Samsung could soon be introducing new health features to its smartwatches. A recent APK teardown from Android Authority has revealed that the upcoming Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch Ultra could feature an AGEs (advanced glycation end products) index, family health tracking, and continuous glucose monitoring.
And AGE index is an overview of metabolic health and the biological aging process since these are compounds people accumulate as they age. The Galaxy Watch will now be able to track the production of AGE compounds in the user’s body when protein and fat molecules are oxidized by sugar molecules.
AGEs can help users predict the risk of diabetes, stroke, and heart attack, and give users a sense of their wellness since lower levels of AGEs are associated with physical exercise.
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Samsung Watches To Feature Continuous Glucose Monitoring
Another possible feature that could come to the Galaxy Watch 7 is blood glucose monitoring. The APK teardown revealed a UI screen that shows the feature but did not show any populated data, so it’s difficult to say what it’s measuring.
If rumors are to be believed, the timeline suggested was as long as five years for non-invasive blood glucose monitoring to come on the market in “some form.” Non-invasive is a big highlight here.
As of now, the only way to measure this for diabetics is to use a blood glucose meter, which requires skin penetration and putting a drop of blood on a test strip. So the challenge for the company is to figure out how to estimate this level without breaking skin while still making the readings accurate.
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Samsung To Bring Family Health Tracking
Another potential feature spotted by Android Authority is the latest Samsung Health app. It seems the company is working on getting family health data sharing with Galaxy Watches. Users will be able to monitor the health tracking data of their child or family member with a screen showing the breakdown of key stats.
This is enabled for a parent Samsung account with an approval process, but the user’s child or family member will need to have their own Galaxy Watch and need to wear it regularly enough to keep the stats populated. This also raises some privacy issues, but the company is addressing that with some built-in security and privacy checks.
Family members can also stop sharing or change what they share whenever they want. They can also preview the data they want to share before it’s actually shared. To access a child’s health, a guardian’s consent will be required. Shared data is automatically deleted and sharing rescinded after an extended period of inactivity. This feature seems likely to come to older smartwatches since there’s nothing here that can be tied to hardware requirements.