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Cardio fitness notifications are available today on Apple Watch
- KukiAirani 6y agoTo me this is an incredible milestone. Biometric feedback for health is a simple but effective way to extend lifespans and make people happier. A couple things I predict are coming in the not too distant future: - Continuous feedback and monitoring of blood nutrition and glucose levels. - Continuous feedback of mood - A real life mood ring, if you will. - Mood data being correlated with your real life activity, guiding you towards things that make you genuinely happy and away from "empty calories" (Like mindlessly scrolling).
- blakesterz 6y ago- Continuous feedback and monitoring of blood nutrition and glucose levels. Is this currently possible without drawing blood? I know little about stuff in this area, but it does seem super useful if a watch was able to do stuff like this especially.
- skohan 6y agoPossibly with an implant?
- brentjanderson 6y agoContinuous glucose monitoring doesn't require a blood draw, but it isn't in a form that would work in a watch to my knowledge. I expect that Apple and others are heavily invested in cracking glucose monitoring on a watch like this. That unlocks a lot of possibilities for diabetics and non-diabetics alike. Levels is probably the closest thing to this right now: https://www.levelshealth.com/ https://www.levelshealth.com/ - There are other continuous glucose monitors, but the "smart" integrations with fitness tracking, etc. seem novel to me.
- Shivetya 6y agoFreestyle Libre is a device you attach and replace every seven days. It can be read by a hand held patients get but there are apps for some features. Even it can be off and living with one you get used to where its going to be relative your actual level. So I doubt they will get far from that any time soon. The first company that can do it without puncturing the skin is going to have one helluva a market. How that is done, if that can be done, is still to be seen. Perhaps there is some other measurement not yet considered which can offer numbers.
- xnx 6y agoVerily (Google) tried contact lenses, but couldn't get it to work: https://blog.verily.com/2018/11/update-on-our-smart-lens-program-with.html https://blog.verily.com/2018/11/update-on-our-smart-lens-pro...
- theptip 6y agoThere are teams/companies working on this and I believe the sensor patches are available, not aware of anyone making a wearable computer out of it (yet): https://sciencebeta.com/transdermal-glucose-measurement-patch/ https://sciencebeta.com/transdermal-glucose-measurement-patc...
- mhh__ 6y ago> Continuous feedback of mood That's very black mirror. Also, didn't facebook get busted basically manipulating feeds to see how they affect people emotionally?
- dfxm12 6y agoBusted has a few meanings. They were caught, yes, but faced no apparent penalty, either legal or user backlash.
- KukiAirani 6y agoYeah these ideas always sound great in theory, but the privacy issues are immense. Apple however does seem like a company fully committed to privacy. Of course this is much easier for them as their business model is selling hardware and doesn't rely on selling your data to advertisers at all.
- mhh__ 6y ago> Apple however does seem like a company fully committed to privacy. Trust but verify
- thelean12 6y agoI never understood why those in the tech industry were upset about that. They were doing A/B tests and were tracking sentiment. So what? How is that different than running an A/B test and tracking any other dimension? People were asking questions like "how many people died because facebook was manipulating their emotions?". What? Why can't we say that about any change ever? It seemed to only matter to people when they started looking at sentiment.
- tmpz22 6y agoThink about it, they did experiments knowing negative sentiments like anger, fear, anxiety, sadness, despair were likely potential outcomes. They were so prepared for those negative outcomes to occur that they went out of their way to measure it. They did these experiments against thousands (millions?) of users.
- Privacy846 6y agoHigh-level feedback has already been invented, it’s called The News and most people are not helped by it. I could use some feedback about my sleep. Other than that though it sounds like a real nag.
- KukiAirani 6y agoThere is an axis of high-level to low-level feedback in the sense of society (news) to individual (sleep). And there is another axis of high to low feedback in the sense of abstract (happiness) to concrete (heartrate). I believe you might be conflating these two axes, but you made me think about it and I think it's very interesting to consider.
- skohan 6y agoI am with you on glucose. I think real-time continuous blood oxygen would be another one.
- KukiAirani 6y agoInteresting, I hadn't thought about this one. I just looked it up and didn't realize that they already have an app for blood oxygen, though it isn't continuous: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211027 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211027
- nradov 6y agoGarmin smart watches have had continuous blood oxygen monitoring for some time now. But measuring at the wrist can never be as accurate as fingertip.
- elric 6y agoTake their readings with a serious grain of salt. Even with the admonition "not as accurate as fingertip". Their readings are garbage. A random number generator does a better job of reading my SpO2. And I'm particularly pale. It's even worse on people with dark skin. I see absolutely no benefit in the pulox feature on my garmin watch.
- nradov 6y agoMine usually reads about 97%, which is probably close to right. But I haven't been able to test it at high altitude yet.
- mcintyre1994 6y agoAmazon’s creepy Halo wearable has what I think is constant mood detection through examination of your voice and machine learning. Search for Tone here: https://press.aboutamazon.com/news-releases/news-release-details/introducing-amazon-halo-and-amazon-halo-band-new-service-helps https://press.aboutamazon.com/news-releases/news-release-det...
- KukiAirani 6y agoOh wow. Fascinating. These things always seem incredibly rosy in theory, but immediately take on dark undertones when you realize it's the big bad tech companies (/s - kind of) actually building it. I'll definitely check it out though, thanks for sharing.
- Privacy846 6y ago> These things always seem incredibly rosy in theory, No, just dark in the beginning, the middle, and the end.
- germinalphrase 6y agoI would love to see constant hydration level monitoring.
- nradov 6y agoThat has been tried. So far it doesn't work. https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/11/lvls-hydration-sensor-rises-from-the-dead-gets-acquired.html https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/11/lvls-hydration-sensor-ri...
- germinalphrase 6y agoNevertheless, it would be a good goal. Hydration is critical in so many health and medical concerns.
- maxerickson 6y agoWait, how does it measure genuine happiness?
- throwaway2245 6y ago> Biometric feedback for health is a simple but effective way to extend lifespans and make people happier. There's a current TikTok meme which approximates to: people linking Wii Fit calling them obese on a daily basis to their disordered eating and disordered relationship with exercise. It's not sure that notifying people that they have low cardio health will have any meaningful benefit to them.
- nradov 6y agoIt really depends on the individual. Some people are highly motivated by a hard dose of reality. Others just get discouraged. I suspect that difference is due to having an internal versus external locus of control.
- jdxcode 6y agoWhat does this mean? I get a notification that says I need to exercise more?
- mikestew 6y agoIf your predicted VO2Max falls into the "low" category for your demographic, it will pop a "low cardio fitness" notification on your watch. Source: media images from Apple's website (ZIP file download): https://www.apple.com/newsroom/images/product/watch/standard/Images-of-Cardio-Fitness-Notification-in-Health-App.zip https://www.apple.com/newsroom/images/product/watch/standard...
- Etheryte 6y agoI'm the exact target market for this, yet I can't imagine buying one. I'm big on sports, work out regularly, mind my eating, that kind of thing. However it seems absurd to have to recharge your watch every day or two (?).
- askafriend 6y agoIt's not a problem at all - just go for it. They have a no questions asked 14-day return policy. I usually charge in the morning when I'm getting ready / showering and that's usually enough to last the day.
- jansan 6y agoExactly. The battery life of a Casio F-91W is roughly seven years, without recharging at all. Or think of those tritium markers that continously glow for more than ten years. Can't they power an Apple watch on tritium?
- claydavisss 6y agoThis isn't targeted at healthy people like yourself...its targeted at the massive audience of people who want to be healthy but never will be. Buying some health tech makes them feel like they are making progress.
- voisin 6y agoFeature phones have batteries that last a week or longer. Smart phones require daily charging. There are some sports-specific watches that have long battery life, but then you can’t do all the things you can with an Apple Watch, a list of which is evolving annually with new apps, features, complications, etc. It depends on what you want! Like the other commenter, I charge mine daily when having coffee in the morning and it never gets below about 40%.
- Etheryte 6y agoI don't really agree with the premise. I have the newer iPhone SE and I get two to three days out of a full charge, sometimes more. It's very different having to charge a device two or three times a week as opposed to daily. For me, the crux of the issue is that Apple Watch has more or less been standing still in the battery life department for years at this point, and the benefits don't outweigh the chore.
- mikestew 6y agoSo it needs to be turned on. Is anyone going to turn this on other than bros? "Bros" like me with a VO2Max that is firmly in the "high" category for oldsters (or, to brag, probably any age group), but because we're narcissistic we turn it on knowing full well (or at least hoping) we will never get a notification? Or do there exist actual people with really low VO2Max measurements that need to be told by their watch that they're out of shape, rather than letting huffing and wheezing up two flights of stairs being their guide? IOW, is this feature going to tell anyone, in shape or not, something they don't already know? Thing is, I hate to poo-poo what can be a useful feature. I look at it from time-to-time (VO2Max has been there for a couple of years(?), the notifications are new). Went in literally Christmas Day last year for surgery, the feature has been useful for measuring the road to recovery as I dragged my VO2Max out of the basement of sitting on my butt for a few months. But I suppose that if one is out of shape, it will be encouraging to watch the number go up. I just question the usefulness of notifications.
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- 2muchcoffeeman 6y agoOr do there exist actual people with really low VO2Max measurements that need to be told by their watch that they're out of shape, rather than letting huffing and wheezing up two flights of stairs being their guide? IOW, is this feature going to tell anyone, in shape or not, something they don't already know? I exercise regularly and I’ve never found these devices useful for fitness at all. All of these devices focus on cardio type activities. Probably great if you like running or swimming or biking. But most people completely ignore building muscle which is arguably more important for generally fitness than even more running. The only thing I think they’re useful for is people who would otherwise do nothing. Gives them a reminder to go for a walk.
- Wonnk13 6y agoMy Garmin 245 tracks my runs, rides, and swims. The data is then pushed to Strava- is there any reason for me to buy an apple watch? I take it I'm not the target audience here? Anyhoo, if it gives folks an accurate and understandable view into their health, I'm all for it. Edit: More relevant to the topic at hand, it tracks HR and estimates VO2 max for all my activities. IDK if Apple has made a sufficiently advanced update to what the rest of the market provides?
- mcintyre1994 6y agoI like being able to listen to Music while running without needing my phone, but that’s 1) pretty niche, and 2) requires Apple Music. There’s also notifications and companion apps if you use an iPhone, and just general Apple ecosystem niceties.
- Keats 6y agoSome Garmin watches can play music too. Garmin 245 Music for example.
- andylynch 6y agoRecent and current Fenix too. Spotify and Garmin Pay mean no need for carrying an iPhone on the run.
- gnicholas 6y agoHow widely accepted is Garmin Pay? It was only in 2019 that I got comfortable going out for with my iPhone and no wallet, since there were several nearby businesses that would accept Apple Pay. Is Garmin Pay accepted at most businesses that accept Apple/Google's contactless payments?
- jdxcode 6y agoHow long does the battery last for you? I tried this with Pandora once and I felt like it ate up the battery so bad without my phone on me that I wouldn't try it again.
- jhokanson 6y agoI thought my Garmin watch already did this and I thought Apple had differentiated itself with some sort of advanced ekg analysis. I feel like I'm missing something with this article? Is this truly different than the competition or just Apple catching up?
- boardwaalk 6y agoThe Apple Watch has estimated VO2 max for a while. I think this is just some “gamification” Apple has added.
- 8ytecoder 6y agoIt's very inaccurate. My estimated Apple VO2Max (based on heart rate alone) is 10 points less that my estimate from Garmin (based on a power meter and heart rate calculation).
- germinalphrase 6y agoHow significant is this 10 point difference?
- nradov 6y agoThe world record is 96 and most people are around half that, so 10 points is a huge discrepancy.
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- mikestew 6y agoHow do you know the Garmin isn’t the inaccurate one? Because it used a power meter? Unless a tube is stuck in your mouth for you to breath through, they are all just “predicted VO2Max”, not measured. I don’t know which is more accurate, but I would hesitate to favor one over another without baseline against a real VO2Max test. However, like a weight scale, as long as it is accurate versus itself it is still a useful number. EDIT: though you might not be wrong: https://sites.udel.edu/coe-engex/2019/03/16/how-accurate-is-your-garmins-vo2max-estimate/ https://sites.udel.edu/coe-engex/2019/03/16/how-accurate-is-.... Summary: Garmin's algorithm from Firstbeat is pretty darned accurate.
- virtuallynathan 6y agoMine does not seem to be super accurate vs measurement with a metabolic cart. Apple Watch says ~48, metabolic cart was 55-58.
- whoisburbansky 6y agoHow long ago was your metabolic cart measurement taken? I’ve been getting a lot less exercise this year because lockdown, would it be plausible that your max VO2 has actually decreased since your last in lab measurement?
- virtuallynathan 6y agoIt's my own metabolic cart, I did a bike ramp test a couple weeks ago.
- whoisburbansky 6y agoAh, okay, that's much more telling, then. Guess the estimation is pretty badly off.
- melling 6y agoI’ve got mostly Below Average days this month. I can see my number decreasing from the summer, where I’m a lot more active. December is trending down. is this accurate?
- mr_toad 6y agoMy VO2 max score (estimate) was significantly different (54 vs 46) on my Fitbit from my Apple Watch. And it’s not telemetry problem - heart rate, resting heart rate, GPS, altitude etc were all the same. It seems that the estimation methods are different.
- youeseh 6y agoI suppose as long as we're making improvements, the absolute number is less important than the one relative to the baseline on a given device.