Apple released watchOS 10.2 for Apple Watch users today, with a few notable new features. One of the biggest changes is support for accessing and logging Health app data using Siri. In a new interview, Apple executives offer additional details on this feature – and address why it’s limited to the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2.
Apple first teased that the Apple Watch would add support for accessing and logging Health app data via Siri at its September special event. At the time, the company said the feature would debut by the end of the year – and it’s now made good on that promise.
In an interview with CNET, Deidre Caldbeck, Apple’s senior director of product marketing for Apple Watch and Health, said this new feature is part of Apple’s effort to make health data as accessible as possible.
“A big part of our focus is making health data accessible,” Caldbeck explained. “And so we think this feature certainly brings us more and more closer to that goal.”
Caldbeck also emphasized that the reason Apple waited so long to add Health queries to Siri is because it wanted to do so in a way that protected user privacy. The Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 are the first Apple Watch models that are powerful enough to process requests locally on-device with low latency.
Katie Skinner, a senior manager for user privacy engineering at Apple, also emphasized the privacy-first approach to Health logging via Siri. The feature was designed with the same four principles as all the company’s health products: “data minimization; on-device processing; transparency; and control and security.”
“What’s really changed is how we apply them, the technologies that we’re able to apply mitigations with, and the threat landscape,” Skinner said.
At launch, health logging via Siri can access over 20 Health app data types, but Caldbeck says there’s more to come: “We’re always looking for ways to improve and enhance our features. So we will certainly continue to explore adding additional data types and offering more accessibility to our health features through Siri.”
Beyond the fact that accessing and logging Health app data with Siri is only available on the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra, there’s another limitation here. As it stands right now, Siri requests related to Health app data are now available in English (United States) and Mandarin Chinese (China mainland). Apple says that “more languages” will follow, but there’s no specific timeline as of today.
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