How to share Health data and other improvements in iOS 15

by Jonny Evans · October 7, 2021

Health app is becoming an increasingly important resource for anyone attempting to monitor their own physical condition

As time moves forward the Health app is becoming an increasingly important resource for anyone attempting to monitor their own physical condition. You can now see how certain characteristics change over time, which may provide you with warning of illness. Now you can easily share your information with others so they can help you. What you need to know:

What’s new in Health in iOS 15?

Health gathers information concerning your health and activity from your iPhone, Apple Watch and other apps and devices. The new Health Sharing feature is designed to make it easy to share that data with family, friends and caregivers.

The app also gains a selection of new fields in iOS 15, including Walking Steadiness and better trend analysis. You’ll also find a new Labs section which can direct you to local labs for health checking, and gather things like evidence of COVID immunization – all within the app. We’ll look at the new features later, but first let’s explore how to share Health data.

How to share your Health data

The idea behind this sharing feature is that you and all your friends and family members can keep an eye on each other’s health. This kind of positive reinforcement can make all the difference in terms of achieving positive self-care.

Also read: Apple Watch gains yet another life-saving heart health tool

When you share you’ll be alerted to any changes, and will be able to dig down into individual people’s records to see how they are faring, including a glimpse at their Activity wheel. Everyone can also share just the information they want to share.

To share your data:

Open Health>Sharing.
Tap Share with Someone.
You’ll be given a search bar in which you should enter the name of the person you wish to share this information with.
If they have a supporting device you’ll be able to share this information and hteir name will show up in blue.
You can then decide which of your health metrics you wish to share. You may want to share your Resting Heart Rate or Steps Taken, for example.
Information shared with you is made available in the new Sharing section.

NB: Only a summary is shared, not the full details. People you share with will also get access to notifications. These can be set to include irregular heart rhythm notifications

You can share data from the Health app  with your healthcare team, including activity, heart, cycle tracking, irregular rhythm notifications, falls, and more. This feature will be available in the U.S., starting with support from Allscripts, athenahealth, CPSI, Cerner, DrChrono, and Meditech.

New feature: What is Walking Steadiness?

Available on iPhone 8 or later, this feature tracks your balance, gait, and steadiness when you walk using a custom algorithm. It classifies how steady you are as OK, Low or Very Low to help you assess your risk of taking a fall. You can be notified if your status changes.

Of course, information is of little use if you lack the power to make use of it, so the system also provides exercises to help improve strength and balance.

New feature: What are Trends?

Health now offers trend analysis so you can easily see how a given health metric is progressing and whether it’s increasing or decreasing over time. The idea here is to help you monitor any intentional changes, such as the impact of increasing your step count, and also to flag up any emerging problems. Trend analysis is provided by data type in the Health app, or you can choose to receive a notification when a new trend has been detected.