Apple released iOS 26.4 beta 1 yesterday, bringing a range of changes and new features. Among these updates are two specific changes to the Health app: enhancements to the Vitals metric and sleep tracking.
Apple Health adds two new insights with iOS 26.4
In January 2024, Apple removed the Blood Oxygen feature from the Apple Watch due to a patent dispute with health technology company Masimo. Last August, they introduced a redesigned version of the feature, allowing users to take a Blood Oxygen reading on their Apple Watch and view the result on their iPhone, rather than on the watch itself.
Even after the redesign, Blood Oxygen was not part of the Vitals overview in the Health app on iPhone, and could only be viewed as a separate metric. With iOS 26.4, Apple has reintroduced Blood Oxygen readings to the Vitals graph in the Health app, allowing users to view five metrics in the same chart: heart rate, respiratory rate, wrist temperature, blood oxygen, and sleep duration.
Sleep tracking
iOS 26.4 also introduces a new sleep metric to the Health app, displaying a breakdown of bedtime over the last two weeks. Users can now see their average bedtime and compare it to last night’s bedtime in a new Sleep Highlight feature.
For more details on what’s new in iOS 26.4 beta 1, check out our comprehensive guide. The update is currently available for developers and public beta testers.
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