Quantified Self-Reflection

The app that I have chosen for this assignment is the only piece of self-tracking that I am aware I have. The “Health” app (which came with my iPhone) has a number of functions, most of which I actually only found out about due to this assignment. The basic purpose of the app is to keep track of the amount of steps I am taking as I walk around. It seemingly records this information without having to keep the app turned on, although I’m assuming it acts independently due to my having activated it by accident some time prior. There are a number of other functions, including tracking sleep habits and nutrition, but I have no idea how to turn these on. As of right now, I have no intention of using this app to track anything about myself.

As far as I can tell the walking function uses a movement sensor within the iPhone itself, so no information had to be deliberately inputted for that part. It does appear like something needs to be done in order to use the tracking power of the other functions. Once again, I have no idea how to activate these and have no plan on intentionally putting anything in. That being said, it seems like the device receives input based on my walking habits everyday. I can’t seem to see any “recommended information” that the app wants, although it is entirely possible it did ask for this data in the past and I simply cannot remember.

The future of this app is uncertain; I’ve never seen (or at least don’t recall) Apple ever release an update for this app, so how they could even improve or change it is very much up in the air. I’d imagine though that it would be from a health angle if anything were added to it, like recording how certain activities affect your health (asides from the obvious ones). I’ve never posted about this app on social media, and while I do suspect that there’s a way to post my data to something like Facebook, I wouldn’t know how.

I have no real strong opinions about self-tracking. I’m not really against it or for it; it just seems like a really situational kind of tool. Some people are simply going to get more use out of it than I am. Knowing that my footsteps are being tracked doesn’t really affect how happy I feel, since I’m not doing it for a purpose. I also don’t really feel anything regarding someone posting about his or her own tracking data on social media. More power to them if that’s something they’re interested in, but it doesn’t really affect me enough to care.