Apple’s next big fitness feature could be an AI-powered coaching service

It seems every big tech company has some kind of plan for AI, and apparently Apple is no exception. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the company is working on a new health coaching service that uses AI to tailor the experience to each user.

Apparently this new service is codenamed Quartz, and is being designed to keep users motivated. That apparently includes pushing them to exercise, improving their eating habits and sleeping better, with each program tailored to the individuals. That’s all accomplished through the power of AI and the Apple Watch.

Of course, like most of Apple’s other services, this new AI coach won’t be free. Instead you’ll reportedly have to pay a monthly subscription for the privilege. Sadly, it isn’t clear whether this will be a brand new subscription, or if it will form part of the existing $10-a-month Apple Fitness Plus service.

Gurman claims that the new service is intended to roll out sometime next year, with the health, Siri, AI and services teams all working on it. However, he notes that it could be postponed or even canceled. Presumably developing an AI capable of tailoring lifestyle and exercise regimen for a single user is rather complicated.

But that’s not all Apple could have planned where health and fitness is concerned. Gurman also says that Apple is working on technology for tracking emotions and managing vision conditions like near-sightedness. 

Gurman claims that the first version of the emotion tracking app will let users log their general mood, and answer questions about the data collected on them. Apparently future versions hope to detect changing moods from users’ speech, words they typed and other data. This is reportedly separate from the new journaling app, which is rumored to be part of iOS 17, 

Emotion and vision management features will apparently debut at WWDC in June, alongside an iPad-centric expansion of the Apple Health app, which is due to arrive in iPadOS 17. Gurman says this will be much like the regular Health app, but will be designed so that users can see their health data on a much larger screen.

Expect to hear more about this, and other Apple software features, as we edge closer to the WWDC 2023 keynote address on June 5.

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