Apple has now launched its new CareKit platform with four active apps on offer targeting management of diabetes, depression, and maternal/baby health.

CareKit, which sits beside Apple’s physical activity tracker HealthKit and health data sharing platform ResearchKit, has an overarching aim of improving people’s understanding and active management of their own health.

It offers an open-source framework that developers can now build on, currently made up of a series of four “modules” designed by Apple: Care Card, which helps people track their individual care plans and action items, such as taking medication or completing physical therapy exercises; Symptom and Measurement Tracker, which lets users easily record their symptoms and how they’re feeling, such as monitoring temperature or pain; Insight Dashboard, which maps symptoms against the action items in the Care Card to easily show how treatments are working; and Connect, to facilitate information sharing and communication with healthcare professionals or family members about health and any change in condition.

Developers are expected to build these CareKit modules into a range of different apps, but the first four of on offer are: One Drop, a diabetes management platform to help patients better understand the relationship between food, physical activity and insulin, set targets and track their progress, and share data; Glow Nurture, which helps pregnant women track their health during a pregnancy, and sister app Glow Baby, which tracks baby health and care. Both offer smart notifications to indicate when health updates might be important enough to share with others; and Start, which offers a depression test, progress tracking and helps determine whether an antidepressant is effective or not.

Apps using CareKit will make it easier for individuals to keep track of care plans and monitor symptoms and medication, providing insights that help people better understand and take a more active role their own health, the tech giant said when introducing the new framework earlier this year.