Apple Health

Apple plans to add sleep tracking capabilities to the Apple Watch. Despite its many health monitoring features, including a built-in ECG function, the Apple Watch requires daily charging. With most users charging the wearable overnight, this prevents the device from being worn to analyze sleep patterns. Competing wearables such as Fitbit, Garmin and Withings boast multi-day battery life, allowing these devices to be worn overnight.

The Apple Watch already features a built-in heart rate monitor, however Apple is poised to improve this technology with an on-board electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG). Such a sensor would provide more detailed information regarding the electrical activity of the wearer's heart, potentially warning of irregular heart rates.

As predicted, Apple announced its new Health app at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2014 in San Francisco, California. The new app and HealthKit tool for developers will give iOS 8 users an "easy-to-read dashboard" of their health and fitness data, according to Apple.

The new Health app works a lot like the Passbook, collecting data from third-party apps that monitor your heart rate, calories burned, blood sugar, cholesterol and so on. Users will then be able to access all the collected data under one hub so they have a more accurate view of their overall fitness level. The app will also allow users to share their information with their doctors and create medical emergency cards that can be accessed directly from their device's Lock screen.