The Situation
Interval Health Group needed a consumer mobile app for women navigating menopause. The product required health data to make personalized recommendations, but the founders wanted to avoid a third-party aggregator that would hold user health data outside the client's control.
The approach was to read biometric data directly from the on-device stores Apple and Google provide — Apple HealthKit on iOS, Google Health Connect on Android — keeping user health information on the device rather than routing it through a third party.
What Was Built
SmartMenopause is a React Native app targeting iOS and Android from a single TypeScript codebase.
On-device health data: The app reads biometric data through the native on-device access each platform provides. On iOS, this is HealthKit. On Android, it is Google Health Connect. No third-party aggregator sits between the user's health data and the app. This architecture keeps health data under the user's control and reduces the compliance surface significantly.
Cross-platform delivery: A single React Native codebase serves both platforms. Platform-specific health data access is handled in separate modules that surface a unified interface to the shared application code — so the business logic does not branch on platform.
Store submission: Larry handled the Apple App Store review process directly, navigating the health and medical app requirements that apply to apps reading HealthKit data.
Current Status
Google Play: SmartMenopause is live on Google Play. SmartMenopause on Google Play
App Store: App Store review is in progress.
What Made This Work
Health apps that read user biometrics face closer scrutiny in App Store review than most categories. Understanding those requirements before the build — and designing the permission flow, the data usage descriptions, and the review submission to answer the reviewer's likely questions — shortened the review cycle.
Starting with on-device data access rather than a third-party aggregator also removed a category of compliance risk. When user health data never leaves the device through a third-party service, the privacy disclosures are simpler and more defensible.
Build Your Health App
If you are building a consumer health app that reads on-device biometric data, the right architecture decisions happen before the first line of code.