iPadOS 27.2 has recently entered developer and public beta channels. The big new feature in this release is a redesigned, Apple Intelligence–infused Health app, which Apple announced during its iPhone Duo event in September. While the Health app features are usually talked about in the context of iPhone + Apple Watch, the Health app has been a part of iPadOS since version 17, so we get to join in on the fun too.

The updated app is shaping up to be something of a mixed bag. Let’s start with the negative.

In landscape, things look okay enough. However, in portrait orientation, the new areas of the Health app smack of “stretched-out phone app” design. The original design felt like it was much more intentionally taking advantage of extra real estate on iPad. This approach feels like a lowest-common-denominator intended for iPhone with iPad as an afterthought.

The Insights tab gives you an at-a-glance view of key metrics like your Activity Rings, Heart data, Sleep score, and Vitals. Along the right-hand side, you’ll find the For You section that will offer recommendations and articles based on your Health data. The Heart section shows an animation of a beating heart, and for a second I thought it was showing a real-time animation of my heart rate data. Then I remembered how the Apple Watch can’t directly talk to the iPad, for reasons. Then I was sad.

The Longevity tab is supposed to give you an idea of how well your long-term health is trending by giving you a “health age.” This is heavily informed by data provided by a number of different assessments the app wants you to take. At this point I have 13 more to take that I’m not sure when I’ll get around to. Many of the assessments have an associated (skippable) video that plays before you take it. They kind of feel like they were made by the team that puts together Apple’s WWDC developer session videos.

The Browse tab is essentially the old Health app design, where you can drill into individual metrics.

Conclusion

While I’m happy the iPad didn’t get left out (as it often is) of the Health app redesign, I do wish Apple would have come up with a design that took better advantage of the iPad’s screen real estate in portrait. If Apple ever decides to bring the Health app to the Mac, maybe that will be an opportunity for them to revisit the larger-screen design.