iTunes highlights HealthKit-ready fitness, nutrition, and medical apps

Like a person with a new gym membership, Apple’s been on a health kick all year.

First we had the announcement of HealthKit at WWDC, then a fitness-oriented iPhone 5s ad in June, followed by Apple’s entry into the fitness-tracking market with the Apple Watch unveiling, and now the App Store’s been updated with a new “Apps for Health” section.

This section continues Apple’s trend for using human curation in the App Store by highlighting 14 apps which take advantage of iOS 8’s Health app by bringing health and fitness data into one centralized apps for access by users.

“Experience an entirely new approach to wellness where your fitness app can talk to your calorie tracker, your doctor can be automatically notified of updates to your health data, and great apps work together for a healthier you,” reads a note on iTunes. “This handpicked collection highlights the best fitness, nutrition, and medical apps customized for iOS 8.”

The apps — which vary from personal training assistants to calorie trackers and even meditation aids — are as follows:

• FitStar Personal Trainer (free)
• Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker (free)
• Human – Activity & Calorie Tracker (free)
• Noom Coach: Weight Loss (free)
• Yummly Recipes & Grocery Shopping List (free)
• WebMD – Trusted Health and Wellness Information (free)
• Fitnet Personal Fitness Workouts (free)
• MotionX 24/7: Sleeptracker, Sleep Cycle Alarm, Snore, Apnea, Heart Rate Monitor, Weight Loss, Activity Tracker ($0.99)
• CARROT Fit ($2.99)
• Zova — Workouts for women (free)
• 7 Minute Workout (free)
• Omvana – Meditation for Everyone (free)
• Patient IO (free)
• Centered (free)

Apple pulled apps with HealthKit integration prior to issuing iOS 8, when a bug stopped Apple included the eagerly-awaited iOS 8 function on its first go round. Whether this added exposure is a make-good with developers on the part of Apple isn’t known. More than likely it’s just Apple showing off a feature it’s very proud of.

Via: iDownloadblog

Luke Dormehl

Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.