Apple is secretly testing an app to help prediabetic customers manage their diet and make lifestyle changes, which could one day help shape the company’s health software, according to a new report.
We’ve been hearing reports for years that Apple has been trying to crack blood sugar monitoring on the top models of its Apple Watch, to date to no avail.
Apple’s non-invasive blood sugar technology (as opposed to “invasive” technology like continuous blood glucose monitors, so called because they stick needles into the skin) may still be years away, according to a new report. But in the meantime, Apple appears to be testing an app that could help fight diabetes.
Bloomberg’s Mark Garman reported in his weekly Power On newsletter that Apple this year tested an app to “help prediabetics manage their food intake and change their lifestyle.”
According to the report, Apple has no plans to release the app at this time, but it may incorporate the technology into future health products “including a non-invasive glucose tracker that it has been developing for more than a decade.”
Apple’s secret diabetes app
The app could reportedly show consumers how certain foods affect their blood sugar levels, based on readings from existing blood sugar monitoring devices.
Garman said the study aimed to explore uses for blood sugar data and what tools Apple could create for consumers as a result. He has since reported that testing of the app has been paused, which could pave the way for better meal tracking in Apple’s own health software, as well as better third-party blood sugar tracking integrations. He said there is.
Meanwhile, the report says Apple’s non-invasive blood sugar technology is “still years away.” The current prototype is an “iPhone-sized” device, but even at that scale Apple is battling challenges with overheating and miniaturization. Apple’s system features a laser that shines light onto your skin to provide a specific reading of your blood sugar levels, even if in the early stages it can only determine whether you have pre-diabetes.
Although some counterfeit smartwatches claim to have blood glucose monitoring features, none of the best smartwatches out there actually offer that functionality due to the aforementioned technical challenges. yeah. Earlier this year, the FDA went so far as to warn against using smartwatches or even smart rings to measure blood sugar.
