Apple is working on revamping its Health app with new health coaching features powered by artificial intelligence as part of its efforts to turn its products into health tools.
The new initiative, internally referred to as Project Mulberry, is currently being tested and includes an AI-powered coach that advises users on how to improve their health. Right now, Apple devices track various health metrics such as heart rate, blood oxygen levels, and calories burned, but that data is merely collected. However, Apple is now working on a new version of its Health app, where the company plans to use an AI agent or an LLM to interpret and provide insights into a person’s health data. The new service could be called Health+, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
The goal is that once the AI coach is live, it will advise users based on data from their medical devices and will reportedly include food tracking. The coach is currently being trained on data from staff physicians, with Apple looking to bring in additional doctors to record health-related videos.
Under the leadership of CEO Tim Cook, Apple has become more aggressive with health features on its products. The Apple Watch is already seen as a health tracker, and the company recently launched the $250 Powerbeats Pro 2, which features a built-in heart rate sensor—signaling that the health tracking may eventually come to AirPods as well. Apple has also reportedly been working for years on a non-invasive continuous glucose monitoring system for the Apple Watch.
Apple, the world’s top technology company, has been gradually adding AI features to its iPhone, Mac, and iPad as part of a push to make artificial intelligence more mainstream, hoping that AI-powered features will be adopted quickly. With Apple reportedly working on an AI coach feature for its Health app, it suggests that health tracking is the next big focus for an AI-fueled upgrade. However, this is an industry-wide effort, with companies like Samsung also reportedly working on similar AI-driven health coaching features for its products.
Analysts, however, still think that Apple is years behind other tech majors in artificial intelligence. The company entered the AI landscape last year with “Apple Intelligence” when it launched the iPhone 16. However, Apple has struggled to roll out certain AI features on time, and existing features are bare-bones, leading to backlash from experts.
Apple is expected to announce new AI features as part of Apple Intelligence, along with upgrades to iOS and macOS, on June 9 at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).