levels, and skin temperature while resting.
The app notifies users if any vital signs deviate from their normal baseline, emphasizing the importance of monitoring these metrics during sleep, when the body is in a more stable state compared to daytime activities.
“Many aspects of your health are invisible,” Desai stated. “This daily health snapshot is akin to a small overnight health report.”
Desai underscored that to derive meaningful insights from their Apple Watch data, users need to wear it consistently during sleep. The app compares each user’s health metrics to their personal baseline, rather than providing a universal score.
“The goal of the Vitals app is to detect changes in users’ lifestyles or unusual bodily responses,” Desai explained. For instance, changes in temperature due to alcohol consumption or variations in heart rate following caffeine cessation can be tracked effectively.
The Vitals app leverages data from ongoing studies like the Heart and Movement Study conducted in collaboration with the American Heart Association and Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard University. This research informs how the app reacts to different health indicators.
“We’re cautious about alerting users unnecessarily,” Desai reassured regarding app notifications. “Our approach ensures that when we do notify, it’s for meaningful reasons that warrant further attention.”
Users can anticipate experiencing the Vitals app firsthand with the release of watchOS 11 to the public in the fall.
