Apple Acknowledge Your Period

Finally, with iOS 9…

Tis a great day for women who menstruate; Apple have finally decided to acknowledge your monthly visit from Aunt Flow in their HealthKit, as part of iOS 9. When iOS 8 invaded our lives last autumn, there was a lot of speculation as to why the company would avoid something as prevalent as a monthly period and, in essence, exclude half of the population. The HealthKit was one of the most anticipated features of their last update, offering almost every health metric a human could want, but the obvious lack of a menstruation tracker left a lot of women feeling sidelined. Apple have since schooled themselves in the female reproductive system, demystifying the elusive ‘period’ and with iOS 9 due later this year, we’re back on track.

Now, beyond being able to track our body fat percentage, our biotin levels, our blood pressure, our glucose levels and much more, we can track our journey towards the delightful crimson wave. We can also measure our UV exposure and the amount of time for which we’ve been seated. Cool, right? With all of these metrics, you’d be hard pushed not to be totally on top of your health. The only concern we’d have, however, is that with such technological advances, you could become ever so slightly obsessed with tracking your every move and morsel eaten, that you’d turn into an unbearable hypochondriac. Nevertheless, many female publications are viewing this addition as a coup for gender equality.

https://twitter.com/webster/status/607974271231520768/

iOS 9 will be available sometime this autumn, a year since the last upgrade, but as for how they’ll tackle all that’s associated with reproductive health, we wait with bated breath. Will it measure cramps? Will it ping us to say ‘hey, you might want to wear the granny pants today instead of that g-string; mother nature’s about to get all up in your grill’?

Excited?

@CarolineForan

The Verge