As we chose to call this version 2.0, underlining the depth of the update, you might wonder what exactly has changed in this new edition of Health Mate, our All-in-One Weight-Activity-Heart-Sleep app. First off, you will be happy to learn that we made Health Mate “user’s friends”-friendly. Let’s go through the bonuses!
An “In-app” activity tracking feature
Anyone using an iOS device can now download the Health Mate app and start monitoring how active they are using their smartphone’s sensors. We are even proud to say that this in-app step tracking feature reaches an unmatched level of accuracy and low battery consumption.
Why this is good news
This means you can challenge more friends to weekly steps challenges, regardless of whether or not they have a Withings Pulse Ox. Knowing that competing with friends is a good way to keep everyone’s motivation up, opening up the competition is great news. So let your friends know about it! Invite all of your “iOS device” friends to your Leaderboard from within the app and start improving everybody’s health!
Bluetooth Low Energy chip
Although the “Bluetooth Low Energy” technology (BLE aka Bluetooth Smart) was embedded in the Pulse since its launch last year, the chip was not fully beeing exploited. Now that most smartphones are equipped with BLE, we decided to develop its use. This is why, among the new features of the latest update, you can now experience the most seamless installation process. Indeed, until last week you had to go into Settings on your smartphone, and scan for Bluetooth devices to connect to. You had to press the Withings Pulse’s button 3 seconds to initiate the synchronization. Now you can now install a Pulse Ox without leaving the app!
Why this is good news
Setting up a device shouldn’t take more than a few seconds. We believe in simplicity of use and we want the Withings products to provide a smooth user experience right from the box. Thanks to the BLE technology, we were able to streamline even more the process of getting you started.
The Timeline
More than a basic table integrating events in chronological order, the Health Mate‘s Timeline is a powerful motivational tool. Of course it lists the body data you’ve tracked and the milestones you’ve reached… Of course it showcases your progress with finger-licking good graphs… But after some time you should also be able to discern the backbone to the powerful motivation-boosting system we have been working on for almost a year.
Why this is good news
Beyond proverbs derived from common sense like “Prevention is better than cure” and “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” which stand to reason and are easily understood, you need to hear the right messages at the right time for you to feel encouraged to adopt healthier habits. This is exactly what we do in your Timeline! The app regularly drops some contextualized advice, based on your body data, your ranking (if you use the Leaderboard), your lifestyle and the reminders you chose to set, to help you stay motivated.
“Those who use the Leaderboard are 24% more active”
The Leaderboard
Leverage your playfulness and your competitive spirit! These well-known aspects of the human nature can come handy when trying to “stay in the game” of reaching your health objectives, specially in the long run. Indeed, to pursue your efforts over time you need incentives or else you end up being bored, tired and/or unmotivated. After having launched our virtual Activity Badges a few months ago, we are now thrilled to introduce the Health Mate app’s “high score table”. Simply go into the left-side menu and tap on “Leaderboard” to invite your friends to weekly steps challenges, and to see where everybody stands.
Why this is good news
What better way to get one interested in becoming more active than having his friends and family challenge him on a daily basis? The truth is, among Withings users, those who use the Leaderboard are 24% more active (on average). Once the challenge has started, you receive push notifications warning you of any changes: the app lets you know…
• When you move up the Leaderboard,
• When someone surpasses your performance,
• When someone is “getting closer”!
These messages are also posted on your Timeline so you are always in the know. Note that you can also “Cheer” and “Taunt” your competitors.
Looking for someone to challenge? Your friends and family are not receptive? How about joining the community on this Pulse-user-created Facebook page to find people to compete with?
The Activity Insights
Once or twice a week, we send Withingers an analysis of their activity trend, along with a personalized message to help them go further. By acknowledging and supporting you recent efforts, we encourage you to keep going in the right direction. As you receive these insights at the right time (when you are still motivated) you don’t have time to think about giving up on your activity goal, and you can focus on the next little step awaiting you.
Why this is good news
We’ve been testing the Activity Insights with a few hundred customers and the feedbacks were extremely positive. So much so that will soon extend this feature to weight and sleep coaching! This goes to show that if motivational messages feel impersonal and are not sent at a relevant time they will fall short of the target.
The Healthy Tips and Reminders
When you set out to lose weight, walk more or sleep better you sometimes wonder what exactly it is that you should do (besides tracking). This new section of the app finally gives you very simple answers. You can also set Reminders to get notified in certain cases. Go into “Reminders”, tap on one of the Tips – a short text explains what you can do to better yourself, followed by a widget to set and specify the corresponding reminder.
Why this is good news
Many health apps only display graphs. Some others give you tips but leave it to you to remember them. The “Healthy Tips & Reminders” is the right way to do it. By letting you pick the tips that you feel comfortable with, and fine-tune the reminder (choose an easy to observe periodicity), the Health Mate app sticks to your goals without wearing you out.
Learn more about the Health Mate mobile app
Here are 2 articles you might like:
• Get the big picture of your health in order to live healthier.
• David Claud, MD, PhD, wrote about ‘The benefits of using Health Mate”.
