iOS 8 HealthKit catches a major bug, forcing Apple's fitness apps to lie down and take it easy

Apps which pushed data into Apple's new Health app have been pulled

Health and fitness tracking was meant to be one of the major features in Apple’s recently-launched iOS 8 update, but a last minute bug has derailed the plans for both users and developers alike.

With iOS 8 customers using fitness tracking apps and hardware like the Jawbone UP or Nike FuelBand were supposed to be able to feed their stats into Apple’s new Health app – a new addition to iPhones and iPads intended to act as a central clearing house for fitness data.

Instead, an unspecified bug has meant that many developers have found their software has been removed from the App Store while Apple scrambles to fix the problem with HealthKit (the name of the platform that syncs data from third-party companies with Apple’s systems).

“We discovered a bug that prevents us from making HealthKit apps available on iOS 8 today,” an Apple spokesperson told CNET. “We’re working quickly to have the bug fixed in a software update and have HealthKit apps available by the end of the month.”

Brain Mueller, the developer behind weight-loss app Carrot Fit, told Cult of Mac that Apple had rung him to inform him of the problems but that they’d not been forthcoming with any details.

“The rep couldn't clarify what was wrong though users of the app who had already downloaded the update were able to use the HealthKit features without any issue," said Mueller.

Health and HealthKit, when fully operational, will allow users to collate all sorts of data – from steps taken and heart-rate throughout the day to nutritional intake from biotin to zinc.

Users can also set-up a medical ID for emergencies that will display critical information like allergies and blood type on their lock screen, and Apple has partnered with various US hospitals to allow doctors to access the data in Health.

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