iOS 17.2 and watchOS 10.2 let Siri access your health data

Macworld

With the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2, Apple announced the ability to use Siri to access health and fitness data and even log entries into the Health app. It’s one of those features, like Double Tap, that wasn’t available at launch but was coming in a software update. Though it was never explicitly stated, the new Siri capabilities work just fine on iPhone as well.

The latest iOS 17.2 and watchOS 10.2 beta now support this feature, so it will almost certainly be there in the final release. Here’s a breakdown of what this new feature does and how it works.

What you’ll need

To use Siri with your Health data and extended Fitness data, you’ll need an iPhone running iOS 17.2 (beta 3 or later) or an Apple Watch Series 9 or Ultra 2 running watchOS 10.2 (beta 3 or later).

Only the newest watches are supported because they support on-device Siri processing, while older Apple Watches do not. Apple isn’t comfortable letting your requests for Health data or logging of Health info go out over the internet for your commands to be processed. If you have an iPhone with an A12 Bionic or later—essentially anything from the last five years—your phone has handled some Siri requests on-device ever since iOS 15.

You’ll also need to enable access to your Health data for Siri. You’ll be prompted to do this the first time you make a Health request, but if you want to do it before that or you forget, here are the steps:

Open Settings > Health > Data Access & Devices > Siri and toggle the switch labeled “Access Health Data.”

On your Apple Watch, open Settings > Health > Apps and Services > Siri and toggle the switch labeled “Allow Siri Access to Health Data.”

Foundry

What you can do with Siri Health access

Once access is granted, you’ll be able to use Siri to request all sorts of Health and Fitness data that you previously were unable to. Here are some examples:

How many steps have I taken today?

How many steps have I taken this week?

What’s my heart rate?

What’s my blood oxygen level?

Check my Exercise ring.

How does my Move ring look today?

What’s my average walking heart rate?

How many calories have I burned?

Your Apple Watch will have a cache of Health data going back about a week or so, so you’ll only be able to request data from that time period. Your iPhone will have all your health data and can answer questions like “What was my weight on January 1st?”

You can also log data directly to your Health app, which can be a huge time-saver. Here are just a few examples of the many supported logging abilities:

My weight is 195.3 pounds.

I started spotting today.

I’ve taken my 6 pm medications.

My body temperature is 98.5 degrees.

My period started today.

My blood sugar is 143.

Record my blood pressure as 118 over 76.

The ability to log common health data with a quick Siri command instead of digging several layers down in the Health app should be a big time saver.

Apple Watch, iOS