Category: Technology News

An unexpected bug has derailed Apple’s plans to release its iOS 8 Health and fitness apps.

The much anticipated Apple Healthkit apps (health and fitness-related tracking apps) that were designed for the company’s Healthkit platform, and were to be released with the recent launch of iOS 8, have been postponed due to an unspecified software bug, which means users and developers will need to delay their plans for this new software, which is expected to be one of the major features of the Apple Watch when it is launched in 2015.

Healthkit is a key feature of Apple’s newly released iOS 8 platform.

Although Apple has not shed any light on the nature of the bug or how or why it occurred, representatives of the company have said that they are working on developing a solution in the next couple of weeks.

In a statement she made, Trudy Muller, an Apple spokesperson, said that “We discovered a bug that prevents us from making HealthKit apps available on iOS 8 today.” Muller added that “We’re working quickly to have the bug fixed in a software update and have HealthKit apps available by the end of the month.”

The Healthkit platform was announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June. The platform was created for application developers who want to disseminate health information or collect it. Apple sees the mobile technology as working in tandem with its devices to gather health data from users and have this collected information sent to doctors with the permission of patients.

According to Apple, the patient’s health information is stored by Healthkit in a centralized location that no one else can access without the permission of the user. The electronics giant says that its new mhealth platform could help improve healthcare and the method in which medical professionals receive information regarding the health of their patients.

Several fitness-tracking app developers had planned to take advantage of the Apple Healthkit apps platform.

Some developers, including Strava, Lark and WebMD have jumped on board and apps from these companies were expected to be available at Apple’s App Store on iOS 8 when the latest operating system was launched last Wednesday. However, these Apple Healthkit apps are currently unavailable for download.

The brand has now added The Flash, a fitness and sleep tracker device to the mobile shelves.

Misfit Wearables has now announced that it is launching an even more affordable form of wearable technology that will function as a fitness and sleep tracker, and that will focus as much on the health of the wearer’s wallet as it does for his or her body.

The Flash is the second device produced by this company, which has already sold over 600,000 Shines.

The company, itself, was co-founded by former Apple CEO, John Sculley, and highly experienced hardware CEO Sonny Vu. Under their leadership, Misfit has been producing sleek and attractive wearable technology for the health and fitness space that have become very popular, called Shines. These quarter sized devices are worn to track the wearer’s activity levels and provide feedback online over mobile devices or laptops. Now, the company has released The Flash at a lower price point.

This wearable technology is produced in much more affordable soft-touch plastic.

The Shine is made with a burnished metal finish. The Flash is also available in seven different colors and is less expensive than the Shine. While the Shine is sold for around $100, the Flash is being sold at about half that, at $49.99.

According to CEO Sonny Vu, “We used to call it the Shine C,” making reference to the names used in last year’s iPhone releases of the 5s and its cheaper alternative, the 5c. However, he went on to explain that it isn’t actually a matter of being cheap, at all. The Flash has not been created to be a cheap version of Shine. “There are some people who love the sleek elegant design of the Shine and are fine paying $100 for that product. And then there’s a segment that wants a more colorful presentation with something more fun that they can afford to buy for their kids. That’s what the Flash is for.”

The two devices provide essentially the same types of features, from step tracking, sleep tracking, and estimated calories burned, in addition to swimming and cycling data. This is uploaded to a mobile device through a paired app. The devices will start shipping in October but are already being pre-sold.