[UPDATED] Health update aka. Why Do #Apple’s #Fitness and #Health #Apps Suck? #Exporting data #nightmare…

2025/06/20 Against my better judgement I have decided to give HealthFit app from Apple App Store a try. It was a €7.99 purchase. I am in a process of getting a refund. Application DID not work as expected… Shocker… It did not allow me to produce a .pdf file and exporting report to Google Sheets produced… exactly nada, zip, zero, big bobkas… so I am back to square one.

I have submitted a feature request / bug report to the Apple Health App devs… but I am not holding my breath…

https://files.andrzej.langow.ski/Dear_Apple.txt

Hello beautiful peoples!

I’m an Apple user and admirer. I love their hardware and – most of the time – their software. Let’s leave it at that for now – suffice to say I’m in the walled garden. I use an iPhone, I wear an Apple Watch to track my workouts, I use AirPods… In early 2022, I went almost “all-in,” except for my desktop – that’s still a PC.

It’s no secret (if you’ve read my home page) that my health is in tatters.

I’m under the care of specialists. There’s no immediate danger, but the fact is, I have a 50/50 chance of kicking the bucket in the next decade.

I know its my fault BUT it does not change the fact that I don’t like those odds. So I’m trying to change them by taking steps in the right direction…

On 31st May of 2022, after over 25 years of smoking since I was a teenager, I put out my last cigarette – not for me, but as a gift to my wife. A year later, I cut the cord on e-cigarettes too. Two years nicotine-free, but I still remember how brutal the early months of quitting were. Withdrawal was hell, it messed with my focus, my moods, my sleep and my diet… But I did it. I never thought I’d be able to say this, but I’m proud. I did it. And I did it my way. No patches. No gums.

Saying all that – as much as I loved my smokes (I was a proper addict) I never had an alcohol problem. I’ve always enjoyed a drink now and then, but never needed it. Funny thing is, I always had a knack for it. While my friends passed out under the table or dozed off mid-sentence, I’d still be sitting up, glass in hand. Since I got sick however, even those rare occasions became fewer and far between – maybe once or twice a year now, and in much smaller amounts. I didn’t cut it out entirely, I just… let it fade into the background. I like alcohol, but I don’t miss it.

We (mostly myself) used to burn the candle at both ends before, but these days we’re making sleep a real priority – keeping regular hours, because let’s face it, we’re not exactly spring chickens and our bodies need that recharge more than ever.

I never miss my meds (Apple Health’s medication reminders are actually fantastic).

I’m trying to eat healthy. My wife and I have been doing “intermittent fasting” for about three years now. We only eat twice a day – at 13:00 and 19:00 – and we don’t snack.

Some time ago, we also cut out bread and potatoes from our diet. We’ve been trying to reduce our fat intake as well. Our diet now mostly consists of meat, vegetables, fruit, and nuts. Basically, low carb – but not extreme. We didn’t eliminate any food group entirely, because my GP was adamant that’s not a wise choice, and I agree with her.

We drink green tea with every dinner.

You know – just tweaking things here and there to give ourselves a better shot at staying healthy.

We do our best to stay active every day (except for weekends… I am not a sadomasochist ya know… 😉). Monday to Friday, we do some stretching exercises and then we “walk / run in place”. I wish we could afford treadmills, but these things are expensive and we’re barely making ends meet as is, and my Supplementary Welfare Application was rejected as “they could not establish any financial need…” and told me that IF I wanted a health related equipment I should ask local HSE authorities. Rent has more than doubled on us since 2022. Add bills, groceries – we’re staying afloat, but just barely. Don’t get me wrong – we are grateful for their help. Without them we would be in a world of trouble… but I cannot help to be a little bit disappointed.

Walking outside isn’t really an option. I’m diabetic – I pee frequently. At home, that’s easy. Outside? Not so much. The last thing I need is to get fined for public urination – or end up with soaked trousers. My immune system is garbagio, and every trip outdoors risks catching something that could land me in hospital / morgue. And then there’s the weather – Irish weather. It’s sunny one second, raining the next, and then windy just to spice things up. If I get wet and cold, that’s a very bad situation for me.

There are many other reasons why I’d rather walk at home than outside: uneven pavements, slippery surfaces, no gear or extra money needed… even mental comfort. There’s real peace of mind in knowing that if I get tired, need to pee, feel lightheaded, or just want to stop – I’m safe, warm, dry, and surrounded by my own stuff. That kind of security gives me confidence to keep going. And I don’t have to deal with people. As an introvert – that’s important too. It keeps my anxiety levels just a little bit lower, which makes it easier to stay consistent without dreading the whole thing. If you knew me in person You would know that I’m not really a “workout enthusiast”… but at least this way I’m doing it my way. I dread the workouts less, which makes me less likely to say “not today – I’m sick of it – maybe tomorrow.”

Worst comes to worst… even if I collapse and it’s my 50/50 moment – I’m dying at home. That might sound ominous, but with my heart (and not only) condition, it’s not unfathomable. And honestly? That sounds a hell of a lot better than collapsing in the middle of the street – exposed, vulnerable, and alone.

Ok, enough of the health update. Lets rant about Apple a bit…

As I mentioned, when we exercise, I use my Apple Watch to track time, distance, etc. It’s beautiful. It works great. I can check my stats in the Fitness app on the iPhone… and nowhere else, easily.

Unless you’re willing to shell out for a third-party app (we don’t have the money) that probably won’t even do what you want… or spend time figuring out how to make the data usable yourself. Because for some baffling reason, the only way to export fitness records is via an XML file from the Health app. Don’t believe me? Ask AI of your choice…

XML? Really? Why? What is a less tech-savvy or elderly person supposed to do with an .xml file? Open it with a text editor and decode the raw markup? Run it through a script? Import it into some custom data parser they magically have lying around? It’s absurd.

This is health data – critical, personal, potentially life-saving information. Apple prides itself on making things “just work.” And yet here, they throw users a developer-format file and expect them to figure it out on their own. It’s like handing someone their lab results in Morse code. Cool… if you’re a retired spy. Otherwise? Useless.

https://www.apple.com/healthcare

If Apple really wants to empower people to manage their health, they need to consider the full range of users – not just techies with time to spare. A clean summary PDF of a chosen data / period would make a world of difference. Not mentioning easy sharing solution with people that use Android devices…

Then there’s the issue between the Contour Diabetes app and Apple Health. At first, I was thrilled to see it could sync glucose readings directly into Apple Health – but that connection breaks constantly. I have to fiddle with settings, restart apps, toggle permissions, hope and pray… and sometimes it works. Sometimes. It’s wildly inconsistent.

At first I thought it was a problem with Contour app but then it breaks mostly after Apple updates so… maybe not? Again – ask your AI…

This should be your priority. Do you really think I am Linus Sebastian and care about USB-C on the iPhone, third-party App Stores, or some glassy new UI thingamabob in iOS 26? Or would I rather have a stable, working sync between Apple Health and the Contour Diabetes app – and reports that are actually easy to view / share and print?

Why is there no Health / Fitness app on macOS or Windows? It’d be great to fire up my PC, open Apple Health or the Fitness app, and just view my results in there. Create reports. Print or email them… like I can with Photos.

Do you honestly believe I’d rather have working photo sync – or an application that actually helps me stay healthy? Where’s the logic?

As a workaround for all those issues I’ve ended up taking screenshots and printing them out for my GP / cardiologist / diabetes clinic nurses. But that’s not right! That’s not actually useful, and it’s definitely not a practical long-term solution. It’s clunky, it’s messy, and frankly – it’s embarrassing that this is what passes for data sharing in a so-called “health platform”.

How long have Apple Health and Fitness been around? Apple Health showed up back in 2014 with iOS 8 – that’s 11 years ago. The Fitness app’s been here since the Apple Watch launched in 2015. A solid decade.

So how is it that after all this time, I’m still dealing with problems that should’ve been solved in year one? Who dropped the ball? This – right here – is why Apple Health and Fitness apps suck golf balls through a garden hose.

Catch you on the flip side.

AndrzejL

P.S. Apple – fix it or when I die I’ll haunt Tim Apple 😉.