News

At its annual Worldwide Developers Conference Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) introduced its much awaited mixed-reality headset Apple Vision Pro, but quietly also provided new health features in iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and watchOS 10, expanding in two impactful areas.

The company said the the new mental health features allow users to log their momentary emotions and daily moods, see valuable insights, and access evaluations and resources.

The iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch offer new vision health features which encourage healthy behaviors to reduce the risk of myopia (nearsightedness), and the Health app has come to iPad, according to the company.

Apple noted that new features and existing health features are based in science and built with privacy at the core.

Mental Health:

In the Health app people can scroll through engaging, multidimensional shapes and choose how they are feeling in a range from Very Pleasant to Very Unpleasant. Then, they can select associations which are having the biggest impact on their feelings, such as Travel or Family, and describe their feelings, like Grateful or Worried, the company added.

Users can see insights to identify what may be contributing to their state of mind — if it's associations or lifestyle factors, such as sleep or exercise — and can use this to better manage their health, Apple noted.

Vision Health:

Apple said that with watchOS 10, Apple Watch launched the ability to measure time spent in daylight using the ambient light sensor.

Users can view the amount of time spent in daylight detected by their Apple Watch in the Health app in iOS 17 and iPadOS 17.

Apple said the new Screen Distance feature uses the same TrueDepth camera which powers Face ID on iPhone and iPad to encourage users to move their device farther away after holding it closer than 12 inches for a longer time.

Children who do not have their own phone, can use Family Setup to pair the Apple Watch to their parent's iPhone, which will give the guardians visibility into the amount of time the kids are spending in daylight with Health Sharing

Additional Updates: With iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and watchOS 10, the Medications feature provides users the option to receive follow-up reminders if they have not logged taking a scheduled medicine.

The new Journal app on iOS 17 allows users to writing about and remembering life's moments. The app uses new Journaling Suggestions API to offer a personalized set of moments to write about, using on-device machine learning.

Apple Fitness+ introduced Custom Plans, via which users receive a custom workout or meditation schedule based on day, duration and workout type, among other things.