Report: Apple Scaling Back Internal 'HealthHabit' Project for Employee Health Tracking and Coaching

Apple is scaling back its work on a critical internal initiative within its health department, possibly presenting a significant setback to the company's long-term health goals, as well as the departure of multiple staff members, according to a report from Business Insider.

apple health keynote
The initiative in question is an internal app used by employees called "HealthHabit" that allowed them to monitor and log a wide range of health metrics, such as fitness goals, management of hypertension, and gain direct access to clinicians in the AC Wellness group, a doctors group that has Apple has partnered with.

According to Business Insider, Apple is "scaling back" HealthHabit, which had a dedicated team of 50 employees working on the app. The report notes that employees who previously worked on the app will be dismissed unless they find another role within the company.

More than 50 employees were spending a significant amount of time working on the app. Some of them will be laid off with severance if they're unable to find other roles inside Apple in the next few weeks, two of the people said. The people requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press. Their identities are known to Insider.

At its original inception, Apple had hoped that HealthHabit would allow for experimentation of possible new health services. HealthHabit is one project part of Apple Health, a division within Apple that consists of hundreds of engineers, scientists, doctors, designers, and more that oversee Apple's health features, such as the ones inside the Apple Watch.

Despite the cutback on staff and resources, the report notes that HealthHabit may continue internally at a much smaller scale or possibly shut down entirely. A report in June by The Wall Street Journal detailed how Apple has piloted the idea of launching a healthcare service based on a subscription model with "Apple Doctors." That project, spearheaded by Dr. Sumbul Desai of Stanford University, has, however, stalled.

Over the past few years, Apple has continued to build health features into the iPhone and Apple Watch. In the years to come, Apple is looking to expand the capability of the Apple Watch itself by adding new sensors, such as temperature, blood pressure, blood glucose, and blood alcohol monitoring.

Popular Stories

Apple Glasses Purple Feature

Apple Smart Glasses Launching in 2026

Thursday May 22, 2025 12:22 pm PDT by
Apple is planning to launch a set of smart glasses by the end of 2026, reports Bloomberg. The glasses will be comparable to the Meta Ray-Bans and the Android XR glasses that Google showed off earlier this week. Apple's smart glasses are expected to include cameras, microphones, and AI capabilities, much like the Meta Ray-Bans. The glasses will be able to take photos, record video, provide...
Apple Glass

Apple Smart Glasses: Everything We Know So Far

Wednesday May 21, 2025 8:21 am PDT by
Google recently made waves by showcasing a set of lightweight smart glasses featuring deep Gemini integration and an optional in-lens display. The demo has reignited interest in Apple's own smart glasses project, which has been the subject of rumors for nearly a decade. Here's a recap of where things stand. Current Development Status Apple is actively working on new chips specifically...
Apple CarPlay Ultra instrument cluster themes 01

Apple's CarPlay Ultra Is Here – Does Your iPhone Support It?

Thursday May 15, 2025 5:17 am PDT by
Apple's recently announced CarPlay Ultra promises a deeply integrated in-car experience, but not all iPhone users will be able to take advantage of the new feature. According to Apple's press release, CarPlay Ultra requires an iPhone 12 or later running iOS 18.5 or later. This means if you're using an iPhone 11, iPhone XR, or any older model, you'll need to upgrade your device to access...
2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Raises iPhone Trade-In Values For Limited Time — Here's the List

Friday May 23, 2025 6:48 am PDT by
Apple has temporarily increased its iPhone trade-in values in select countries, including the U.S., Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, U.K., and China. Apple says the extra credit towards a new iPhone is available through June 18. In the U.S., the maximum estimated trade-in values increased by only $5 to $30, with the full changes in that country outlined below. ...
iPod shuffle generations

Kuo: Jony Ive's Futuristic OpenAI Device Like a Neck-Worn iPod Shuffle

Thursday May 22, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
The big news in the technology world this week is that ChatGPT maker OpenAI is working more closely with Apple's former design chief Jony Ive on a futuristic AI device. The company is remaining tight lipped about the device, but Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has shared some alleged details about its design. In a social media post today, Kuo said the device will be "slightly larger" ...
CarPlay Ultra Aston Martin

CarPlay Ultra Solves One of Regular CarPlay's Biggest Limitations

Thursday May 22, 2025 9:16 am PDT by
The next generation of CarPlay is finally starting to roll out, and it includes a new feature that solves one of regular CarPlay's longstanding limitations. Apple last week announced the launch of CarPlay Ultra, and it offers a Radio app, allowing you to control AM and FM radio stations within CarPlay. With regular CarPlay, you must switch between CarPlay and your vehicle's built-in software ...
AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Thursday May 22, 2025 4:06 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
General Calendar Feature

Apple Calendar App Revamp Confirmed by Job Posting

Friday May 23, 2025 3:12 am PDT by
A new Apple job listing has provided more evidence that the company is working on a major overhaul of its Calendar app. A senior software engineer position for "Calendar Experience," spotted by Macworld's Filipe Espósito, explicitly states that Apple seeks candidates to join a team that will "reimagine what a modern calendar can be across Apple's platforms." Listed on April 29, the posting ...

Top Rated Comments

now i see it Avatar
49 months ago
maybe employees didn't use it because their health is their own business
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tobefirst ⚽️ Avatar
49 months ago
I wonder the reason behind this. Health continues to be more and more important to Apple, and I think Cook has said that this is the area where they could affect humanity most, so shutting down a portion of that group seems strange.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RUQRU Avatar
49 months ago
Most employees are not comfortable with their employer have access to their intimate health metrics. I would not use the app if I worked there.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DanTSX Avatar
49 months ago

And certainly Apple might be entitled to them, if there is an offsetting measure, such as better customer service, saving lives, better efficiencies etc.
And vaccine status

Put it in Apple wallet and a phone app

Let me know by proximity when I’m near anti vaxxers so I can mask up and start spraying disinfects in their direction.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bobcomer Avatar
49 months ago

I wonder the reason behind this. Health continues to be more and more important to Apple, and I think Cook has said that this is the area where they could affect humanity most, so shutting down a portion of that group seems strange.
It probably came down to privacy again.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheLastUserName Avatar
49 months ago

('https://www.macrumors.com/2021/08/19/apple-scaling-back-internal-health-project/')

Apple is scaling back its work on a critical internal initiative within its health department, possibly presenting a significant setback to the company's long-term health goals, as well as the departure of multiple staff members, according to a report from Business Insider ('https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-scaling-back-healthhabit-app-layoffs-2021-8').



The initiative in question is an internal app used by employees called "HealthHabit" that allowed them to monitor and log a wide range of health metrics, such as fitness goals, management of hypertension, and gain direct access to clinicians in the AC Wellness group, a doctors group that has Apple has partnered with.

According to Business Insider, Apple is "scaling back" HealthHabit, which had a dedicated team of 50 employees working on the app. The report notes that employees who previously worked on the app will be dismissed unless they find another role within the company.
At its original inception, Apple had hoped that HealthHabit would allow for experimentation of possible new health services. HealthHabit is one project part of Apple Health, a division within Apple that consists of hundreds of engineers, scientists, doctors, designers, and more that oversee Apple's health features, such as the ones inside the Apple Watch.

Despite the cutback on staff and resources, the report notes that HealthHabit may continue internally at a much smaller scale or possibly shut down entirely. A report in June ('https://www.macrumors.com/2021/06/16/apple-primary-healthcare-service-wsj/') by The Wall Street Journal detailed how Apple has piloted the idea of launching a healthcare service based on a subscription model with "Apple Doctors." That project, spearheaded by Dr. Sumbul Desai of Stanford University, has, however, stalled.

Over the past few years, Apple has continued to build health features into the iPhone and Apple Watch. In the years to come, Apple is looking to expand the capability of the Apple Watch itself by adding new sensors, such as temperature, blood pressure, blood glucose, and blood alcohol monitoring ('https://www.macrumors.com/2021/05/03/apple-watch-blood-pressure-glucose-alcohol/').

Article Link: Report: Apple Scaling Back Internal 'HealthHabit' Project for Employee Health Tracking and Coaching ('https://www.macrumors.com/2021/08/19/apple-scaling-back-internal-health-project/')
Apple Health has had issues for years. I have to wonder if the fate of HealthHabit is just a symptom of deeper problems.

https://www.macrumors.com/2019/08/20/apple-health-team-tension-report/

Dr Desai's project and team have faced pushback from Apple employees. Some employees, including midlevel managers, have been critical of the way Dr Desai's unit "discourages critical feedback," including allegations that the unit provided inaccurate data about the performance of the test clinics.

Employees concerned about the culture pointed to a 2019 meeting during which a midlevel manager raised questions about data, according to people familiar with the meeting and the documents. Dr. Desai responded angrily, leading some present to conclude that critical questions were unwelcome, according to the people and the documents. The manager left Apple weeks later, and the episode contributed to her departure, documents show.

https://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2021/06/a-wall-street-journal-report-casts-doubt-on-apples-health-care-service-plan-by-noting-that-its-strug.html
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)