Apple announced on Thursday that a bug in the HealthKit application caused delays on its release in iOS 8 devices.
"We're working quickly to have the bug fixed in a software update and have HealthKit apps available by the end of the month," a spokesperson from Apple emailed Mashable.
The health and fitness app collects medical data, such as weight, pulse rate and blood pressure from other health apps and integrates it into one place that is accessible to doctors and other health professionals.
Aside from HealthKit, the Cupertino, California-based company also postponed the distribution of other healthcare apps from their store, including Carrot Fit and MyFitnessPal.
"The MyFitnessPal app, which supports integration with Apple's HealthKit, was temporarily removed from the Apple Store this morning to address some minor issues," MyFitnessPal told Reuters.
MyFitness developers further explained that they are closely working with Apple to fix the bug and create an updated version, but it may take up to two weeks, according to Mashable.
Adam Grossberg from WebMD, a health information provider, told Reuters that the new version of the MyFitness app, which works alongside HealthKit, was immediately removed from the app store after its launch on Wednesday.
Apple is expected to return the previous version of the app to the App Store for the meantime, but the new version is not available yet.
HealthKit was developed to speed up data-sharing among the medical community and eventually improve the care that patients receive. But, there are some experts who noted that this sensitive data should be heavily protected due to privacy and security issues. Others are bothered about having all of their medical data in one location, which makes it accessible to hackers.
Currently, Apple is working with Cleveland Clinic, John Hopkins University and Mount Sinai Hospital to further develop apps that can be used alongside HealthKit.
