iOS 8.2 brings back blood glucose tracking, explains Health data

In addition to supporting WatchKit and the Apple Watch, the iOS 8.2 software update will re-introduce some previously removed features in Apple’s Health app on iOS 8 as well as provide some feature enhancements. As discovered in the latest iOS 8.2 beta for developers, Apple is reintroducing support for blood glucose tracking through the iOS 8 Health app after an issue with which unit of measurement the app defaulted to presenting problems for international users of the feature. The somewhat intimidating Health app is also getting a little smarter with brief descriptions for the various data points tracked by the app listed under each section.

The iOS 8.2 version of the pre-installed Health app once again supports blood glucose tracking with options to manually set unit of measurement, mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter) or mmol/L (millimole per litre). Apple previously removed the data point through an iOS update (the data point is currently unavailable in the public version of iOS 8) while iOS 8.2 appears to be the release containing the required unit patch.

A brief description of the data point is also now included providing a little more insight and use out of the Health app on iOS 8. For example, the re-introduced blood glucose section now includes the following explanatory information: “Glucoseâ€"also called blood sugarâ€"is the main sugar found in the blood and the main source of energy for your body.

Descriptions for other data points, as you can see below, are also available with the latest version of the Health app available on the iOS 8.2 beta.



The return of glucose tracking and added informative descriptions is the latest improvement to the iOS 8 Health app since its rocky rollout earlier this fall when support for the app’s backend, HealthKit, had to be pulled from the initial iOS 8.0 release and re-added in a following point update.


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