Dear Apple, Please Don’t Ruin the Health App by Slapping a Siri Button on It

Apple’s reportedly prepping a new Health app for next year, possibly dropping alongside Siri’s long-awaited makeover. The combo could finally make the Apple Watch feel truly hands-free, with Siri integrated more deeply into daily health tracking. But Apple’s biggest test won’t be the features: it’ll be finding the right balance. One wrong move, and the update could do more harm than good.

As someone who’s had a front-row seat to this AI health coach craze, I’m torn on whether Apple even needs one. In its race to keep up with the Joneses (and the Googles), it risks losing what’s always set it apart: privacy and simplicity. Apple’s next move could define its place in the AI health race, and I, for one, hope it ends up being more than just a Siri icon slapped on the Health app.

Last week, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple may be nearing a billion-dollar deal with Google to use a custom version of its Gemini AI to beef up Siri. The company’s been losing top AI engineers to Meta and other big spenders, and building its own system may no longer be realistic. Teaming up with Google might be an expensive gamble, but Apple knows it must either keep up or risk getting left behind.

Multiple reports (including Gurman’s) also suggest Apple is working on a redesigned Health app under the code name Project Mulberry. The rumored “Health Plus” service would heavily rely on AI (and potentially the new Siri) to create a more cohesive health experience, turning the flood of biometric data from Apple Watch and other connected devices into actionable insights, similar to the new Coach feature Google recently debuted on the Fitbit app. 

Apple seems to be at a crucial pivot point when it comes to AI, one that could have lasting effects on its health ambitions. On one hand, it needs to prove to investors that it can keep up with competitors like Fitbit (Google), Oura, and others offering concierge-style AI chatbots to analyze health data. On the other hand, none of these early examples has shown a real use case that makes them indispensable to people. Apple’s implementation and its timing could ultimately make or break consumer confidence in the brand.

The landscape

There’s no stopping the AI wave. Previously, it mostly worked in the background — powering passive alerts, such as irregular heart-rate notifications, or automatically detecting when you started a run. Now, it’s moving front and center, ready for people to interact with directly on the phone or watch via voice commands.

Android phones have Gemini baked in with a camera-powered Google Lens that can analyze the world around them, while Apple has relied on ChatGPT for some of its Apple Intelligence features on the iPhone. Google recently debuted Gemini on its Wear OS watches, adding natural language capabilities to the wrist. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

On the health front, the holy grail tech companies seem to be chasing is the one-stop-shop wellness concierge that ties together all your device data and turns it into actionable feedback that actually improves your health.

Google jumped in early with its Fitbit app redesign in October. The new Gemini-powered Fitbit Coach (still in beta) can whip up personalized training regimens, diet plans and sleep schedules. Oura’s “Advisor” offers similar guidance, translating your data into plain-language insights. Garmin and Samsung are already pushing AI-run coaches that promise to get you race-ready. And even Meta seems to be getting in on it with its AI-powered Oakley glasses that can pull from Strava or Garmin metrics to coach you in real time.

It’s too soon to know if these AI coaches will actually deliver on their promises. Fitbit is still months away from prime time, while others are barely out of beta. But after testing a lot of them, I can tell you this much: they’ll need to show real value before anyone trusts them with their health data.

How Apple fits into the equation

Apple hasn’t exactly been dormant on the AI front; if anything, it’s been cautious and calculated. Some of the most impactful health features on the Watch, like irregular heart-rate notifications, sleep apnea detection, hypertension alerts, and fall detection, all use AI, and in many cases have been life-changing for Apple Watch owners. 

The key isn’t just the AI itself; it’s that people don’t have to remember to use it to reap the benefits. Most of these features run in the background and only surface when something’s off and needs your attention. That simplicity is what makes them so effective, and adding a prominent AI component for people to interact with could end up being more confusing than helpful. Anyone who’s used a large language model–based chatbot knows that how you phrase a question can be the difference between a helpful insight and a pile of hallucinated slop. Apple’s approach works because it anticipates what you need before you even think to ask.

With WatchOS 26 (paired with Apple Intelligence–enabled iPhones), Apple also debuted an AI-powered Workout Buddy. While it’s technically more of a cheerleader offering motivational feedback in real time during workouts, it gives major “coach” vibes, and I don’t think it’s far-fetched to see it as Apple’s testing ground for a full-fledged health coach down the line.

As a working mom of three, I was skeptical about adding a Workout Buddy to my routine. Micro-workouts are all I can manage, and I need less of a cheerleader and more of a drill sergeant to make sure I’m wringing every drop out of the 25-minute window I’ve carved into my day. But after testing it for a while, I started to get a sense of where Apple might be headed with it.

Everything from the voice and inflection to the timing of the feedback felt spontaneous and unscripted (for the most part). It was far less jarring than the canned, robotic prompts I’ve learned to tune out on other devices. And if this is what Apple envisions for a “Health Siri” down the line, then maybe this Buddy could eventually work its way up to coach status in my book.

A tenuous path forward

Apple’s walking a tightrope with AI. Play it too safe and it risks arriving late to the game; move too fast and it could stumble hard.

Privacy could be the biggest hazard — not just for Apple, but for everyone in this space. It’s one thing to ask Gemini to write an email or ChatGPT to summarize an article, but giving it access to your health data is a whole new HIPAA nightmare.

The disclaimers I had to wade through while setting up Meta’s Oakley glasses were enough to make me sweat  (from anxiety, not cardio), and the thought that my Garmin data might be used to “improve” some model would’ve been a deal breaker if testing it weren’t part of my job.

Apple’s commitment to privacy and on-device processing is one of the reasons I trust its Health app with everything, including hospital health records. Would I want that same data used to train future models? Absolutely not. Would I feel comfortable handing it off to a Gemini-based Siri? Truthfully, I’m not sure. Apple would have a lot of convincing to do on that front to get me on board.

When it comes to Apple’s Health Plus ambitions, a simple Siri icon slapped onto the bottom of the app for Apple Watch owners to interact with won’t cut it. To truly stand out in this space, Apple needs to put on the blinders and double down on what it does best: drawing meaningful connections for people in ways they didn’t know they needed. Rather than rely on me (or anyone else) to manufacture cleverly composed prompts about the metrics that matter, how about using the coach to proactively flag suggestions and draw those connections for me. 

And most importantly, build the privacy scaffolding first before it goes anywhere near my health records. Because that’s the only kind of AI “coach” I’d ever let into my life.