back to article iOS 8 Healthkit gets a bug SO Apple KILLS it. That's real healthcare!

Software using the super-hyped HealthKit API in iOS 8.0 has been pulled by Apple from the App Store due to a bug in the technology. Healthkit, new in iOS 8.0, is designed to allow applications to share and analyze information about a user's exercise routine, heart rate, weight, and so on, now that gadgets nagging about fitness …

  1. Alan Denman

    So which IOS gadget got to have a cardiac arrest OS ?

    Legend has it that one device becomes only semi-fir for purpose after Apple's infamous 'no goimg back upgrade ?

    So has he legendary cull continued ?

    1. tirk
      Trollface

      Re: So which IOS gadget got to have a cardiac arrest OS ?

      Version 1 of software tends to have bugs... Like v1 of posts "only semi-fir for purpose"?

    2. Lord Elpuss Silver badge

      Re: So which IOS gadget got to have a cardiac arrest OS ?

      Huh?

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: So which IOS gadget got to have a cardiac arrest OS ?

      The cardiac arrest comes when you see how much you've paid for you new device...

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I have a First Aid Kit in my car, much more useful than the Apple Health Kit.

      1. SuccessCase

        "I have a First Aid Kit in my car, much more useful than the Apple Health Kit."

        Doesn't say much for your driving.

        1. John Tserkezis

          "Doesn't say much for your driving."

          No matter, he won't stop to render assistance if he finds you injured on the side of the road. Especially not when he finds you have an iPhone. You know, because it's buggy and all.

  2. DJV Silver badge
    Facepalm

    HealthKit

    Why do I keep reading that as HeathKit? Brings to mind old DIY radios and hifi from the 1970s!

    1. Crazy Operations Guy

      Re: HealthKit

      Ah that brings me back to my childhood... I loved spending weekends assembling their kits. They made a much more beneficial impact on humanity than Apple can ever hope for (Mostly because the Steves developed their talents to the damn things).

    2. Tom 35

      Re: HealthKit

      So it was not just me. My first one was a gift from my grandfather, a digital multimeter to replace the VTVM that he also gave me.

      Seems HealthKit might be missing a few parts.

    3. Oninoshiko

      Re: HealthKit

      atleast it's not just me

      1. Cliff

        Re: HealthKit

        Ah not just me then, at least 26 others!

    4. oomwat
      Coat

      Re: HealthKit

      Perhaps that's because the initial implementation was a bit Heath-Robinson, hence it being pulled :D

  3. Crazy Operations Guy

    WebMD

    Why is that blight still around? It does nothing but waste doctor's time trying to convince people that something is just a rash or simple injury that will go away in a day or two rather than some serious or really obscure disease.

    Now that they have an app, queue the horde of people swamping hospitals freaking out because they exercised and the WebMD is telling them they have an elevated heart (Which is made worse y panicking about it, preventing it from returning to normal....)

    1. Semtex451
      Joke

      Re: WebMD

      Stephen Pie has an "elevated heart", and I don't need an app to tell me that

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Apple has its own health problems

    I guess apple should quit potentially advertising the bad health of others and fix its own health problems.

  5. Nathan 13

    Health Apps are all the rage

    Until its users realises that they needs to get off their arse and do exercise that doesnt involve chewing chocolate bars whilst pushing their fingers against a remote control!!

  6. ecofeco Silver badge

    Healthkit?

    Am I the only one who keeps seeing that as HEATH-kit and thinking "WTH?"

    1. Steven Raith

      Re: Healthkit?

      Heathkit, Heathkit, no one should

      Terrify their neighborhood

      But Heathkit just won't be outdone

      Playing pranks on everyone...

      Sorry, I liked the car on that junkpile.

      Nostalgia - Heathkit Heathcliff intro

      1. Steven Raith

        Re: Healthkit?

        I might downvote myself, is possible, as I've had the theme tune to Heathcliff stuck in my head all day.

        It's starting to grate now. (which is apt, as it's very cheesy)

        Steven R

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Not a bug, Apple just forgot to backdoor the Healthkit.

    1. Dazed and Confused

      Apple just forgot to backdoor the Healthkit.

      Where would the thermometer go then?

  8. PsychicMonkey

    IT JUST WORKS™

    See Title.

  9. VinceH
    Trollface

    Given how bad Apple Maps was, and they released it anyway, I dread to think just how bad this is if they've decided to hold it back.

  10. xyz Silver badge

    obviously

    If you're so far up your own ass, you're gonna need a map

    1. Semtex451
      Coat

      Re: obviously

      Luckily Apple included a torch on the iPhone 6

  11. Version 1.0 Silver badge

    Heathkit will sue?

    I wonder if Heathkit will be launching a sueball at Apple for using a name too similar to their own? If the positions were reversed then I bet Apple would be suing.

  12. Mystic Megabyte
    Coat

    Magic mirror?

    Is this going to be a fair and honest appraisal of a user's health or just flattery?

    User: Siri, is my ass fat?

    Siri: (does quick calculation....Height = 5ft, Width = 4 ft.) Oh no, you have the fairest ass in the land.

    Mines the one with no candy in the pocket.

  13. RainForestGuppy

    Updated Statement from Apple

    " After inspecting the Healthkit software, we have deduced that there are no bugs, but the problem lies it a incompatibility of the human physiology with the parameters defined by Apple developers.

    If you wish to use the Healthkit Application we suggest that you undergo gene replacement therapy,

    Love and Hugs Tim xx"

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Updated Statement from Apple

      The problem is obvious the users are all exercising wrong.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Crap Apps

    Apple Admit Unfit Healthkit, joins Crap Maps App in Sin Bin Chagrin

  15. Lallabalalla
    FAIL

    After what happened after AerialGate....

    we can expect to see a few CVs being dusted off I wouldn't wonder.

  16. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge

    It's good to laugh at Apple ...

    But let's be fair, we would have been a whole lot more abusive had they gone ahead and released with a buggy API and we found out they were aware it wasn't fit for purpose. In the circumstances it seem they have done the right thing, there would be more damage done by shipping than not, but let's hope they can fix it sooner rather than later.

    Not a fanboi, just someone who hasthemselves faced the 'ship now and be criticised' or 'hold back and be criticised' dilema. Even keeping quiet until everything is perfect for shipping will invite criticism. No matter what one does it will be criticised.

  17. Youngdog

    Bit underwhelmed

    Despite sniffing up my height and weight data from MyFitnessPal it still needs me to tell it my BMI - if only there was some way of calculating that.

    It does seem to be pulling in the info OK so I am hoping the usefulness will emerge as more apps are updated to use the Healthkit API (though I haven't had any issues up until now with any of them syncing with each other in its absence.)

    I could moan about the paucity of useful information on the Dashboard and how badly it compares to the UIs of the apps themselves but I think the point is that it is just the platform and it's up to app writers to turn it into something more useful.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The quality of Apple's software engineering has been declining for years.

    1. Richard Taylor 2

      Out of interest do you have any evidence of that?

  19. Etsweiler

    Heathkit.

    A number of my superannuated mates from two successive generations here on the western shore of the Atlantic saw that headline as "Heathkit." For those of you who are possessed of a clue, enjoy that Blast from the Past. Break out that dusty old soldering iron and breathe deep.

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