Apple today unveiled its brand-new Research app for iPhone, with three new health studies for users in the United States.
The Apple Women’s Health Study, the Apple Heart and Movement Study, and the Apple Hearing Study are available from today. They give participants the opportunity to contribute to “groundbreaking medical discoveries with iPhone and Apple Watch.”
Health, and more specifically improving our quality of life, has been a big passion for Apple for many years. Devices like iPhone and Apple Watch have long enabled us to keep tabs on health data, and helped us to stay fit.
Apple wants to step things up with studies that could change the way we look at certain practices and conditions in the future. And its new Research app for iPhone is the driving force behind it all.
It today offers three multi-year longitudinal studies, conducted in partnership with leading academic and research institutions. And they could help shape the next generation of innovative health products, Apple says.
Apple’s new Research app
“Today marks an important moment as we embark on research initiatives that may offer incredible learnings in areas long sought after by the medical community,” said Jeff Williams, Apple COO.
“Participants on the Research app have the opportunity to make a tremendous impact that could lead to new discoveries and help millions lead healthier lives.”
Photo: Apple
It couldn’t be easier to take part. Simply download the new Research app from the App Store and sign up to studies that suit you. The first three studies focus on movement, heart rate, and noise level data captured during everyday activities.
Women’s Health Study
The Women’s Health Study hopes to provide a better understanding of menstrual cycles and how they relate to women’s health. It’s the first long-term study of this scale and scope, Apple says.
“It aims to advance the understanding of menstrual cycles and their relationship to various health conditions, including polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), infertility, osteoporosis and menopausal transition.”
The study is conducted in partnership with Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).
Heart and Movement Study
The Heart and Move Study will look at the quantity and quality of a person’s movement can impact heart health — and potentially cause deterioration in mobility or overall wellbeing. It hopes to promote healthy movement.
“Apple is taking on this study to understand how certain mobility signals and details about heart rate and rhythm could serve as potential early warning signs of atrial fibrillation (AFib), heart disease or declining mobility, to build new interventions that could help consumers lead longer, healthier and more active lives,” Apple explains.
This study is conducted in partnership with Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the American Heart Association.
Hearing Study
The Hearing Study, conducted in partnership with the University of Michigan, will collect data from headphone usage and environment sound exposure to explore how they impact hearing over time.
Participants will be randomly split into two groups to assess if receiving notifications when loud sounds are detected can motivate users to modify their listening behaviors.
Data from this survey will be shared with the Worldwide Health Organization (WHO)’s Make Listening Safe initiative. Apple hopes it will help raise awareness of safe listening practices with the aim of reducing hearing loss.
Apple Research data in safe hands
As these are Apple health studies, you can be certain your data is protected. The Research app was built to share data only with the chosen studies after a user has granted their approval. It also explains how that data will be used.
To participate, download the new Apple Research app for iPhone today.
