Visible, Plume Labs, Pedometer++
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Micah Sargent
Coming up on iOS today, Rosemary Orchard and I talk about some ways to help you manage your health and, you know, symptoms on your iPhone. Stay tuned.
Rosemary Orchard
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Micah Sargent
This is TWiT. This is iOS Today, episode 746 with Rosemary Orchard and me, Micah Sargent. Recorded Tuesday, March 25, 2025 for Thursday, April 3, 2025. Managing health and illness. Hello and welcome to iOS Today, the show where we talk all things iOS, iPados, WatchOS, TVOS, HomePod, OS and all the other OSes Apple has on offer. We love to talk about them here on the show because our goal is to help you make the Most of your that is our goal here and that is what we aim to do. We being, well, yours truly, Micah Sargent.
Rosemary Orchard
One of your hosts, and my name is Rosemary Orchard, another one of your hosts who was just looking at my Health app just to make sure that everything's up to date.
Micah Sargent
Yes. So this episode we want to talk about some different apps, but also features that you can use to kind of keep track of your health. You know, occasionally we get sick and when we get sick we have symptoms and sometimes it's a matter of seeing the symptoms and going, oh, I'm getting sick and doing what you can to kind of shorten the illness or it's just a matter of, well, I'm sick and I want to know how long this is going to keep going on. So keeping track of things that way as well. Apple in one of its updates to iOS, added a huge list of symptoms that you could track both within the app, but I think more importantly for third party apps to kind of integrate and help you keep track of. So there are ways to do this and there are ways to do it again with third parties. Some folks will of course find it easier to, you know, create an automation or something like that that where you know, perhaps when you know that you are dealing with something, you can kind of keep track of those specific illnesses. But let me show you really quick because you'll be, I think, surprised at how full featured or how many different options there are when it comes to symptoms. So within Health app, if you go to the Browse tab and you tap on symptoms, you are presented with any symptoms that you have experienced in the kind of top portion of the page. But below are some of the options. Abdominal cramps, acne, appetite changes, bladder incontinence, bloating, body and muscle ache, breast pain, chest tightness or pain, chills, congestion, constipation, coughing, diarrhea, dry skin. I mean it goes on and on and on and loss of smell, loss of taste. Very important when it comes to influenza or other similar illnesses. Runny nose, shortness of breath, sleep changes, sore throat, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And you can tap into one of these options and you can read what's listed there for this option. So there's kind of a description of it, but you can easily add data by tapping the add data button in the top right and you can talk about whether it is so perhaps you know, you're tracking, hey, this isn't an issue right now or this is an issue right now. So you can say it's not present currently. You can say it's present, you can say it's mild, it's moderate or severe, and then give a start and end time to keep track of that. Now again, this is kind of a clunkier way to do it, of course, because it's happening all right within the health app and it's more meant to be this database that collects all this information, but it is there. I do think later in the show we'll see some magic from Rosemary that might help whenever it comes to using other means of logging these different things. But I have used it in the past when I was having some heart issues to keep track of things that were going on at the time. And so I was able to kind of say, okay, yeah, right now I am experiencing a little bit of this, a little bit of that, a skipped heartbeat sort of feeling. And also importantly, if you use the ECG app on your Apple watch, then when, after you've done an ECG it will ask you are there any symptoms that you are feeling along with this? You know, basically what led you to wanting to test your your heart rhythm? And if you add symptoms at that point it will log those for you in the symptoms section of the app. And as Wadfan says in the chat, hopefully these are not simultane phenomena. Yes, indeed, you don't want to have all of the symptoms that are present in this list. I think the goal is to have as few as possible, but that is kind of tracking directly in the health apps Symptom tracker. But we've linked to the page apple.com health and I want to encourage people to head to that page if you have iOS devices because it will show you and kind of remind you about a lot of the stuff that you're able to do when it comes to the health app. Being able to kind of see the highlights of your current health, your trends. So you're getting an idea of how your resting heart rate may have increased or decreased if you use an Apple Watch and sleep at night with the Apple Watch. Being able to be more mindful of how your temperature, your body temperature might be changing over time, but also being able to be mindful of how you may be experiencing sleep interruptions that could lead to a diagnosis of sleep apnea. All of that stuff is available in the app and can give you again more information there about it. So be sure to check out that page and kind of, I think get inspired about some of the stuff you can do with just the health app and your iOS watchos. IPadOS devices. All right, I think, Rosemary, you have an app you want to talk to us about?
Rosemary Orchard
Well, it is an app, but its purpose is not to be an app. The purpose of Peak is actually to provide you with widgets on your iPhone to show you fitness things, which personally I find to be quite helpful because it's always, it's good to know when things like your sleep have been less, you know, settled than usual, or perhaps you can see a track in your body temperature that says, hey, things are going a little bit higher, or just that you've not been as active as normal. And so the whole point of Peak is to allow you to add these widgets to your home screen. And also you can just see the data easily in the app as well. So please ignore the fact that it says, I've not done workouts in a while. I have, I just forgot some of them because that is definitely, definitely an issue. And also I have been meeting my rings, but yeah, I stuck my watch on charge like yesterday morning and then didn't put it on until yesterday evening. And that happens to me on a semi regular basis, which is one of the reasons why I also have a smart ring, which is the ura, which we won't be talking about today, but they have previously sponsored twit. But yeah, there's all sorts of widgets that you can add, including things like, you know, little graphs to show things over a month, your weight and all sorts. And I really like this, it's made by one indie app developer and he has, you know, created a whole bunch of things that you can do with this. So for example, if I wanted a sleep one that does require the subscription, but you know, I could get skiing and snowboarding distance as a widget on my home screen. Now that's probably not something that is a metric that's necessarily going to be great for tracking your symptoms. But your heart rate, your heart rate tends to go up if you're fighting an infection, for example, because your body's working a bit harder. Similarly, blood oxygen might be really useful. Time in daylight could be an exceptionally useful thing to add as a widget to your lock screen or your home screen. Because if you suffer from seasonal affective disorder, and considering the fact that the southern hemisphere is heading towards winter right now, that could be a little bit more of a concern for folks down there. Whereas up here in the northern hemisphere we are hopefully migration to the time of year where, you know, the getting a bit more sun can help people with that. But seeing your time in daylight as a widget can definitely help with managing things like that. So yeah, I really love Peak as a way to add widgets. There's a whole bunch of cool things with it. And also if there is an issue with the app then I have found the developer to be incredibly responsive. Not that I personally experienced an issue, but I have spoken to him a few times and he's just absolutely lovely. 10 out of 10 person. So yeah, Peak it's free to download and then there is an in app subscription of I think it's 7.99 a year to unlock everything. Sorry, $19.99 a year, $2.99 for a month to try it out though. So yeah, definitely worth it. There is also a lifetime option.
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Micah Sargent
The next kind of section that I want to talk about is to do with air because you know, sometimes you're going, is it allergies? Is it something else? Or am I actually sick? And a great way to kind of keep track of that is an app that I love to use mostly on my Apple watch, but occasionally I'll pop open on my iPhone and that is. And I have my location set to a more general one so you don't have to blur this or anything like that. So this is an app called My Pollen Forecast Pro. It used to be that the developer had a My Pollen Forecast that was free with ads and then a paid version. Now it's just the paid version, 4.99. And it's well worth it because what it does is it shows you in your area the current pollen count by displaying it kind of as a as a, you know, gradient from green to red and will give you a forecast of what is to be expected as far. Well, let's see, it's having trouble loading here. So typically what it will show here is a forecast of the different types of pollen that are in the area. Now, a pollen count is not just a matter or the sort of rating that is provided is not just a matter of how much pollen there is, but also a matter of looking at the wind. And so if winds are high and pollen is medium, you might find that it ends up being, you know, a deeper or orange or a red because of the fact that there's a lot going on with the pollen spreading through the air. Now, you can, of course, keep track of this information yourself here and kind of see the current pollen count, but you can also, and I think this is big, keep a diary. So what you do with a diary is on a day that your allergies are particularly bad, you can log that information and then start to look at what different pollen, like, what are the pollens that are in the air at the time and maybe get an idea that, oh, I think I might be allergic to oak, because when oak pollen is in the air, my allergies are allergying. They are very bad. And then you can go, okay, I know that the pollen count is high today, but I'm not, not feeling too bad. So I guess, you know, maybe I don't need to worry about this and this and this. So that's very helpful as well. Now, the forecast page typically shows the specific pollens that are going to be in the air and then also gives you an idea of the pollen count over the coming days. So that's what you will normally see there, I have a feeling, because I have it set to a more general location that's playing a role in why that's not showing up there. But that's what you would typically see in that page. Now, to. To go along with that, I also wanted to mention an app that you can get for free and that you can use as a guest called Plume Labs. And Plume Labs is an app that lets you just track air quality as a whole. So with it, you can get the kind of daily forecast of the air quality around you. You can look at the weather as well, can see how the air quality is going to change over time. You can also get specific tips based on if you plan on cycling, now's a great time to hop on your bike. For example, if you are going for outdoor activities, a run is still okay, but be a bit careful. Here's an area where it's pretty high and then, you know, if you're going to be doing some kind of outdoor dining, it can also give you some insight there. The best day of the year so far had an air quality index of 7. The worst peak of the year was 93 in this area. And then you can also, I believe, yes, get an air pollution map to kind of see what things look like live in your city or in any city. Now, much of this information, here's, here's a better look at it. So the greens and the yellows. Much of this information is provided by actual plume devices depending on where you are. So it's very localized, which is pretty cool and I think makes it even more worthwhile. You can add different places if you know you're going to be traveling. For example, you know, maybe you want to add London to your forecast and you'll see the air quality index in London right now is 73 and can go up or down from there all the way up to 125. So maybe not a great time to head out. Avoid traveling by bike if possible. Your best option is to go for it later instead of doing any outdoor activities. And then you can look at the month as well and see what months are particularly bad. It looks like Monday, March 10th had a really high AQI in London. But anyway, that gives you an idea of what you can keep track of there in the dashboard. I just think it's important to keep in mind that, you know, there's. There's illness caused by little buggies getting inside of you and causing all sorts of issues. But then there's also just your air and you know, the pollen around you can play a factor. So those are some two ways that I like to use to keep track of my environment and sort of compare that to what's going on with me to see if it's. Is it illness or is it allergies? There's some insight there. All righty. The next couple of apps I know, I'm very excited to hear about because they're made by a friend of the show.
Rosemary Orchard
Yes, indeed they are. And these apps are a pair, you could say a pair that they are by David Smith, also known as Underscore, because there are a lot of David Smiths in the world, it turns out. So he had to differentiate himself on social media somehow. So went with the underscore. But yes, this is Pedometer plus plus and Sleep plus plus. So I did already mention earlier that seeing your sleep quality being affected can actually be a good indication of when you are getting ill. Or just seeing that you're sleeping more than usual actually can also be an indication. But Pedometer plus plus is the one I'm going to show you for now and that is tells me how many steps I've done. So apparently Today I've done 257 steps. Steps. I did mention I have a slight pension for putting my watch on charge and then getting up and wandering around all day and forgetting to put it back on until approximately when I'm about to record a podcast. But as you can see, I definitely do have my days where I remember to put my watch on all day and I actually do my step count. Now this can give you badges so you can see, hey, three days in a row or 180 days of hitting your step count or you've done 20,000 steps a day. If you hit 50,000 steps a day, I really hope that that one's got like extra sparkles on it because feel like your thighs would be killing you after that as well.
Micah Sargent
That's a lot of steps.
Rosemary Orchard
Yeah. I'm really annoyed that my personal daily best for floors was 45, because if I had done five more flights of stairs, I would have got another one, another badge at 50. But lifetime, I have done over 1.5 million steps, at least logged in Apple Health, which is what this integrates with. So if you have an iPhone or an Apple watch, then you can use Pitoniture because it hooks into the Apple Health data. Now, obviously, if it's an iPhone and you leave it on a table most of the time instead of keeping it in your pocket, then it's not going to be able to log steps. But if you keep it in your pocket all the time, then it'll be able to log steps. So lifetime floors. I have gone up and down over 1200 flights of stairs. I feel like that is a lot of flights of stairs. I wonder how many, how tall that is in buildings. I'm sure sure Siri might be able to find me a website that can answer that. But yes, either way I can see what's going on there. I can also see workouts and so on. If you want the workouts, then that is 1999 a year as a plan that you can unlock or 199 for a month. But Pedometer Plus plus is actually a free app now. You can also in settings change it to kilometers instead of miles if you prefer. And you can adjust your daily step Goal as well. So you can have that all the way up a 20,000 or even more I think. And you can lower it down as well if you need to. Now if you are in a wheelchair so you're rolling instead, then it will handle that. It can count pushes instead of steps, it can do an automatic distance matching estimation or you can set it to be manual time zones. You can have rest days, you can export data which is really nice. And it also has the option of merging your Apple Watch data with your iPhone. So it's if like me, you have an Apple Watch and an iPhone, then believe it or not, when you walk and you take a step, both of them count. And guess what, you took one step, not two. So as cool as that would be to count it twice, then yeah, you may actually want to have that data merged. So yeah, I really love pedometry. It is a very simple app. I can see how well or not so well I've done over certain stretches. It by default shows you the last week and yeah, if you want to see more trends and so on over time then weeks and months are locked behind that paywall. But I can also see my year as well, which is nice. Sleep I won't go into detail on because we do have one more thing to talk about here but it works in a very similar way but it tracks your sleep data which is in Apple Health and anything that puts the the information into Apple Health can be used for tracking that data. So yeah, I personally find David Smith's applications really useful and helpful and again, free to download, free to use the majority of features on with an optional in app subscription to unlock more things which are very nice to have but not strictly required.
Micah Sargent
All right, and then finally Visible. Tell us about Visible.
Rosemary Orchard
Yeah, so Visible is primarily marketed at people who are suffering from long term illnesses and so on. So for example people, people who have long covet and are really struggling with things where some days they are pretty much normal and the next day they are just completely burnt out and have to spend the day in bed recovering. So you actually get a polar armband which I have here, which you then connect to the Visible app, which I'm not going to go into detail and show you because it gets quite personal at places showing you all the things. But the idea is as you wear this on your arm, there's a subscription to the app as well, which then this tracks everything that you do in a day. It tracks your heart rate and everything and it gives you something called pace points and the point behind this is that it can see when you're exerting yourself and say, for example, doing the washing up, most people are perfectly capable of standing in a sink and doing the washing up. Okay? It takes like maybe 10 minutes, 15 minutes and they're fine. And for some people, some of the time that is completely exhausting and will burn them out. And the idea behind this is you can actually look at all this data and you can see, hey, okay, so yesterday where I did the washing up, it used one pace point and I had 15 for the day. Today I have eight pace points for the day and that used three of them. So maybe I actually do need to just go lie down and watch a couple of episodes of something on television right now because I am not having a good day. And so you can pace yourself appropriately. Appropriately. And I have seen quite a few ads for this all over social media. But then I went and did my own research on this as well. And the fact that it's using Polar as the band behind it. Polar have a really good record for making hearts or and other health trackers including they actually make a heart monitoring band that you can wear on your chest when you're running, which a lot of people really like, including Federico Viticci, who is a friend of the show. And yeah, I personally have been trying this and I'm really enjoying it. I don't have long Covid or anything like that to see, but I do have days where my energy massively fluctuates and it's really interesting to see how different things affect me on different days. So I would highly recommend if you have any kind of long term illness or invisible illness where there are a whole bunch of things going on and you have really good days and really bad days grabbing this or at least looking into it because yeah, it is definitely something that can make a world of difference to those people who are really struggling with those invisible illnesses.
Micah Sargent
Beautifully put there at the end. Thank you for mentioning that. Now if you out there are right now shouting at your car radio or your YouTube video or wherever you're watching this going, but what a path this one. Be sure to email us to let us know the app that you like to use that helps you with managing health and illness, we would love to hear about that again. Iostodaywit tv all right, it is time to move along to our feedback segment next for feedback this week, Robert has written in. Robert says, I have been a tech TV fan since Screensavers were on TV and a club member. Thank you, Robert. Excuse me, I've noticed this on my phone after much frustration and discovered it is also on CarPlay in the Toyota I'm renting. Sometimes the navigation voice will be very quiet while the music or podcast playing will be a normal volume. If you adjust the volume while Siri is talking to you or reading a message, that will be the volume adjustment for navigation or Siri and it will not affect the music or podcast volume volume. To access this channel I will just ask Siri to read my last message and then adjust the volume to a decent level before it finishes and then I know my navigation messages will be able to be heard. It seems to have two different volume channels that we are able to adjust. Occasionally I will try to turn down the music when I'm getting navigation directions and then I won't hear the tech the next navigation notification because it accidentally got turned down. I noticed this a long time ago on my phone when trying to have messages read to me and the volume was way too low. Sometimes I could still kind of hear it and other times it was non existent but I never could find any setting in the settings app to adjust these separate volumes. Finally, in frustration I just pushed the volume up button when Siri was trying to read the message and then I could hear Siri's voice. It seems like this is a well hidden feature that could be helpful for some to know. It was a frustration for me me. For many months Robert and Robert has included a pet tax payment of Robert's cat Buster. So we'll take a look at Buster and then we will move along to talking about yes, this frustrating. So this is a photo of Buster appearing to be perched atop a chair of some sort, perhaps some type of furniture. A beautiful arguably tabby cat. No. Yes, yes. Orange tabby's orange, isn't it? Yeah, orange cat. But there's some very unique kind of striping going on that I don't normally see in a tabby. So I think this is a gorgeous kitty with a very regal expression. So thank you for paying the pet tax there of Buster. So Rosemary, let's talk about this issue that Robert has experienced because yes, I too have this annoyance where I'm trying to turn. Usually there's a conversation happening in the vehicle and so I go to turn down the volume a little bit and then it happens to be right when Siri is telling me to turn left or turn right coming up and then I turn down Siri instead. Luckily on my in dash unit I actually have two different volume meters. One that is labeled as navigation and then one that is labeled as music. And so I can very easily see. And because it's an aftermarket unit, it is touch. And so I can easily adjust each of them right there on the screen. But some people don't have access to this. Some people also don't know that these are two different options. What do we do?
Rosemary Orchard
Yeah. So it turns out there is more than one volume that you can control. Now you can only control two of them, specifically with shortcuts, which is what I'm showing here. So that is the media volume and the ringtone volume. But then the Siri volume is another one which is separate. And in my experience as well, the. The volume of Siri responses varies between the phone and carplay. So just because I've turned it up on the phone, then when I get into the car it may still be very loud or very quiet. That can be a separate remembered volume, which is a little bit frustrating. I do understand why the volume controls are separate, but one thing that I would like to remind folks of, if you have one of those in car, are dashboard holders for your phone that clamps on the sides, make sure it's not pressing the volume down button. Because the number of times I have tried to use one of those and I put my phone in it, I just put a little too high and it's pressing the volume down button because that one sticks out slightly below. So the bottom of the power button is here and then the bottom of the volume down button is just like it's a few millimeters below it. It's not very far, but it's just far enough that depending on your case could quite easily be pressing the volume down button and then that causes all sorts if that button is just continually being pressed. So yeah, in shortcuts you can use the set volume action to set your media volume and your ringtone volume, but then the Siri volume can only be set while Siri is talking. So that is just something worth remembering because. Yeah, I don't really know of a better way to set those because you can't change the Siri volume in settings.
Micah Sargent
Yeah, weird, weird. But there you go, Robert. And thank you for part of that tip of. I like the part that kind of made me chuckle a little bit. Thought about that is can you read my last message to me because it forces Siri to be communicating, then you could boop boop, boop, boop, boop boop, turn it up and turn it down from there. That's pretty funny. So there are a couple of ways to make this happen. Although they, you know, some of them are are a little bit cleaner rather than others. All righty, folks, that's feedback. I think I can hear the music. It's time for Shortcuts Corner.
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Micah Sargent
According to the part of the show where typically you write in with your shortcuts requests. And Rosemary Orchard provides a response this week. Rosemary was inspired by our topic to help make symptom logging just a little bit easier for you. So, Rosemary, tell us a little bit about what you've got on under the table for us today. I think of like a cooking show where you and you just, you pull it out and you're like, and here's the final dish. Tell us about what you've got.
Rosemary Orchard
So now I get to finally do my Blue Peter moment. And here's one I prepared earlier. Sorry. Blue Peter is a children's show where they had arts and crafts and all sorts of things and they would inevitably get to the point where it's like, and now you need to wait four hours for your papier mache to dry. And they'd be like, so here's one I made earlier. And pull it out. Ready for the next stage So I needed, I needed to put that in there. But yes, shortcuts can help because the health app is fine. Okay, it's not a bad app at all, but there's quite a few things that are buried deep inside of it. Medication tracking being one of those. And symptom tracking is another one. Like you can get there, but it takes a little bit. Now we can't do anything about the medication tracking, but we can do something to make symptom tracking a little bit easier. And I promise you folks, it's a one action shortcut. It's really not that hard. So what you can do inside of shortcuts is find and add the action called log health sample. Now, I've already set this up a little bit, so instead I'm going to just delete this content. So in the date field you tap into it and then above the keyboard you'll see a row that starts with select variable and you swipe across and then you just tap current date, date and then done. That's it. Okay, so you're just adding this on the current date and then you select the thing that you want to log. Okay, so it could be abdominal cramps, it could be appetite changes, it could be bloating, acne, it could be caffeine. For example, if you want to be logging that you've consumed caffeine to see maybe whether or not it tracks with a headache, you know, the fact that you have been or haven't been drinking caffeine. Caffeine could be one of those things you could track. Congestion, coughing, dizziness, dry skin. Dry skin can be an example of various problems. Fainting, fatigue, fever, whatever it is that you want to track, you can just add this and tap it. So I've added fainting now because I haven't added fainting through shortcuts before. I have to allow access. And then I'm just going to turn it on so that it can read and write that data and then ta da. It's just going to log fainting. Now for something things, it may actually give you the option of tracking a little bit more. So for example, alcohol consumption would want a value. So in that if you tap into the value, then you can just pop in and ask each time. And then when you run the shortcut, then it'll just say, hey, you know, like what, what is the alcohol consumption that you wanted to add so that you can actually add it? Because unless you are consistently drinking the exact same amount of alcohol every time, that could be a little tricky. And what you can then do with this is either you can have multiple shortcuts for logging different things. So for example, if I wanted to log abdominal cramps, I could just have a shortcut for logging abdominal cramps. I could have one for logging headaches and so on and so forth. Or you can make this shortcut a little bit fancier and you can create a menu and I'll just pop that menu here and then you can just say for example cramps. Which if I could spell the word cramps, that would be so much more helpful. There we go. And then I can just drag this in. This can also be useful if you are trying to remember what Apple calls a thing and then it's called something different to what you would you would think it was. And so then you can just have different options. So for example, cramps and headache. And then I'll just change the second one to headaches. So I just tapped on the little icon on the top left there to then duplicate it. So I will just allow this in this access. And so now I've got this shortcut. I can then add this to my home screen. Okay, before I do that, I may want to choose an icon for it. So I could go with red and then I can look, there's a whole bunch of options under health. So maybe I want a stethoscope. And then I will just rename this to log. Well, apparently I'm just calling it log. But if I go with log symptom, that's better. And then if I tap on that share icon, then I can scroll down a little bit and add it to my home screen. Now the problem with log symptoms is that's a little bit too long to put on my home screen. But if I just pop a little plus in front of the word symptoms, then that will do that. And then on my home screen, ta da. I now have a dedicated app for, for logging symptoms which when I tap on it says, hey, cramps or headache. That's it. Very simple. So I think that this is a particularly good way of being able to log things, especially if you're trying to determine if you have a health issue or you're just trying to build a log of data so that when you finally get to see some kind of medical professional, you can be like, I know it sounds like I'm making it up, but I'm not. I have evidence to prove it. And I know some people especially, unfortunately, it seems women have that issue when they go to a medical professional. They'll get told have you tried losing some weight and doing some exercise. It's like, yes, yes I have. That does not affect my migraines. Here is all the data. Here's the dizziness, the other things that I am experiencing. What can we do? Because when you go in there with evidence, it helps. And it also kind of helps to prove to you that you're not imagining things. Like sometimes it can feel like, okay, well, it just seems that I always get a headache at this time. But once you start tracking it, then you can see, is it every time or is it maybe every third time you're doing a thing. And that coincides with when you also have done this other thing. Relatively close proximity, time wise to it. So maybe it's the other thing. So figuring out what the problem is is a huge part of any health battle, especially if it's a long term one of those sneaky invisible illnesses where it's really tricky to figure out exactly what it is. Collect that data. Please don't go too nuts about trying to collect all the data, but it is well worth tracking these things when you are experiencing them, just in case. Just in case there's something bigger there and you can only see it once you've got the data points. Because without data points it's just a doodle on a serviette.
Micah Sargent
Yeah, so well put. To be able to advocate for yourself in those situations is a lot I found, even is a lot easier when you have the data to back it up. So there's a way to do it. As I like to remind you all at the end of the show, if you would like to get in touch with us with your shortcuts, corner requests, your feedback, anything like that, email us iostodaywit tv. I want to remind you out there listeners that you should consider joining Club Twit at Twitter tv. Club Twit. We'd love to have you. We invite you to join the club when you join the club for $7 a month month. There is a two week free trial. By the way, you gain access to some awesome benefits. Every single one of our shows is available to you ad free. You also gain access to the Twit plus bonus feed that has extra content you won't find anywhere else. Behind the scenes. Before the show, after the show, special Club Twitt events. Access to the members only Discord Server. A fun place to go to chat with your fellow Club Twit members and also those of us here at TWiT. And that warm fuzzy feeling knowing that you're helping to support the stuff that we do here on the network. It's a lot of fun in the club and we'd love, love love to have you Twit TV Club Twit Rosemary Orchard My dear wonderful co host, if people are looking to follow you online, where do they go to do so?
Rosemary Orchard
The best place to go is rosemarycher.com, which has links to apps, books, podcasts, all the social media sites and as well as on said social media. You can also find me in the club Twit Discord where we chat during the show with live recordings, especially if people have got feedback during the show which they like to share. And also even if you can't make it during the show, that's fine. We post a thread for every single brand new episode that goes out so you can give us feedback on on the specific episodes or if we have a general iOS today discussion area where folks are always welcome to chat with us and send in show ideas, ask questions, just say hi and all of those things. Micah where can folks find you?
Micah Sargent
If you're looking to find me online, I'm ikasargent on many a social media network. Or you can head to Chihuahua Coffee that's C H I H U A H u a Coffee where I've got links to the places I'm most active on line. Thank you so much for tuning in today to watch the show. Thank you so much for your support. We will be back again next week for another episode of iOS today, but until then, it is time to say goodbye.
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Podcast Summary: iOS Today 746: Managing Health & Illness
Episode Release Date: April 3, 2025
Hosts: Micah Sargent and Rosemary Orchard
Platform: TWiT.tv Shows (Audio)
Focus: Utilizing iOS apps and features to effectively manage health and illness.
In episode 746 of iOS Today, hosts Micah Sargent and Rosemary Orchard delve into the myriad ways Apple’s ecosystem can aid in managing health and illness. The discussion spans built-in iOS features, third-party applications, and innovative tools designed to help users monitor symptoms, track fitness, and maintain overall well-being.
Micah initiates the conversation by exploring the Apple Health app's capabilities in tracking symptoms, a feature expanded in recent iOS updates.
Micah Sargent [03:20]: "Apple in one of its updates to iOS, added a huge list of symptoms that you could track both within the app, but I think more importantly for third-party apps to integrate and help you keep track of."
He enumerates various symptoms available for tracking, such as abdominal cramps, appetite changes, and shortness of breath, emphasizing the app’s comprehensive database. Micah shares his personal experience using the symptom tracker to monitor heart irregularities, highlighting its utility in providing tangible data for medical consultations.
Micah Sargent [07:45]: "When you use the ECG app on your Apple Watch, after you've done an ECG it will ask you are there any symptoms that you are feeling... it will log those for you in the symptoms section of the app."
The hosts underline the importance of symptom tracking in distinguishing between illness and allergies, advocating for users to leverage these features to gain insights into their health patterns.
Rosemary introduces the Peak app, a tool designed to enhance the visibility of fitness metrics through customizable widgets on the iPhone home screen.
Rosemary Orchard [08:43]: "Peak is actually to provide you with widgets on your iPhone to show you fitness things, which personally I find to be quite helpful..."
She appreciates how Peak allows users to monitor various health indicators such as sleep quality, body temperature, and physical activity levels at a glance. Rosemary highlights the app’s flexibility in catering to different health management needs, including those suffering from conditions like seasonal affective disorder by tracking time spent in daylight.
Rosemary Orchard [10:15]: "Seeing your time in daylight as a widget can definitely help with managing things like that."
The app’s developer responsiveness and the availability of a free version with optional subscriptions make Peak a versatile choice for users seeking enhanced health monitoring tools.
Micah transitions to discussing My Pollen Forecast Pro, an app that provides localized pollen counts and forecasts, essential for individuals managing allergies.
Micah Sargent [12:49]: "My Pollen Forecast Pro... shows you in your area the current pollen count by displaying it kinda as a gradient from green to red and will give you a forecast of what is to be expected..."
He explains how the app factors in wind conditions to offer a more accurate pollen dispersion forecast, aiding users in anticipating and mitigating allergy symptoms. Additionally, Micah introduces Plume Labs, a free app that tracks overall air quality, offering daily forecasts and real-time pollution maps.
Micah Sargent [16:30]: "Plume Labs... lets you just track air quality as a whole. You can get the kind of daily forecast of the air quality around you."
These applications collectively enable users to discern whether their discomfort stems from environmental factors or underlying health issues, thereby facilitating informed health management decisions.
Rosemary spotlights the Pedometer ++ and Sleep ++ apps developed by David Smith, also known as Underscore. These apps integrate seamlessly with Apple Health to provide detailed insights into physical activity and sleep patterns.
Rosemary Orchard [19:22]: "Pedometer ++ is free to download and then there is an in-app subscription of I think it’s $7.99 a year to unlock everything."
She illustrates how Pedometer ++ tracks steps, floors climbed, and offers badges for milestones, motivating users to maintain or increase their activity levels. The app’s ability to merge data from both the iPhone and Apple Watch ensures accurate step counts and comprehensive activity logs.
Rosemary Orchard [20:42]: "If you have an Apple Watch and an iPhone, then you can use Pedometer ++ because it hooks into the Apple Health data."
Sleep ++ complements this by monitoring sleep quality, enabling users to identify patterns and make adjustments for better rest, which is crucial for overall health management.
The Visible app takes center stage as Rosemary discusses its application for individuals dealing with long-term or invisible illnesses, such as Long COVID.
Rosemary Orchard [24:01]: "Visible is primarily marketed at people who are suffering from long-term illnesses and so on... you actually get a Polar armband which you then connect to the Visible app."
Visible utilizes a Polar armband to track heart rate and activity levels, translating this data into "pace points" that help users manage their daily energy expenditure. This feature is particularly beneficial for those whose energy levels fluctuate unpredictably, allowing them to pace themselves and prevent burnout.
Rosemary Orchard [26:00]: "You can actually look at all this data and you can see... Maybe I actually do need to just go lie down and watch a couple of episodes of something on television right now because I am not having a good day."
The app's integration with reliable hardware from Polar underscores its effectiveness in providing actionable health insights, making it a valuable tool for managing chronic conditions.
During the feedback segment, Robert shares his frustration with the separate volume controls for navigation and media on iOS devices, particularly when using CarPlay.
Robert's Feedback [28:15]: "Sometimes the navigation voice will be very quiet while the music or podcast playing will be a normal volume... It seems like this is a well-hidden feature that could be helpful for some to know."
Micah and Rosemary discuss potential solutions, including accessing separate volume controls in the car’s dashboard settings or using Siri commands to adjust the navigation volume independently.
Micah Sargent [30:40]: "Thought about that is can you read my last message to me because it forces Siri to be communicating, then you could boop boop, boop, boop, boop boop, turn it up and turn it down from there."
Rosemary adds practical tips to prevent unintended volume adjustments, such as ensuring phone mounts do not press volume buttons inadvertently.
In the Shortcuts Corner, Rosemary demonstrates how to create a custom shortcut to streamline symptom logging within the Apple Health app, enhancing the user experience by simplifying data entry.
Rosemary Orchard [35:01]: "Medication tracking being one of those... we can't do anything about the medication tracking, but we can do something to make symptom tracking a little bit easier."
She guides listeners through setting up a one-action shortcut using the "Log Health Sample" feature, allowing for quick logging of various symptoms like cramps or headaches with a single tap. This customization empowers users to build a personalized symptom diary, facilitating more accurate health monitoring and providing valuable data for medical consultations.
Rosemary Orchard [39:45]: "It is a particularly good way of being able to log things, especially if you're trying to determine if you have a health issue or you're just trying to build a log of data..."
Micah underscores the importance of data-driven self-advocacy in healthcare, emphasizing how such tools can substantiate personal health experiences during medical appointments.
Micah Sargent [41:17]: "To be able to advocate for yourself in those situations is a lot easier when you have the data to back it up."
The episode wraps up with Micah and Rosemary encouraging listeners to engage with their community through Club Twit and share their experiences and preferences regarding health management apps. They reiterate the significance of leveraging technology to take proactive control of one’s health, fostering a well-informed and empowered user base.
Micah Sargent [43:13]: "Thank you so much for tuning in today to watch the show. Thank you so much for your support. We will be back again next week for another episode of iOS Today..."
Apple Health App: Offers extensive symptom tracking, crucial for monitoring health and aiding medical consultations.
Peak App: Enhances fitness tracking through customizable home screen widgets, providing at-a-glance health metrics.
Pollen and Air Quality Apps: Tools like My Pollen Forecast Pro and Plume Labs help distinguish between allergy symptoms and other illnesses by monitoring environmental factors.
Pedometer ++ and Sleep ++: Comprehensive tracking of physical activity and sleep patterns integrates seamlessly with Apple Health, motivating healthier lifestyles.
Visible App: Specialized for long-term illness management, offering detailed activity tracking to prevent overexertion.
Volume Control Feedback: Awareness of separate volume settings in iOS and CarPlay can alleviate frustrations with inconsistent audio levels.
Shortcuts Corner: Creating custom shortcuts in iOS can significantly streamline health data logging, enhancing personal health management.
By harnessing the power of iOS and its ecosystem of apps, iOS Today equips listeners with the knowledge to effectively monitor and manage their health, promoting a proactive approach to well-being.