Aiming to give more importance to advanced health tracking, Apple introduced two important features in iOS 15. There’s a new feature called Walking Steadiness, along with a host of new changes, including Health Sharing. Walking Steadiness is designed to track your fall risk so you can keep deadly falls at bay. So, if you’re interested in using the Walking Stability feature on your iPhone, here’s how to set up walking stability notifications and monitor your fall risk.
Set up and Use Walking Stability on iPhone (2021)
To get started, let’s first have a broad understanding of Gait Stability and prove why it’s a well-timed shot in your arm against the risk of falling.
What is Walking Stability in iOS 15?
Simply put, Walking Stability is a estimation of your stability while walking. Gait Stability is inversely proportional to fall risk; decreases, the risk increases. While it’s not a perfect indicator of how likely you are to fall at any given time, it does give a better idea of your fall risk over the next 12 months. While your Apple Watch may already be capable of fall detection, walking stability is likewise more of a preventative measure.
According to the World Health Organization, more than 37.3 million falls are serious and require medical attention each year. It is estimated that 6.84,000 people die from falls each year. This is more for adults over 60. Not surprisingly, falls are the second largest cause of unintentional death in the world.
These numbers continue to show how critical it is to address falls and find workable preventive measures that can reduce fatal falls. On that note, it’s great to see Apple’s admirable effort to help iPhone users better understand the risk of falls and take much-needed action to prevent fatal falls before it’s too late.
How Does iPhone Calculate Your Walking Stability?
iPhone uses important health and fitness data. stride length, double support time, walking speed, and gait asymmetry data To calculate your walking stability. For seamless tracking of Gait Stability, an iPhone is equipped to automatically record your gait stability when you carry it in your pocket or holster.
This means you don’t need to own an Apple Watch to track your walking stability. This feature uses iPhone’s sensors to monitor and measure your balance, balance and coordination.
Note that the Health app takes Gait Stability measurements over seven days. To keep you fully informed and also help you avoid fatal falls, the Health app notifies you when your walking stability is low or too low. If it stays low, you’ll get an alert every three months.
What are the Walking Stability Levels?
For a better understanding, Apple has classified the Walking Stability into three levels: OK, Low, and Very Low.
- OK: It means you have good walking stability. More importantly, you don’t have to worry about the increased risk of falling, at least for the next 12 months.
- Low: If your walking stability is low, you should recover your movement as soon as possible. In other words, it is a clear warning sign that you are at risk of falling in the next 12 months.
- Very low: If your walking stability has passed the “Very Low” mark, it’s time to start building your strength and balance. Any delay in this matter could harm your life.
If you’re wondering how to improve walking stability, exercises can help increase strength and improve balance. Climbing chairs, biking, dancing, working out with resistance bands, push-ups, sit-ups and squats can go a long way in improving strength and flexibility.
Adjust Walking Stability in iOS 15 on iPhone
- open health application on your iPhone. Next, tap the Browse tab at the bottom and select the Mobility option.
2. Now, scroll down to find the Walking Stability option. Then tap “.To create”
3. On the Walk Notifications screen, tap Next.
4. Confirm your information. The Health app needs information such as your gender, date of birth, weight and height to estimate your walking stability level. You can enter details by tapping each section. When finished, tap “Next” to continue.
5. The app displays some information about gait stability levels. Tap Next to continue.
6. Next, tap “Turn On” to receive walking stability notifications.
7. Finally, you will receive confirmation that the walking stability notifications are now turned on. Just tap on “Done” and that’s it.
Check Walking Balance on iPhone
After you set up the Walking Stability feature on your phone, you can keep track of it, just like how you track your steps, sleep, and more. Here’s what to do:
- Go to the Health app and click Browse.
- Now go to the Mobility section and tap on ‘Stability to Walk’
- Here you will be able to see your Walking Stability data.
If you want to avoid these steps and view the data directly from the main page of the application, you can add it to your favorites. Here’s how:
- After you reach the Walking Stability section by following the steps mentioned above, scroll down a bit.
- Tap on “Add to Favorites”. The feature will now become part of the Summary on the home page for easy access.
Again, you’ll even get a notification if your walking stability level changes drastically.
Leverage Walking Balance to Avoid Fatal Falls
Please! This is how you can set up and use the brand new Walking Steadiness feature on your iPhone running iOS 15. As a health conscious person, I am really glad to see this remarkable health feature. And I’m sure most health and wellness lovers will appreciate it too.
In the meantime, how about the determination to walk? Has it proven useful to you? Let us know in the comments section.