This article’s target is for readers to better understand the basics of the new Health app from the iOS 8 operating system.

Health App has four folders: Dashboard, Health Data, Sources, and Medical ID.

Dashboard: your convenient storage

iOS 8 has made it more convenient than ever to keep track of all your Health Data, such as: Sleep Analysis, Heart Rate, Blood Glucose, Active Calories, and so on. With the Dashboard it allows you to store all your frequently used Health Data on this dedicated board so it’s more convenient for your daily use and viewing.

The Dashboard gives you the option of how you view your Health Data results; daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly. To easily change between these options press on the appropriate word you wish to see.

You can keep as many Health Data’s on your Dashboard as you would like.

On the top right corner of each of your Health Data’s it will tell you your average, whether you’re viewing it in Day, Week, Month, or Year, it will change accordingly.

To put Health Data on the Dashboard for easy viewing, go to the folder Health Data then press on the Data you want, (for an example I am using the Health Data Sleep Analysis) then slide the dot until green is visible, where it says Show on Dashboard.

To insert Health Data results, also known as a Data point, press on the data you want to add information to, then press on Add Data Point.

Just choose the date and the time you went to bed and woke up in the morning, and then press on Add, — it will do the counting for you for how many hours you've slept.

Or if you have a third party app that is synced with your Health app it will automatically add a Data Point for you.

Health Data: all you can choose data

Health Data offers a vast selection of data to choose from so you can keep track of all your body’s functions. Ranging from simple body measurements to important vitals.

The Health app has organized all the data into eight different folders so it’s easier for you to roam through the options of your specific category.

To take it one step further, your Health app also has a Search bar tool located at the top of your screen so you find data specific data quicker.

Sources: working with third party apps

Sources is where your Health app stores all of your third party apps that you are synced with. There are not third party apps created yet for all of the different Health Data options, but coming soon the iWatch will have more features that will be compatible with it.

When you download an app that is compatible to work with your Health app in the beginning stages of set up it will ask you if you want to allow Health to access your information and store them in appropriate folders. If you want Health to access the third party app’s data to create Data Points automatically swipe the dot to the right so green is visible, then you will know that it is enabled.

If you do not want the third party app to share your information with the Health app, make sure that green is not visible. If it is slide the dot to the left so the button is completely gray.

Or an easier way to disable the sharing between third party apps is by going into your Health app and press on the folder, Sources.

From there press on the app you no longer want to share information with, (for an example I used Heart Rate) then slide the dot to left till green is no longer visible. Then when it is completely gray it means it is disabled.

Medical ID: your medical records

Medical ID offers what could be lifesaving information about your health. This can be very insightful information for a friend, or a even a nurse, if someone has a serious medical condition in the amidst of an emergency if they do not have their Carecard, or Medical Alert bracelet on.

To fill out your Medical ID press on the Medical ID folder located at the bottom of your Health app, then press on Edit, found in the upper right hand side of the screen.

When you are editing your Medical ID at the top it will ask you if you want to allow your Medical ID to be accessed through a locked screen for emergency use. To enable this feature swipe the dot to the right so green is visible. If you do not want to use this feature, swipe the dot to the left so it is completely gray.

You also have the option of adding in a photo of yourself, do so just press on the words add photo. You can either take a photo of yourself or upload an image from your photo gallery.

To insert your personal information just press on the gray words None listed and type it in.

If you do not have any Allergies or Medical Conditions or so on, you can leave them blank and they will not appear on your saved Medical ID. To save your work just press on the word, Done, located at the top right hand side of the screen. You also have the option to delete your Medical ID, to do this at the bottom of your edit screen press on the words Delete Medical ID.

This is the view from the locked screen Emergency call, located at the left hand side at the bottom is your Medical ID. Just press on those words and it will bring up your Medical ID.

So those are the basic guidelines to using your Health app by iOS 8. To sum up in a few words we went over the four different folders which are; Dashboard the convenient storage, Health Data all you can choose data, Sources working with third party apps, and Medical ID your medical records. I have also included step by step instructions on how to use each folder. However, there is a whole lot more to discover when you search for Health Kits in the App store. And when Apple releases their new product, the iWatch, the Health app will become more fully used.

All photos in this article were taken and used by me.