How to Use

Body · Last updated June 28, 2026

This guide covers the main Body workflows: connecting Apple Health, reading Summary cards, adding measurements and effort ratings, comparing data sources, reviewing workouts, using widgets and the Apple Watch app, and managing local cache data.

Connect Apple Health

  • Grant read permission when Body asks for Apple Health access. Use a real device for complete Health data, workout routes, widgets, and Apple Watch sync.
  • Open Data > Source to set default primary and secondary Apple Health sources or combine duplicate source names.
  • Open Data > Permissions to choose which Apple Health categories Body uses inside the app.
  • Open Data > Data Refresh to see the last refresh time or run Refresh Now.
  • Body asks for write permission only when you save a weight or body-fat measurement, or when you save a workout effort rating.

Read Summary

  • Summary can start with a Star Metric hero. The default is Readiness, shown as a full-bleed score with a tinted wave fill.
  • Below the hero, Summary shows Activity Rings, Sleep, Basics, Training Load, heart, respiratory, energy, daylight, steps, and body metric cards.
  • Tap a card, trend card, or Activity Rings to open details with the zoom transition. The detail collapses back into the card when you go back, and falls back to a cross-fade when Reduce Motion is on.
  • Pull down on Summary after new Health data is recorded to refresh the dashboard. A Loading data overlay stays on screen until the refresh finishes so you know work is in progress.

Customize Metrics

  • Use Metrics > Units to follow the system or choose weight, distance, energy, and temperature units manually.
  • Use Metrics > Star Metric to choose the hero metric at the top of Summary or turn the hero off. When Readiness is starred, Body uses the hero as the home background.
  • Use Metrics > Summary Cards, Charts Range, and Trend Cards to decide what appears on Summary and which default range charts open with.
  • Use Appearance to change theme and icon separately from metric behavior.

Add Measurements and Effort

  • Open the Basics detail screen and tap + to log weight, body fat, or both.
  • Use the include switches to decide which measurements are saved, choose the date and time, then save to Apple Health.
  • Open a workout detail and tap the Effort card to edit the 1-10 effort rating inline.
  • Saving effort writes the rating to Apple Health, relates it to that workout, and refreshes Training Load so the app and Apple Watch snapshot can pick up the change.

Sleep Details

  • Use the Sleep date slider to choose the day you want to inspect.
  • Tap the Sleep Score card to see the score breakdown.
  • Press the Sleep Stages chart to inspect a stage segment's duration and start/end time.
  • Tap the stage breakdown beneath the timeline to switch between per-stage durations and the optimal-range chart, each stage's share of the night with a healthy reference band, and your choice is remembered.
  • Sleep Stages duration and Sleep Consistency values animate when you change days, while respecting Reduce Motion.

Day Views

  • Heart Rate, Resting Heart Rate, HRV, Respiratory Rate, and Blood Oxygen include a Day View below the range trend.
  • Choose a day with the date slider.
  • Heart Rate also overlays sleep and workout windows; press the chart to reveal the raw readings behind each hourly point.
  • The legend shows just the average when a single source is active and switches to a per-source breakdown when a secondary source is selected.

Compare Two Sources

  • Open a supported metric detail: Sleep, Heart Rate, Resting Heart Rate, HRV, Blood Oxygen, Steps, Active Energy, Resting Energy, or Exercise Minutes.
  • Use Data > Source for app-wide primary and secondary defaults, or tap the source picker on a metric detail to override that metric.
  • Primary and secondary share the same x-axis buckets so bars and lines line up. The legend lists each source with its average across the selected range.
  • Changing the secondary source triggers a focused refresh of that metric; the Loading data overlay stays until the new comparison data is ready.

Workouts

  • Open Workouts to browse, search, sort, and filter your Apple Health workout history.
  • Tap a workout, calendar-day row, or workout-type row to open the workout detail as a full-bleed page. The bottom tab bar stays visible, and the page collapses back into the row or card you opened.
  • Use the route map at the top of outdoor GPS workouts to see the route fit to screen, colored by pace, with start and end markers and a city label when available.
  • Review duration, calories, heart rate, distance when available, effort, and source.
  • Tap the Effort card to add or edit the workout's effort rating.
  • Use the month controls to inspect older workout history.
  • Pull down to refresh the selected month; the Loading data overlay stays until the refresh finishes.

Widgets

  • Add Health Metric widgets to show a chosen metric's current value and recent trend.
  • Add Health Trend widgets to chart a chosen metric over Week or Month.
  • Add Sleep Stages, Workout Calendar, or Workout Types widgets for sleep and workout-focused views.
  • Edit a widget to choose the metric, range when supported, and background: System, Black, or White.
  • Widgets read Body's shared cached snapshots, so open and refresh Body when widget data looks stale.

Apple Watch

  • Install the Body watch app from the Watch app on your iPhone. It mirrors your Readiness, Sleep, Heart Rate, HRV, Resting Heart Rate, Training Load, and Skin Temperature cards.
  • The watch home screen leads with Training Load, and the watch Settings screen lets you hide or show each metric locally.
  • Tap a watch card or complication to open that metric's full-screen detail page, then swipe or use the Digital Crown to page between metrics.
  • Add a Body complication to your watch face. Every metric has an accessory circular, rectangular, and corner ring complication.
  • The iPhone stays the source of truth: it pushes a metrics snapshot to the watch after each successful refresh, so open and refresh Body on iPhone to keep the watch current.
  • When that snapshot is stale, the watch refreshes Heart Rate and HRV from its own Health data. Complications update when the watch app runs; snapshots pushed while it is closed apply on next launch.

Manage Cache

  • Use Data > Cache to review cached dashboard, workout, Activity Ring, and widget data.
  • Clear Cache removes local snapshots; Rebuild Cache refreshes Apple Health and rebuilds the local files.
  • Clear Cache also removes the shared widget snapshot, so widgets may show empty or placeholder states until Body refreshes again.
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