The Apple AI health coach sounds like it’s no longer stuck in development hell

14 January 2025, 21:30 published

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Apple is reportedly still working on an AI health coach, almost two years after we first heard about it. The report comes from journalist Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter, published Sunday 12 January, in which he mentions (alongside news of the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and SE 3) that: “The company also is increasing its ambitions in the health realm.”

Gurman continued: “Apple is planning a revamped health app — as well as an AI-based coaching service — and added capabilities for AirPods. That includes heart-rate monitoring and sensors to measure other health data.”

The news about Apple’s AirPods getting heart rate monitoring is exciting, but the AI health coach is also an enticing nugget of information. It sounds as though the AI companion is likely to live on the iPhone’s Health app, rather than on the best Apple watches. Details are scarce at this point, but other wearables like Oura have AI advisory services in beta, allowing users to ask questions about their habits and having the AI respond using data collected by your wearables.

This is not the first time we’ve heard of Apple’s plans: way back in April 2023, I reported on Apple reportedly developing an AI fitness coach, codenamed Quartz.

The AI coach was said to be able to track emotions via the Apple Watch, although we’ve not heard a peep about the functionality since then. It’s likely now that the Apple Intelligence rollout is in full swing, we could see a first version of this functionality in September 2025, alongside the iPhone 17.

Analysis: Still a bad idea?

AI felt like it was in its infancy a couple of years ago, and I wrote about the prospect of an AI fitness coach with some trepidation. I was afraid that it would hallucinate, offer unhelpful or downright dangerous workout ideas, and health advice that hadn’t been vetted by an expert. In many ways, I still am.

However, after seeing AI infest every corner of the tech world, and trying several such dedicated services like the Oura Advisor chatbot available with the Oura Ring 4, I’m convinced this is simply the way the industry’s going to go, and steps will be taken to ensure the software is safe to use.

I’m not convinced they’re all that useful, especially to experienced exercisers, but I can see the potential – for example, recommending workouts from Apple’s Fitness+ service and tweaking recommended bedtime suggestions based on your sleeping habits, all wrapped up in cosy language like Strava’s encouraging Athlete Intelligence feature.