Daily TipsiPadiPhone

How to use the new Health sharing feature of iOS 15

The Health app in iOS 15 gets a new sharing tab that lets you share your health data with family, caregivers, or a care team.

About health sharing

In the Sharing tab of the Health app, you can share any data you have stored in the Health app with up to 5 individuals. You control what data you share, and you can change it or stop sharing at any time. If a friend or family member chooses to share their health data with you, you can also receive notifications when there are changes to their health data.

To use the health sharing feature you’ll need the following: an iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 15 or later, and an iCloud account with Health turned on and two-factor authentication enabled. 

Also, the person you want to start sharing with must be saved in your Contacts with their iCloud account email included. If you start sharing data with someone, removing them from Contacts doesn’t stop the sharing.

Trends gives users a way to focus attention on meaningful changes in personal health metrics, and Walking Steadiness is a new metric that empowers people to proactively manage their fall risk.

To set up health sharing:

° On your iPhone or iPod touch, open the Health app. 

° Tap the Sharing tab, then tap Share with Someone. Make sure that Health is turned on in your iCloud account.

° Search for a contact to share with. A name in blue indicates that the other person’s device supports sharing. Grey means their device does not support sharing.

° Tap See Suggested Topics or Set Up Manually.

° Choose the data you want to share.

° Tap Share, then tap Done.

The person you selected will receive an invite to begin viewing health data.

To share data with healthcare providers (if you’re in the U.S.):

° On your iPhone or iPod touch, open the Health app.

° Tap the Sharing tab, then tap Share with your doctor.

° Follow the onscreen prompts to select which topics to share with your doctor.

° Tap Share.

Using their own health records system, your healthcare team can review the data that you share. You can stop sharing or manage which types of health data are shared at any time from the Sharing tab in the Health app on iPhone.

To stop sharing health data:

° On your iPhone or iPod touch, open the Health app.

° Tap Sharing.

° Select an individual or provider under You’re Sharing With.

° Turn off a health topic to stop sharing that data.

To stop receiving health data:

° On your iPhone or iPod touch, open the Health app.

° Select an individual under Sharing With You.

° Tap Options in the upper-right.

° Turn off Stop Receiving Health Data.

If you want to stop receiving notifications, you can turn off Alerts, Trends, or Updates.

(This how-to is based on my experiences and info on Apple’s support pages.)

Dennis Sellers
the authorDennis Sellers
Dennis Sellers is the editor/publisher of Apple World Today. He’s been an “Apple journalist” since 1995 (starting with the first big Apple news site, MacCentral). He loves to read, run, play sports, and watch movies.