When Apple first announced HealthKit — its iOS-based platform for tracking personal health data — back in June, journalists and analysts crowned it as the next big thing in fitness and health tracking. The Cupertino, California-based company was biting its teeth into an already saturated market and it even managed to arguably take out the Nike Fuelband, a popular wristband wearable, along the way (as it readies for its Apple Watch).

While the Health app — the user-facing hub that pulls in data from other third-party apps, including Nike — is now available on iOS 8, we’ve heard very little from Apple about how the platform works. Anyone who bought the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus noticed it on their new Home screens, as did those who upgraded from the previous software. But, for many, it’s an unused app, sitting virtually empty, taking up coveted real estate on devices.

Apart from an iPhone commercial that uses the voice talents of Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake, Apple hasn’t done too much to promote the app, aside from providing a webpage for users who want to take the time to learn more about it.

HealthKit wasn’t in the original iOS 8 launch — it was delayed about a week and a half and didn’t make a full appearance until iOS 8.0.2. With the update, third-party apps such as MyFitnessPal, Carrot, Jawbone and WebMD could exchange data with the app, allowing users to track steps, sleep and other data in one place. But early reviews of the platform lampoon Health as “an embarrassment” — a tool that’s not ready for the primetime.

There are a few theories why we haven’t heard much from Apple on Health. Perhaps the most obvious reason for Apple’s quiet rollout of the software is that it’s meant for something very specific: the Apple Watch. The company’s first foray into the smartwatch category will certainly have huge integration with the Health app, serving as a wearable to track the wearer’s heart rate and other key personal data.

So if the Apple Watch isn’t coming until next year, why have a mediocre Health app launch now? Skip Snow, senior analyst for healthcare at Forrester Research, says it was critical for the company to get the app onto as many devices as possible before the Apple Watch arrives.

“iOS 8 is the operating system that will integrate with the Apple Watch, so it was important for the company to get on the new phones and the first major upgrade because not everyone is downloading the latest software when it’s ready,” Snow said. “Apple likely wanted to get it into the hands of its users (on the mobile home screen) and decided to worry about the rest later.”

Tim Bajarin, an analyst at Creative Strategies who closely follows Apple, believes the company might be divulging more information about the Health app at its rumored upcoming event in October, where it’s expected to launch the next-generation iPads and iMac line. More information about the Health app will likely trickle out later this year and into 2015 when more third-party apps integrate with the platform too.

“The Health app is a work in progress with the software community,” Bajarin said. “I believe that once more apps work with the Health app, we will hear more from Apple and see the real value it will be to customers. As of now, it’s too early to tell if it will reach its full potential, but Apple has the pieces in place to make that a possibility now.”

Regulatory clarity

According to Snow of Forrester, there might be another reason besides the upcoming Apple Watch that has Apple stalling a big marketing push for Health and HealthKit: regulatory clarity.

“Apple is not one to get ahead of itself or the regulatory environment, and doesn’t want to create big fanfare quite yet because they haven’t resolved some of the business internal issues,” Snow said.

Snow is referring to rules about privacy that protect patients’ data under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) and Patient Data collection regulations. When a consumer starts sharing personal, private data with companies, issues about security and protection are thrust front and center. But even sensitive health information wouldn’t fall under HIPPA law if the app is serving the consumer and not the healthcare system. It becomes problematic, however, when healthcare systems start to access it and the data moves back and forth between servers, VentureBeat explained.

Snow of Forrester references Apple’s recent iCloud security breach: “Think about what would happen if it was movie stars’ health data exposed instead of naked photos. If Apple declared it HIPPA data, the company would be obligated to say how many people were affected and provide numbers. Because Apple is controlling the information, they don’t have to report a breach and it’s not breaking laws. It’s more risky for them to say they are [HIPPA] compliant.”

Any health platform must have built-in capabilities to protect a person’s health data and records, and the Health app itself can’t make direct health diagnosis or even recommendations; instead, any third-party devices that measure health data must FDA approval in the first place. For example, a glucose-monitoring devices that connects to a smartphone app needs to get approval just like any other glucose meter. The same goes for EKG devices and any other monitoring tools that fall under FDA jurisdictions, Bajarin of Creative Strategies elaborated.

While some third-party apps are jumping on board, some companies and hospitals are cautious about getting involved before regulatory clarity is reached, other sources say. Apple previously announced it will be working with the Mayo Clinic and Epic software, a move that shows how serious the company is about providing a legit health portal for users. Apple is reportedly trying to work with health providers at Mount Sinai Hospital, the Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins and electronics health records (EHR) provider AllScripts to join the platform, too. But there’s no official word yet on how those efforts are coming along.

Integrated apps

But not all apps are waiting to get involved. The first batch of Health app-enabled apps appeared in the Apple App Store recently, and more are likely to be added soon. The developers we’ve talked to since the launch say they’re pleased with the Health app integrated so far and are anticipating a bigger roll out soon.

“Adoption of significant new platforms like this one often take a little time,” said Artem Petakov, co-founder and co-CEO of Noom Coach, a coaching app for fitness. “As more apps and health devices integrate with it, we’re confident that the value will become more and more clear to users. In the long term, we believe this value will largely not come within the Health app itself, but rather from how other services use it to exchange data.”

For example, Petakov explains, you can log a run in MapMyRun or RunKeeper, and previously, Noom Coach wouldn’t know about it. Now, that data is shared between apps so the Coach app doesn’t just adjust your calorie budget, it can give additional weight loss and nutritional articles targeted for runners.

“We saw the potential [of the Health app] and didn’t hesitate for a minute,” Petakov said. “The FDA has actually taken a pretty reasonable stance on this stuff in the past — they want to encourage innovation, yet protect the consumer in a few specific, largely medical, cases. So we are pretty confident they will be supportive of HealthKit and similar efforts.”

Personal training app FitStar said they felt comfortable with Apple’s policies out of the gate, too: “We reviewed the implementations and Apple’s policies before pushing this update live and we were comfortable with them,” said Mike Maser, FitStar CEO. “Like all third-party integrations, we pay close attention to make sure they align with our privacy philosophy.”

In addition, Nike told Mashable it plans to incorporate Nike+ Running into iOS 8 on Friday, Oct. 10 and eventually, the Apple Watch. Jawbone, another high profile wearable company, recently launched a new app called UP by Jawbone that doesn’t require users to own one of its wristband trackers. When loading up the app, it says, “Simply connect UP with Apple Health and it will track using your available steps and sleep data.”

With this in mind, Joel Evans — VP of mobile enablement at mobile strategy firm Mobiquity — believes Apple could be banking on developers and the third-party companies to promote the Health app, rather than doing the marketing itself.

“Apple’s overall promotional strategy for the Health app is not surprising; it’s pretty standard for the company,” Evans said. “Apple is likely waiting for developers to promote that [they are] accessing and injecting information into the Health app now.”

“Apple could do more commercials showing off the features, but it wants users not to worry about the Health app at all since it’s more of an aggregator and sharer of health-related information,” Evans added.

Although there has been some early feedback from users complaining about which information is synced and shared (or data not syncing in real time), Evans said this isn’t a Health app issue either and falls onto the hands of the developers.

“These are all things that can be better handled and explained by the developer,” Evans said.

Apple’s Health app is nowhere near perfect, but it’s far too early to declare it a disaster. Still, it has a long way to go for it to fully meet the company’s own standards of greatness.

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