Apple’s Vitals App Is Warning Users Of Symptoms Before They Actually Fall Sick

Launched on September 16, 2024, the latest watchOS 11 brings an all-new Vitals app that lets you check your daily health status. During your sleep, the app measures important health metrics, including heart rate, respiratory rate, wrist temperature, blood oxygen, and sleep duration. If two or more metrics are out of the range, you’ll get a notification along with the factors involved like illness, medications, or alcohol consumption. This may sound okay, and not a big deal, but some users are amazed at how capable this app is.

Several Reddit users are discussing how the new Vitals app in watchOS 11 is showing signs of sickness before they actually feel any symptoms. The app keeps a close eye on your vitals and detects in advance that you’re about to fall sick. That means the app will know you’re going to fall sick before you actually do. Impressive, isn’t it?

One Reddit user stated that he started using the Vitals app when it was in beta. He had fallen sick twice and both times, the Vitals app knew a few days in advance, whereas he didn’t feel anything wrong. When outliers were detected, the app sent him a notification. Another user said that his Vitals app was saying high temperature, respiratory rate, and heart rate, but he didn’t care as he was feeling fine. After two days, he started getting a cough at night and woke up with a sore throat.

He then went to urgent care and tested positive for strep throat (a bacterial infection). Several users also joined in the conversation and shared similar experiences where their Apple Watch was able to identify illnesses and recognize that something was off. This is impressive and super useful.

It’s incredible to see how technology has evolved to predict health patterns. Many users are already saying the Vitals app is their new favorite Apple Watch feature, and it totally deserves this appreciation. It’s damn clever how the app can identify the mild and early signs of sickness. When you know about your sick days beforehand, you take the best precautions to limit the sickness or even prevent it in some cases. Also, you have the time to cancel or postpone your plans, which is otherwise another headache.

Apple’s Vitals App Compatibility

The new Vitals app isn’t exclusive to the latest Apple Watch Series 10 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 models. It’s available on any Apple Watch running watchOS 11. Here’s a list of watchOS 11 supported Apple Watch models:

• Apple Watch Ultra 2
• Apple Watch Ultra
• Apple Watch Series 10
• Apple Watch Series 9
• Apple Watch Series 8
• Apple Watch Series 7
• Apple Watch Series 6
• Apple Watch Series 5
• Apple Watch SE (1st and 2nd generations)

To update your compatible models to watchOS 11, you will also need at least an iPhone 11 running on the latest iOS 18.

How to Use Vitals App in watchOS 11

It’s worth knowing that since the Vitals app measures data while you’re asleep, you have to enable Sleep Tracking on your Apple Watch. Otherwise, the app won’t work for you. Once you’ve enabled sleep tracking, the app needs at least one week to gather important data and give you insights. To view your overnight vitals for the last 7 days, go to the Vitals app, tap on Overnight Vitals, and tap on the calendar-like icon from the top-left corner. You can also view the vitals on the Health app on your iPhone. For this, open the Health app, tap on Browse -> Vitals, and tap on a health metric to learn more.

By default, the app sends you notifications when two or more of your overnight metrics are outside the typical range. To make sure you haven’t turned off this feature, go to Settings -> Vitals and turn on Notifications on your Apple Watch.

Have you installed the latest watchOS 11? Did you find the Vitals app useful? Don’t forget to share your experiences in the comments below.