14 DAY TRIAL // With iOS 8, Apple has opened an API (application programming interface) to developers, allowing them to integrate Health & Fitness apps with its own Health app that comes with every new iPhone.
Because of the troubles experienced with iOS 8.0.1, these apps have been locked out for users of handsets that had been upgraded to the new firmware. Now that iOS 8.0.2 has come to the rescue, HealthKit apps are barging in.
iOS 8.0.2-enabled
Among more pressing things that the firmware – released earlier today / yesterday evening (in some countries) – had to patch was a bug that prevented HealthKit apps from being available on the App Store.< br /> The HealthKit API allows third-party apps and services to share their data with the new Health app included by Apple with every iPhone. This data is stored in a centralized location, while the user can decide which data can be shared with the third-party app and which data cannot.
Daily activity, health & fitness
One of the first apps to take advantage of the fixes in iOS 8.0.2 is FitPort, a daily activity, health, and fitness tracker app.
It acts like a fitness dashboard and goes hand in hand with the new Health app in iOS 8. It lets you compare stats to on a daily/weekly basis, sets goals and monitors your progress, and calculates steps and distance on devices equipped with the M7 and M8 coprocessors (iPhone 5s/iPhone6/iPhone 6 Plus).
After integrating with the Health app, FitPort shows you steps taken, walking and running distance in miles and kilometers, active calories (kcal, kj), dietary calories (kcal, kj), weight (lb, kg, stone), and body fat percentage.
Because data is stored in the Health app, developer Flask LLP claims “FitPort will never collect your personal data.”
Flask says it’s just getting started, so if you’re an early adopter of the app, expect some updates in the future. FitPort sells for $1.99 (€1.56) and works only with iPhones and iPod touches (no iPads allowed).
iOS 8-exclusive
Because the Health app is something that comes only in iOS 8, FitPort is one of the first titles in the App Store to require iOS 8 as the minimum OS version. There are several other apps on iTunes that take advantage of software advancements present in iOS 8, such as AgileBits’ 1Password, but these apps are still in very low numbers.
In the not-too-distant future, you can also expect apps that integrate with your future Apple Watch.