Apple's Redesigned Health App Arrives in the iOS 27.2 Developer Beta

Apple's overhauled Health app is now available to test in the developer beta of iOS 27.2, giving developers an early look at a redesign that leans heavily on Apple Intelligence.

Apple's developer release notes confirm that the new Health app is being tested in this beta, but it will not ship with the public version of iOS 27.2. It is instead expected to arrive later this year, and it will be available only in the U.S. at launch, in U.S. English.

Apple first previewed the redesign at its "Surprise and Shine" event on September 9th. The beta release marks the first time anyone outside Apple can try the features firsthand.

What's Actually New

For most of its life, the Health app has functioned as a repository. It collected data from the Apple Watch and other Bluetooth connected devices and stored it, but it did little to interpret that information for the user.

The redesign is Apple's attempt to change that.

Using Apple Intelligence, the app now tries to turn raw metrics into personalized guidance, scores, and summaries. The move brings Apple more in line with competitors like Oura, Whoop, and Google, all of which already package wearable data into readable rich insights.

The current beta centers on two additions: a new Insights tab and a new Longevity tab.

Insights

The Insights tab is designed to surface timely information at a glance. Apple says it can generate a summary of things like your latest sleep metrics or a new peak in VO2 max.

It also pulls in recent data such as Activity Rings, heart rate, sleep score, and vitals, and it updates throughout the day as new readings come in.

A For You section is meant to offer custom advice on readiness, fitness, heart health, and more. Apple has also described a Personal Guidance feature within Insights that learns what matters to a given user and makes relevant suggestions.

As an example, Apple says someone working on their cardio might see a prompt to add intervals to a morning run.

It is worth noting that the personalized elements are not functional in this first beta, the personalized guidance and recommendations Apple has demonstrated are not yet live, and will roll out in future releases.

Readiness

The redesign introduces a Readiness score, though it is limited to the newest hardware.

The feature is exclusive to the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4.

Readiness produces a score from 0 to 10, calculated from recent activity, vitals, and sleep score. It is meant to help a user decide whether to push harder or take a recovery day.

The score comes with plain language readouts: Recover, Pace Yourself, Ready, or Go For It.

Apple says the information appears on the watch itself, in the Fitness app, and in the Health app's Insights tab.

Vitals

The Vitals section has been updated with new overnight and daytime views.

Apple has also added heart rate variability, or HRV, as a metric. The app measures both overall HRV and recovery HRV, which Apple says gives users a clearer picture of their ability to recover from stress.

Longevity

The second major addition is the Longevity tab, which takes a broader view of a user's health over time.

It uses metrics from the iPhone and Apple Watch to assess overall health across seven categories: heart health, sleep, mental wellbeing, movement health, metabolic health, hearing, and nutrition. The tab shows how the user is doing in each area, and classifies each metric against the latest clinical guidance.

Health Age

Health Age sits inside the Longevity tab, and it is one of the more ambitious new features.

It uses metrics like VO2 max, resting heart rate, HRV, sleep, and biomarkers from blood work to estimate how a user's health compares to their actual age.

Apple says the feature is meant to help users understand which habits make the biggest difference, and how they can improve over time.

The concept is familiar territory for the wider wearables market. Whoop and Oura both offer similar age based scoring, so Health Age represents Apple moving onto ground its rivals have already staked out.

Features Coming Later

Several features Apple has talked about publicly are not in this beta.

Apple plans to eventually let U.S. users order a bloodwork panel from Quest directly inside the Health app. The panel covers more than 50 biomarkers and is priced at $119, according to Apple.

The company has also described at home health assessments that use the iPhone's camera. These would track a user's movements while following instructions from a trainer, and would cover VO2 max as well as flexibility, strength, balance, and movement mechanics.

According to CNET, ordering labs, personalized health information in the Insights tab, and personalized recommendations will not be available until later in the year. Apple says features will roll out progressively.

What You'll Need

Because the new Health app depends on Apple Intelligence, it requires a compatible iPhone, that means an iPhone 15 Pro or newer.

The Readiness score adds a second requirement, since it is limited to the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4. Users on older watches will be able to use much of the new app, but that particular feature will be missing.

Release Timing

The rollout is unusual on a couple of fronts.

Apple appears to have skipped iOS 27.1 in its testing cycle, moving straight from 27.0 to 27.2. Reports indicate that iOS 27.1 is being reserved for the iPhone Duo, Apple's first foldable, which will arrive next month.

iOS 27 itself was released publicly on Monday, September 14.

The redesigned Health app is a separate rollout, and Apple has not given a firm public release date beyond "later this year."