A new report claims that Apple has been secretly testing an app that could help customers with prediabetes manage their food and make lifestyle changes that could one day help shape the company’s health software.
We’ve been hearing reports for years that Apple is trying to crack the blood glucose monitoring on its top Apple Watch models, but so far without success.
The latest reports indicate that Apple’s non-invasive blood glucose technology (rather than “invasive” technology like continuous glucose monitors, so called because they use needles to pierce the skin) will be years away. But Apple now appears to be testing an app that could help in the fight against diabetes.
Writing in his weekly magazine Power On NewsletterBloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that Apple tested an app this year “to help people with prediabetes manage their food intake and make lifestyle changes.”
According to the report, Apple currently has no plans to release the app, but could integrate the technology into its future health products, “including a non-invasive glucose tracker that it has been developing for more than a decade.”
Apple’s secret diabetes app
The app could reportedly show consumers how certain foods affect their blood sugar levels, based on readings from existing blood sugar meters.
Gurman says the research was aimed at exploring the use of blood sugar data and what tools Apple could create for consumers as a result. Lately, he reports that testing on the app has been paused, but says the tests could pave the way for better food tracking through Apple’s own health software or better integration of third-party glucose tracking.
In the meantime, the report states that Apple’s non-invasive blood glucose technology is “still years away.” The current prototype is an “iPhone-sized” device, but even at that scale, Apple faces overheating and miniaturization challenges. Apple’s system features lasers that shoot light into the skin with the intention of obtaining specific blood sugar readings, although early iterations may only be able to tell people if they are prediabetic.
While some fake smartwatches claim to include glucose monitoring, none of the top smartwatches actually offer this feature due to the technical challenges mentioned above. The FDA went so far as to warn against the use of smartwatches or even smart rings to measure blood glucose earlier this year.