Apple is slowly rolling out a revamped Health app for iPhone and Apple Watch, and you can try it now by downloading the iOS 27.2 public beta; you’ll also need to run watchOS 27 on your Apple Watch.
One of the coolest new features in the overhauled app is a series of at-home longevity assessments designed to be done in your living room using your iPhone’s camera and Apple Watch’s heart rate sensor.
These assessments provide insights into a user’s strength, balance, flexibility, and more. I tried both the balance and flexibility tests, which take about five to seven minutes each, and gained some valuable, surprising insights into my physical health. Here’s what I learned.
How Apple’s at-home longevity tests work
To perform one of these assessments, users are asked to place their iPhone on the ground, lean up against a wall, and then walk back ten to 12 feet, ensuring their entire body is framed within the front-facing camera’s view.
The assessments use a vision-based AI model to track your body movement as you perform each step. However, no video is actually being recorded during the assessment, and all the AI processing occurs on-device.
What I learned from Apple’s flexibility test
Once your iPhone is set up and you're well-framed in the center of the screen, it’s time to start the assessment.
An on-screen trainer demos the movements for each test with more than enough detail to easily follow along. For example, the flexibility assessment involves five different stretches to thoroughly determine your overall upper and lower body flexibility ratings. Ratings fall into one of four categories: Needs Improvement, Fair, Good, and Excellent.
So, how did I do? My upper body flexibility score was ‘Good,’ but my lower body flexibility score was only ‘Fair,’ lower than I expected. I performed the five tests in the assessment twice, just to be sure I properly followed all the instructions, and both times the results were the same.
Was I aware that my lower body flexibility could use some attention? Honestly, no, not at all. Now that I am, I plan to prioritize more workouts and stretches to improve it.
Helpfully, in addition to a rating, the new Health app also provides fairly comprehensive information on the best ways to make progress in either category, including suggested exercises to try.
My balance is better than my flexibility, according to Apple
The balance assessment is even easier than the flexibility one, involving just one test. Users are asked to stand on one foot, with their other foot suspended in the air behind them for as long as they can without touching the ground, for up to sixty seconds. You do this twice, once for each foot.
Once the countdown begins, calming music starts playing, while a voice periodically provides encouraging words. Balance is scored on the same rubric as flexibility.
Fortunately, this time around I scored an Excellent — again, I did the test twice — which was a lovely little ego boost after my mediocre flexibility performance.
Like an at-home physical exam
These are just two of the 17 longevity assessments found in the new Apple Health app. Once all the assessments are complete, the Health app generates a report based on the results to share with your doctor.
Ultimately, Apple’s new longevity assessment might be foreshadowing what the future of healthcare will look like, where users rely on a mix of AI-powered consumer tech and traditional doctor visits to better understand and improve their well-being.
What are your thoughts on Apple’s new longevity tests in the updated Health app in iOS 27.2? Are you looking forward to trying them yourself? Let me know in the comments below.
Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Alternatively, you can read our content on the Tom's Guide app available now for iOS and Android.
More from Tom's Guide
