Samsung Health App Gets AI Upgrade Before Rumored Galaxy Watch 9 Launch

Ahead of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 release rumored to be happening this summer, Samsung announced new feature updates to its Samsung Health App, which will start rolling out on June 8. 

The Samsung Health App will have new biometric capabilities that use AI to make it easier to understand complex biometric data and offer guidance on how to use this information.

“Samsung Health is evolving to connect health data measured by Galaxy Watch with AI-based insights, enabling users to understand their physical and mental condition more easily and intuitively,” Hon Pak, senior vice president and head of the digital health team for the mobile experience business at Samsung Electronics, said in a statement.

The new top features in the Samsung Health app include Vitals, Heart Health Score, Daily Cardio Load and Fitness Index:

• Vitals: This feature will give you a daily energy score based on your heart rate, heart rate variability, respiratory rate, skin temperature and blood oxygen. This data will be analyzed against your true resting baseline. If there are significant changes to any of these biometrics, the Galaxy Watch will send a notification and help you decide if you may need more rest or if these are signs of illness.
• Heart Health Score: The Samsung Watch can already read your vascular load (sleep, stress and activities). The new Heart Health Score builds on this and combines the Vascular Load information with body composition data to share a score that tells you how your habits are affecting your long-term heart health. 
• Daily Cardio Load: This feature helps you figure out how hard you should push when doing cardio and measures accumulated cardiovascular strain. It uses this information to recommend optimal training goals and rest times to avoid burnout and injury. 
• Fitness Index: The Fitness Index compares your heart rate, VO2 Max (the maximum amount of oxygen your body uses during aerobic activities) and daily steps to those of other Samsung Health users. The data helps identify your weaknesses and strengths and then personalizes solutions to help you improve.

Additionally, you’ll notice the app layout will look different, as Samsung has organized these insights into five categories: Sleep, Nutrition, Activity, Mindfulness and Vitals. The new look is intended to make it easier and simpler to view and access their data. 

More personalization will also be available within these categories, and nutrition will take center stage as the Antioxidant Index feature will see how your nutritional choices throughout the day affect you physically. 

Plus, an Ages Index takes the data it collects at nighttime and generates a long-term picture of how your lifestyle choices are affecting your body. 

You can also expect a hearing feature that captures ambient noise with your Galaxy Watch and recommends ways to protect your hearing based on those analytics. 

A representative for Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.

Samsung’s update follows other wellness wearables, such as the Oura ring and Whoop, using AI to offer advice and connect members to virtual clinicians based on the personalized data these devices gather.