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Highlights taken by ZDNET
- Apple’s developer conference starts on Monday.
- Apple is lagging behind in the AI race.
- Its partnership with Google could make its health plan more expensive.
I’ve been wearing Google’s screen-less Fitbit Air for a few weeks now, and while comparisons to its more luxurious counterpart, the Whoop, are rife, testing Google’s health tracker has put my mind on its biggest rival, Apple, instead.
While I’d be happy to see Apple ship a screen-less health tracker of its own, what I’d like to see is a major improvement in health itself — and that starts with the software.
Also: Whoop vs. Fitbit Air: I tested both health and fitness trackers, and this model wins
Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference starts on Monday, and the software unveiled there will ship with Apple’s next-generation products. It may not seem like it, but WWDC could mark a turning point for the tech giant, with its Siri revamp at the center of it all. Here is the reason.
Gemini will power Siri next
Google’s Gemini will power the next generation of Siri, the two companies announced earlier this year. Companies use software for all occasions — but Apple is no average company. Steve Jobs was famous for keeping Apple’s hardware and software closed, with little interest in integrating his products into Android devices or bringing Google products into Apple’s ecosystem.
Alas, it’s 2026, AI is all over the Android hardware, and Apple has run shallow on its own. It was time for Apple to make a deal.
As ZDNET’s health editor, I’m intrigued by the health-related opportunities and fitness to come out of Google’s Siri renaissance.
While I’m not perfect, my experience testing Google’s AI Health Coach sold me on health AI as a useful tool. By simply having a chatbot connect to my sleep, exercise, and stress data, I can ask health-related questions that take into account my specific circumstances and get personalized answers and recommendations.
Also: I tracked 3,000 steps on my Apple Watch, Google Pixel, and Oura Ring – this one was very accurate.
Furthermore, I’m curious to see how Apple will incorporate this software into its devices to create something that feels different from its competition.
I would like a new Health app (and a chatbot)
I would like to see a health app overhaul, similar to what Google did with Fitbit, now the Google Health app. Apple has long taken the data it already collects from the Apple Watch and used it to power new metrics every day, connect information across apps, or provide new insights.
A health chatbot would be very easy to add to the Health app, but Apple would need to adapt Google’s Gemini to be as private, secure, and encrypted as its products are. This is one of the many reasons why people flock to Apple over Android devices, and it’s a big challenge with this partnership: Will Apple give up some of its privacy practices to get AI working in its products? I hope Apple will say this when it unveils this AI assistant that is allegedly related to health.
Also: Oura Ring 5 vs. Oura Ring 4: I compared smart rings for health tracking – and it’s pretty close
The health assistant may interact between apps such as the Health app, Journal, and the Apple Watch Fitness app to log information without the user having to manually enter this in all apps. So let’s say a user enters an emotion into a Journal app: Health AI can connect that state to the body’s general information in the user’s Health, Sleep, or Exercise apps.
Building on the sleep effect that Apple introduced in September, I would also like Apple to combine more data from the smartwatch into daily summaries that you can check. While testing the Fitbit Air and Google Health Premium, I was pleased to get a small summary of my daily activity, bedtime recommendations, and gestures to move more.
Apple’s position within the health ecosystem emphasizes privacy and science-backed solutions. I would like to see its research-based approach to the effect of preparedness, stress monitoring, or a more robust health recommendation engine.
Interactive and digestible data
It seems that Apple has built its Health system with interaction as an afterthought. This makes sense. It is not a game or streaming app; it’s not an app people should spend more than five minutes sorting through. But the Oura and Google Health apps have proven that people get more out of their health devices when data is displayed in an interactive and digestible way.
Also: I wore Oura Ring 5 for 24 hours – and it fixed my biggest problem with Ring 4
Oura does this best, with tabs for daily sleep, activity, and stress scores; a short-term, integrated tab for important biometrics; and a longitudinal health tab, which shows information such as stress management, sleep health, and heart health.
If Apple emphasizes its health coach and the redesign of the Health app, this will position the company well for anything wearable in the future we’re cooking up.
