InnerPulse can automatically suggest factors for a new entry, based on data from Apple Health and, if you want, the current weather. The integration is fully opt-in. By default, both are off.
Activate HealthKit
In Settings go to Intelligent factors and turn on the Apple Health master toggle. On first activation, iOS asks which data types you grant. InnerPulse requests these read types:
- Sleep (start, duration, wake times)
- Workouts (type, duration, indoor or outdoor)
- Steps and active energy
- Stand times
- Cycle data (menstrual flow, abdominal cramps, back pain, mood changes, bloating)
- Mindfulness sessions
- Hydration (water intake from the Diet app or other sources)
You decide per data type what you share. InnerPulse also works without any sharing and without HealthKit being activated at all.
What happens automatically
On every new entry, the app reads the day's HealthKit data and suggests matching factors. Examples:
- If you slept seven hours or more, Enough sleep is suggested.
- If you completed a workout, Did sports is suggested.
- If you were active outdoors, Outdoors, Nature is added.
- If a menstruation day is present, Period appears, supplemented by symptom factors if matching data is in Health.
Auto-activated factors are marked with a small heart symbol, so you can see at a glance where the suggestion comes from.
Sleep threshold and baseline
The seven-hour threshold is a default. InnerPulse additionally computes your personal average over the last 30 days and uses it as a baseline. If you normally sleep 6.5 hours, 7.0 counts as above average. If your average is 8 hours, Enough sleep is set more strictly.
Apple Health often contains multiple sleep samples from different apps on the same day (Watch plus third-party app). InnerPulse recognizes this and merges overlapping intervals. You don't have to decide which source is "correct".
Learning effect
If you reject an auto-set factor three times in a row, the app deactivates it for future suggestions. If you keep it, the counter resets. That's how InnerPulse learns your style. If you want to reset the learning effect, you'll find a per-factor toggle for auto suggestions in the factor management. More on this in the chapter Factors.
Apple Health writeback
When you activate Apple Health, a second toggle Write data back appears. When you turn it on, InnerPulse writes two kinds of data back to Apple Health:
- Mood values as State of Mind: Every journal entry lands in Apple Health under "Mental Wellbeing". The mood value 1 to 10 is mapped to the internal iOS scale and can be analyzed together with other iOS apps.
- Questionnaire results as Scored Assessments: Completed PHQ-9 and GAD-7 are saved as clinical assessments in Health. K10 and PHQ-4 are not written because Apple Health doesn't officially support these test types.
Both depend on that one toggle. If you turn it on, both data kinds will be written going forward. If you turn it off, writing stops for both. Data already saved in Apple Health stays there. If you want to remove it, do so in the native Health app.
Weather factors
Under Intelligent factors you'll find a separate Weather factors switch. Turning it on, InnerPulse asks once for location permission (only while using the app, not in the background). The app then calls WeatherKit and, when appropriate, suggests:
- Sunny, good weather on clear days,
- Gray, rain on rainy or persistently cloudy days.
The weather result is cached for 30 minutes so that every new entry on the same day doesn't repeatedly use location and the WeatherKit API. Your location is never sent to an InnerPulse server. There isn't one.
What to know
- HealthKit and weather are off by default. Without your consent, nothing happens.
- The app requires no background location permission. "While using the app" is enough.
- You can revoke any data type in iOS at any time under Settings, Apps, Apple Health, Data Access and Devices, InnerPulse.
- If HealthKit suggestions don't appear, check in iOS whether permission is actually granted per data type. Apple only returns "read allowed"; the actual presence of data is a separate matter. More in the chapter Troubleshooting.
- The mood writebacks stay in your private Apple Health sphere. InnerPulse itself doesn't see them additionally. More on this in the chapter Privacy & Security.