New iPhone 5S Features Could Benefit Mobile Health Apps

New features on the iPhone 5S could benefit mobile health and fitness app developers.

Earlier this week, Apple announced the features on its highly-anticipated iPhone 5S. In addition to a variety of user-interface improvements, the new mobile phone features an M7 coprocessor. While the iPhone 5S' main processor is an A7 model, the M7 coprocessor can analyze motion data from the device's accelerometer, compass and gyroscope independently, improving battery life.

One benefit of the M7 coprocessor is improved environment and situation awareness. The new iPhone 5S can detect if a user is driving, running, walking or stationary. Based on these conditions, the phone can respond accordingly.

Users will see "a whole new level of health and fitness solutions never before possible on a mobile phone," stated Phil Schiller, senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing for Apple.

While utilizing movement sensors to tracking personal fitness is nothing new for Android or Apple mobile phones, the separate processing unit could be beneficial to app developers in several significant ways.

Traditional GPS receivers use a lot of power to maintain location awareness. For example, constant use of the GPS on an Apple or Android smartphone can reduce battery life by more than one-third. However, a dedicated coprocessor for GPS / accelerometers would allow these location awareness tools to remain active for longer periods of time. In the near future, Apple developers may be able to create mobile health apps that run continuously.