Advertisement

Are you sick? Get ready for your iPhone to take your temperature and diagnose your illness

My iPhone can tell me where I am in the world, remind me when I need to take my vitamins and bring me face-to-face with relatives all over in an instant, but it can't tell me why I have this nagging cough -- at least not yet. As Fast Company reports, a new iPhone app/accessory combo hopes to change that. It's called Kinsa, and it all starts with a thermometer.

After plugging the thermometer into your iPhone via the headphone port, it will read your temperature in real time and display it on the screen, letting you spot a fever as soon as your temp passes a healthy mark. Once the thermometer accessory has done its job, the Kinsa app takes your hand and helps you make sense of whatever symptoms you may have. The app taps into account what the Kinsa team calls "health weather" -- a database that can reveal if a particular illness is making the rounds in your area.

Kinsa is a powerful tool for adults, but it's designed to work better than a traditional thermometer when it comes to kids as well. Playful graphics and bright colors give the app a very relaxing vibe, which isn't exactly the norm when it comes to medical devices. Kinsa isn't quite ready for retail just yet, but you can sign up on the company's website to be notified as soon as you can get your hands on your own.