{"slug": "apple-health", "name": "Apple Health", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 12, "warners": 1, "score": 4.75, "rising": 0.02, "first": "2025-11-10", "latest": "2026-10-15", "why": "It's e2ee and only part of your icloud backup if you enable it.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 7, "compare": 0, "warn": 1}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "It's e2ee and only part of your icloud backup if you enable it.", "kind": "", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.apple.com/health/", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Apple Health"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 801780976, "item_id": 50111311, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50111311", "by": "nonfamous", "date": "2026-10-15", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Saving my data in Apple Health is the *primary* reason I bought those devices.", "excerpt": "I own a couple of Withings devices (a scale, and a blood pressure monitor) and this doesn\u2019t affect me (for now!) as an existing user, but it still infuriates me. Saving my data in Apple Health is the *primary* reason I bought those devices. Relatedly, I switched blood glucose monitor brands because my first device (Libre) did not sync to Apple Health: the data was locked in the device app where it was functionally us", "context": "", "use_case": "health data history", "switched_from": "", "story": "New Withings Users Must Pay $99/Year for Apple Health Syncing"}, {"id": 783050850, "item_id": 48940678, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48940678", "by": "Cider9986", "date": "2026-07-16", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "List of recommended ones:", "excerpt": "List of recommended ones: https://www.privacyguides.org/en/health-and-wellness/#menstrual-cycle-tracking >Drip, Euki, and Apple Health", "context": "", "use_case": "Menstrual cycle tracking", "switched_from": "", "story": "The privacy problems hidden in your period tracker"}, {"id": 783049568, "item_id": 48940598, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48940598", "by": "consonaut", "date": "2026-07-16", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It's e2ee and only part of your icloud backup if you enable it.", "excerpt": "It's e2ee and only part of your icloud backup if you enable it. And you can separately manage read/write access from other apps. https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/security/sec88be9900f/web", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "The privacy problems hidden in your period tracker"}, {"id": 757187792, "item_id": 47324237, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47324237", "by": "runjake", "date": "2026-03-10", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I just silently log data to Apple Health and use it for medical histories", "excerpt": "You're equating two different things here: \"building a custom web application\" with \"quantified self\". These are two entirely different things. Felix's statement isn't a condemnation of quantified self. I think that sometimes, when you're applying algorithms that aren't well-studied, you get pointless or bogus data. I feel much this way about sleep tracking algorithms from the likes of Apple and Whoop. Vitals, too, a", "context": "", "use_case": "Health data logging", "switched_from": "", "story": "I put my whole life into a single database"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 757444769, "item_id": 47340298, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47340298", "by": "MegaMaddin", "date": "2026-03-11", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "Apple's built-in export gives you a giant XML blob that chokes most tools", "excerpt": "I'm a runner with years of data sitting in Apple Health. Paces, heart rate, distance, elevation, all of it. I wanted to feed this into an LLM to help me build a personal training plan, analyse some trends, and spot patterns across the season. Seemed like this should be straightforward. But it's not. Apple's built-in export gives you a giant XML blob that chokes most tools, iff you're able to export the data in the fi", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Vitalina: Export Your Apple Health Data as CSV/JSON"}]}], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["health data history", "health data export", "menstrual cycle tracking", "tracking inhaler usage", "hearing test results", "health data logging"], "compared": [{"slug": "whatsapp", "name": "WhatsApp", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48939641", "title": "The privacy problems hidden in your period tracker", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48299220", "title": "What Apple and Google are doing to your push notifications", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50109375", "title": "New Withings Users Must Pay $99/Year for Apple Health Syncing", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49677648", "title": "Giving up on smart rings", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49586902", "title": "Show HN: Kad\u014d \u2013 open-source habit tracker, with non-binary habit score, for iOS", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48036190", "title": "What I Learned Making an App for My Family", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"neutral": 1}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {"recommend": 1, "warn": 1, "neutral": 1}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {"neutral": 3}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {"neutral": 2}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 1}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 801780976, "item_id": 50111311, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50111311", "by": "nonfamous", "date": "2026-10-15", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Saving my data in Apple Health is the *primary* reason I bought those devices.", "excerpt": "I own a couple of Withings devices (a scale, and a blood pressure monitor) and this doesn\u2019t affect me (for now!) as an existing user, but it still infuriates me. Saving my data in Apple Health is the *primary* reason I bought those devices. Relatedly, I switched blood glucose monitor brands because my first device (Libre) did not sync to Apple Health: the data was locked in the device app where it was functionally us", "context": "", "use_case": "health data history", "switched_from": "", "story": "New Withings Users Must Pay $99/Year for Apple Health Syncing"}, {"id": 795469344, "item_id": 49716834, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49716834", "by": "tencentshill", "date": "2026-09-15", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "You can export all data in xml", "excerpt": "You can export all data in xml https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/share-your-health-data-iph5ede58c3d/ios", "context": "", "use_case": "Health data export", "switched_from": "", "story": "Giving up on smart rings"}, {"id": 793435872, "item_id": 49589742, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49589742", "by": "teamv02", "date": "2026-09-06", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "auto-logged based on Apple Health history", "excerpt": "I\u2019m releasing something similar but auto-logged based on Apple Health history. Feel free to email me via this site if anyone wants to TestFlight it.. I\u2019m currently rebuilding the UI but the next release should be available for testing in the next week. https://teamvagner.com/streak-life/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Kad\u014d \u2013 open-source habit tracker, with non-binary habit score, for iOS"}, {"id": 783050850, "item_id": 48940678, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48940678", "by": "Cider9986", "date": "2026-07-16", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "List of recommended ones:", "excerpt": "List of recommended ones: https://www.privacyguides.org/en/health-and-wellness/#menstrual-cycle-tracking >Drip, Euki, and Apple Health", "context": "", "use_case": "Menstrual cycle tracking", "switched_from": "", "story": "The privacy problems hidden in your period tracker"}, {"id": 783049568, "item_id": 48940598, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48940598", "by": "consonaut", "date": "2026-07-16", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It's e2ee and only part of your icloud backup if you enable it.", "excerpt": "It's e2ee and only part of your icloud backup if you enable it. And you can separately manage read/write access from other apps. https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/security/sec88be9900f/web", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "The privacy problems hidden in your period tracker"}, {"id": 772998657, "item_id": 48312416, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48312416", "by": "mannanj", "date": "2026-05-28", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "", "excerpt": "\"Notifications are like alarms other people set for you\" Naval Ravikant said this years ago and it stuck with me. Taking a page from your book, I have 0 notifications. I practice notification 0 and have done it for about a half decade now, and it's absolutely liberating and freeing. I found I needed to remove the apps from my phone Home Screen to feel this, as otherwise even their icon presence when opening my phone ", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "What Apple and Google are doing to your push notifications"}, {"id": 772933826, "item_id": 48308364, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48308364", "by": "miki123211", "date": "2026-05-28", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "", "excerpt": "The worst are apps that bundle genuinely urgent notifications with maketing brain-manipulation promotional crap. Uber is a notorious example. I do genuinely want Uber notifications for when I use Uber. I do not care about whatever promotion it pushes at me.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "What Apple and Google are doing to your push notifications"}, {"id": 768761568, "item_id": 48047598, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48047598", "by": "avicado0o", "date": "2026-05-07", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I used 'inhaler usage' on apple health app as a proxy for cigarette counter.", "excerpt": "Oh nice! kinda funny story : I wanted the exact same thing as you a while ago so I used 'inhaler usage' on apple health app as a proxy for cigarette counter. Also i know cigarettes & vapers do not always mix, but man I do always dream of creating a vape that can be set to a limited number of puffs/hour. It's probably the only way of actually controlling it or at least warning you, like you mentioned. But still, fun t", "context": "", "use_case": "Tracking inhaler usage", "switched_from": "", "story": "What I Learned Making an App for My Family"}, {"id": 758068256, "item_id": 47379266, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47379266", "by": "highpost", "date": "2026-03-14", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "You can also load your hearing test results", "excerpt": "Apple Earbuds cost $19 while AirPods Pro 3 cost $250. If one of the pods flies out of your ear on the Fremont Bridge, it's a pretty bad day. I should get over it. You can also load your hearing test results (from either an audiologist or a hearing test app like https://mimi.io/products/mimi-hearing-test-app) into Apple Health and then use them with your Earbuds.", "context": "", "use_case": "hearing test results", "switched_from": "", "story": "Wired headphone sales are exploding. What's with the Bluetooth backlash?"}, {"id": 757444769, "item_id": 47340298, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47340298", "by": "MegaMaddin", "date": "2026-03-11", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "Apple's built-in export gives you a giant XML blob that chokes most tools", "excerpt": "I'm a runner with years of data sitting in Apple Health. Paces, heart rate, distance, elevation, all of it. I wanted to feed this into an LLM to help me build a personal training plan, analyse some trends, and spot patterns across the season. Seemed like this should be straightforward. But it's not. Apple's built-in export gives you a giant XML blob that chokes most tools, iff you're able to export the data in the fi", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Vitalina: Export Your Apple Health Data as CSV/JSON"}, {"id": 757187792, "item_id": 47324237, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47324237", "by": "runjake", "date": "2026-03-10", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I just silently log data to Apple Health and use it for medical histories", "excerpt": "You're equating two different things here: \"building a custom web application\" with \"quantified self\". These are two entirely different things. Felix's statement isn't a condemnation of quantified self. I think that sometimes, when you're applying algorithms that aren't well-studied, you get pointless or bogus data. I feel much this way about sleep tracking algorithms from the likes of Apple and Whoop. Vitals, too, a", "context": "", "use_case": "Health data logging", "switched_from": "", "story": "I put my whole life into a single database"}, {"id": 733986993, "item_id": 45874187, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45874187", "by": "dewey", "date": "2025-11-10", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Strava and Apple Health integration is cool!", "excerpt": "Strava and Apple Health integration is cool! What was your main differentiator to build it vs something like https://fogofworld.app?", "context": "", "use_case": "health data", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (Nov 2025)"}]}