Apple has to fix an iOS 8 bug before you can get the most out of new health apps

If you’re eager to start putting your fitness apps to work with iOS 8’s new HealthKit feature, you’re going to have to hang on a bit: Apple has discovered a last-minute issue with HealthKit and is now preventing apps from using it. Apple has apparently been contacting developers throughout the day to tell them about the situation, having actually had to pull some apps that were previously published into the store. In a statement to the Financial Times’ Tim Bradshaw, Apple says that it discovered a bug in HealthKit and intends to quickly fix it in a software update and “have HealthKit apps available by the end of the month.”

This is a somewhat embarrassing hiccup for Apple, which is beginning to put an increased focus on fitness. HealthKit is its new backend service that allows fitness apps to share information. Given that it works behind-the-scenes, it’s likely that many — if not most — iPhone and iPad owners won’t even realize that the feature is unaccessible (additionally, iOS 8’s similarly named Health app is in fact present and working). It just means that, for now, third-party fitness apps won’t be quite as powerful as iOS 8 wants to make them. Several other substantial features of iOS 8 haven’t launched yet either, including its ability to synchronize calls, text messages, and what you’re working on with a Mac. Those features will have to wait for the release of OS X Yosemite, likely next month.