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Using troves of data from iPhone users, Apple thinks it’s cracked an elusive problem: Identifying when older people are on the cusp of a devastating fall injury.

Later this year, the iPhone will begin tracking a new metric called Walking Steadiness, and will use it to warn users that may fall. The feature targets a tremendous and often overlooked problem for older adults, accounting for some 3 million emergency room visits each year.

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But it remains an open question whether such information and loose guidance about what to do with it will prevent falls without robust links to the health care system.

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