A new iPhone app named `Deadline’ claims that instead of just asking you 20 questions about your smoking habits and whether or not you live in an earthquake danger zone, it’ll accurately work out the date of your demise by using medical data from Apple’s new HealthKit app.
HealthKit is part of the recent trend of fitness-focused smartphone software (and hardware) and is able to collate a massive range of data -everything from sleeping patterns and calorie intake to blood pressure and lung capacity. All that could add up to a more accurate prediction about users’ mortality. However, according to tech site Gizmodo there’s nothing new going on behind the scenes with Deadline -just a “generic algorithm” that gives plausible assesments such as “Dear reader: you’ve got 49 years left to live”.
Still, the app does offer a handy widget that slots into the iPhone’s revamped notification center and cheerily counts down the time you’ve got till you’re due to kick the bucket: a useful motivator perhaps for those who can’t quite force themselves to the gym.
