Now that Apple has announced its entry into the fitness-tracking wearable space with the Apple Watch, Jawbone, the makers of the UP and UP24 activity trackers, has introduced a version of its UP iPhone app that works without requiring the fitness band. Instead, the new version of Jawbone’s health and fitness iPhone app adds support for Apple’s HealthKit feature and Health app on iOS 8 making UP’s software for tracking activity and sleep as well as logging meals more valuable to iPhone users wanting to fill the new Health app with data. Since the iPhone 5s, step tracking has been a built-in functionality to the iPhone (and Health can read that data on the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus), and Jawbone’s UP app for iPhone packs in a number of other useful features for fitness and health tracking.
For instance, iPhone users can set alerts with UP for specific activities like taking medicine, starting a workout, or preparing for bed. UP also helps monitor weight and other information with goals and social aspects to the app as well.
Jawbone’s UP app doesn’t stop at just using Apple’s HealthKit to connect with other apps. Jawbone offers up its own way of connecting with other apps, some of which aren’t exactly health-focused, for turning UP into a robust data hub of sorts.
Apps like MyFitnessPal and RunKeeper can communicate with UP to share data, even without HealthKit and Health, but apps like the Automatic, the smart driving assistant, can also include travel data in UP.
Another activity tracking wearable, Fitbit, made its app work without requiring a hardware accessory last year when Apple introduced step tracking with the iPhone 5s.
An update with Health integration to Jawbone’s existing UP app for UP/UP24 wristband users is also available now.
UP for iPhone is available for free on the App Store.
