The iPhone Health app has evolved into a comprehensive health hub — from sleep tracking and sleep apnea detection to hypertension alerts, clinical-grade hearing aids via AirPods Pro, and mental health tools. Here's everything it offers in 2026.
😴 Sleep: Score, Stages & Apnea Detection
With an Apple Watch, the Health app analyzes each night's duration, bedtime consistency, wake-ups, and time spent in each sleep stage — REM, Core, and Deep Sleep. Every morning you receive a Sleep Score (0–100) that rates your sleep quality, along with a breakdown of how it was calculated.
The Vitals app on Apple Watch monitors your overnight metrics — heart rate, respiratory rate, and wrist temperature — and alerts you if anything falls outside your typical range. Since September 2024, Apple Watch (Series 9 and later) can detect signs of sleep apnea by analyzing small wrist movements associated with breathing interruptions. Apple estimates that up to 80% of sleep apnea cases go undiagnosed.
In iOS 26.4 (February 2026), Apple added a new Average Bedtime metric to the Sleep section, showing your actual bedtime compared to your two-week average. Additionally, the blood oxygen reading has been restored to the Vitals overview graph in the U.S.
❤️ Heart Health & ECG
Apple Watch monitors your heart rate throughout the day and can alert you to unusually high or low rates as well as irregular rhythms (Atrial Fibrillation/AFib). The ECG app lets you take a single-lead electrocardiogram by placing your finger on the Digital Crown — and share the results as a PDF with your doctor.
Since September 2025, hypertension notifications are available on Apple Watch. The optical heart sensor analyzes how your blood vessels respond to each heartbeat over 30-day periods, identifying patterns of chronic high blood pressure. Hypertension is a major risk factor for stroke, heart attack, and kidney disease.
👂 Hearing Health & Hearing Aid
AirPods Pro 2 can now function as clinical-grade hearing aids (FDA-authorized). You start with a Hearing Test (about 5 minutes, using pure-tone audiometry) via your iPhone. If mild to moderate hearing loss is detected, the Hearing Aid feature activates automatically with a personalized profile. Conversation Boost amplifies the voice of the person speaking to you in noisy environments.
AirPods Pro also provide Hearing Protection across all listening modes, while the Noise app on Apple Watch alerts you when environmental sound levels become dangerous to your hearing.
🧠 Mental Health & Medications
The Health app lets you log your mood daily (State of Mind) and view how it changes in relation to sleep, exercise, and mindful minutes. You can complete the clinically validated PHQ-9 (depression) and GAD-7 (anxiety) questionnaires, see your risk level, and share the results as a PDF with your doctor.
Medication tracking lets you log your medications, receive reminders, and check for potential drug interactions. The Mindfulness app (Reflect & Breathe) on Apple Watch offers calming breathing and reflection exercises.
Safety & Emergency: iPhone features Crash Detection for automatic emergency calls after severe car accidents, Emergency SOS via satellite for areas with no signal, and Health Sharing to share health data with family members or your doctor — all with end-to-end encryption.
🔒 Privacy & Health Sharing
Every health feature is designed with privacy at its core. Health data is encrypted on your device and accessible only with your passcode, Touch ID, or Face ID. With iCloud sync and two-factor authentication, data is encrypted end-to-end — not even Apple can see it. You can share selected data through Health Sharing with family members or your doctor.
"Apple is committed to empowering you on your personal health journey with intuitive features — built right into the products you love to use every day."
— Apple Health
