Apple wants to study your health with the new Apple Research app

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With news this week regarding Google’s increased interest in health, it seems pretty appropriate that Apple would announce its increased health efforts this week.

Apple Research, first announced back in September, is launching an app for the iPhone and Apple Watch that includes three different studies that users can opt into.

Apple Research includes three different studies users can participate in

The Apple Research app will include three sections for users interested in participating in the study – a Women’s Health Study, a Heart and Movement Study, and finally, a Hearing Study. The app is free and participation is completely voluntary.

It works in conjunction with the Apple Watch (any model will work) and Apple is working with “leading academic and research institutions” according to the blog post released this morning. It should be noted that each study is working with its own set of researchers including those from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the American Heart Association, University of Michigan, and more.

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The Women’s Health Study will seek to “analyze the impact of certain behaviors and habits on a wide breadth of reproductive health topics.” The Heart and Movement study is “a broad study of factors that affect heart health and potentially cause deterioration in mobility or overall well-being”, and the Hearing Study looks to better understand the effects of sound exposure in relation to hearing health and anxiety.

Honestly, this is a pretty cool use of the technology many of us have in our pockets, but with so many concerns about how big tech is using our data, Apple will need to find a way to ensure users that data is only being used for the right reasons.

What do you think? Would you use the Apple Research app or does it make you nervous?  Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Josiah Motley

Former KnowTechie editor.