Apple pulls HealthKit from iOS 8 over bug

Apple Inc. said it’s delaying the release of new health-tracking software that it has trumpeted as one of the main features of its new operating system for the iPhone and iPad.

HealthKit, the health- and fitness-monitoring system, was pulled from inclusion in Apple’s new iOS 8 mobile-software release that went out to customers Wednesday,  Apple said in a statement. The tools will be available later this month, Apple said.

“We discovered a bug that prevents us from making HealthKit apps available on iOS 8,” Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller said Wednesday. “We’re working quickly to have the bug fixed in a software update and have HealthKit apps available by the end of the month.”

The flaw in the software is a hiccup in what has been a highly choreographed new-product blitz by Apple before the start of holiday shopping. Following the iOS 8 release, the company has bigger-screen iPhones going on sale Friday, and it will be introducing new iPads next month, a person familiar with the plans said Wednesday.

HealthKit is software that synchronizes data from various health and fitness apps, and works as a central dashboard where iPhone users can check their health data. The software will be a major feature of the Apple Watch when it goes on sale sometime next year.

The next generation of iPad tablets will be introduced around mid-October, the person said. Chief executive Tim Cook is working to shake up the iPad line as sales of the tablets, Apple’s second-biggest product by revenue, have declined for two straight quarters. The company, based in Cupertino, California, hasn’t introduced a new iPad since last October.