How technology helps health and wellbeing

Learn about how a combination of technology and apps can help you keep on top of your health, set health goals, and even improve your general wellbeing.

A smartphone has features that can help you with your health. Your smartphone can:

Use its sensors to detect things such as steps, heart rate, sleep, and more
Run a built-in health suite app that can track your activity, and give suggestions for meeting your health goals
Run other health apps you can download from your phone’s app store
Connect to a smartwatch to make health monitoring more accurate.

Your smartphone will give you advice on how to stay healthy, but this advice shouldn’t replace the advice your doctor gives you. Using a health app isn’t a substitute for regular medical check-ups with your GP.

How health monitoring technology works

You can monitor your health on your smartphone using a combination of hardware and apps. Here’s how it works:

Sensors on your phone or optional smartwatch gather health data
This data is analysed by a health app and presented on the screen in a way that makes sense
Different apps focus on different aspects of health, such as running, weight loss, or yoga
A smartwatch has its own sensors and is worn close to the skin, so it may be more accurate
Data from the smartwatch is transmitted wirelessly to your phone
Apps track and record your progress over time, like a health diary
Many apps also provide helpful advice on meeting health goals.

What health technology is available?

You can get started with health and wellbeing using just your smartphone, but other devices might be useful to you too:

A smartwatch can improve accuracy of health data and remind you to exercise or just get moving
Smartwatches are sometimes also called fitness watches, running watches, or health trackers

Bathroom scales are available with a wireless connection to your smartphone, so weight data is included automatically in your health profile
These devices need an app to make sense of their data, and will show which apps they work with on their packaging.

How the apps and the cloud help with your health

Devices and apps can connect with each other and share information (data) via the cloud. This means you can be out and about doing exercise and this activity can be recorded on your health profile, even when you are away from home.

Your health app needs an account to keep your data together.
The included health suite app on your Android or iPhone uses your Google or Apple ID account.
This means your health information is kept safe and secure by the same password you use to sign in to your phone.
Other health apps might ask you to create a standalone account, or can also work with your phone account.
A health suite app can upload your data to the cloud so you can view it on another device, or in a web browser on a computer.
These apps work best when you carry your phone with you, or you wear a smartwatch in range of your phone’s Bluetooth connection.

A health suite app will use up some of your phone’s battery so you may need to recharge more often. Health suite apps that connect to the cloud will use some of your data allowance, but it’s such a small amount you don’t need to worry about it.

Health apps can keep you motivated

Sticking to a health plan can be hard, especially if it has complicated rules and schedules. A health suite app can help you keep on top of all this, and stay motivated:

Health apps remind you to stand and move around regularly
You can set health goals such as the number of steps per day
The app will encourage you to “keep going” if you are close to a daily goal
Health apps don’t criticise you for missing goals or forgetting to exercise, they use positive encouragement
A health app can connect with a smartwatch and some smart displays to track your sleep, which can be an important part of health that’s hard to manage yourself
Smartwatches are great tools but can be expensive, and you might find the need to charge them every few days inconvenient.