Questions about Whole Story
What people ask before they start. If an answer here is wrong or missing, tell us and we’ll fix it.
What is Whole Story?
Whole Story is a health coach for iPhone. You tell it what’s going on in ordinary language and it keeps the whole of it — what you said, what you logged, what a watch measured if you have one, your conditions, medications and appointments. Every morning it reads your day and tells you the one thing worth knowing. You don’t have to know what to ask.
Who is it for?
Anyone trying to be healthier who is tired of doing it alone. It was built first for someone with a great deal to hold — several doctors, a long medication list, training most days — on the view that something which keeps up there will keep up with one thing on your mind. You don’t need to be fit, organised or knowledgeable to start.
Is this just another tracking app?
No. More tracking was never the problem. A tracker shows you a chart; this tells you what it means for you, and what to do first. A tracker won’t remember what you said in June, it won’t put the medication you started three weeks ago next to the afternoons that have gone flat, and it won’t raise anything before you ask.
Does it tell me what to do, or just watch?
A plan starts with a proposal you can keep, change, or walk away from: a daily figure and why for eating, a week of sessions for training, a shortest test for a question about your body. Rehab writes down what you were given. You choose. After that the coach reads how the days go and tells you when they have stopped matching what you agreed. The longer account of each kind is on the site: training, eating, looking into something, and rehab.
What does it do with my health data, and where does it go?
Two places, and nowhere else: our own database, and the model provider that writes the coach’s replies. It is never sold, never used for advertising and never handed to anybody else. No screen that shows health data carries a tracker or a third-party script. Its commercial terms provide that your messages are not used to train its models, and it deletes them after thirty days. The full account is in the privacy policy.
Does it diagnose anything, or change what I take?
No, and it won’t. It will not tell you which condition you have, and it will not start, stop, split or change a prescription. It can say that a marker sits outside a usual range, say what that marker is generally about, and name possible readings of a pattern in your own numbers — then say who can settle it. Those lines are not a tone of voice: they are checked in code on every reply before you see it.
What happens if I say something serious?
If you describe chest pain, stroke signs, a severe allergic reaction, uncontrolled bleeding or wanting to die, the first thing you get is the number to call — 911, 988, or the local equivalent. Not a question about how serious it feels, and not a paragraph of sympathy in front of it. After that the coach stays with you if you want to keep talking. In a real emergency, don’t use the app at all: call your local emergency number, because the coach may not be read for hours.
What does it cost?
Seven days free, then $19.99 a month or $149.99 a year, which works out at $12.50 a month. Nothing is charged until the trial ends. You can cancel any time in Settings. Family Sharing is off.
Do I need Apple Health, or a watch?
No. Everything works from what you tell it and what you log, and your phone already counts steps. Connecting Apple Health adds the readings you would never type — sleep, resting heart rate, activity through the day — and if you have a watch and wear it some of the time, wearing it to bed is where it earns its place. Without one, your coach asks about the night instead of waiting for a number.
Can I tell it to stop bringing something up?
Yes, and it holds. Name a subject to leave alone — your weight, calories, body fat, alcohol, or something of your own — and the coach stops raising it, in conversation and in what it writes overnight. You can also set how often it asks in the evening, how much it says, and what a check-in is about.
Can I export or delete everything?
Yes to both, and without asking us. Export gives you a file of every record we hold. Delete removes the account and everything in it straight away — not archived, not hidden, and it cannot be recovered afterwards, including by us.
What happens if I stop paying?
Nothing is deleted. Your whole story is still here, exactly as you left it. The coach stops writing to you, and you can start again whenever you like or delete everything yourself.
Is it a medical device?
No. Whole Story is a general wellness and coaching product, and it is not a substitute for a clinician, for a diagnosis, or for care. It can be wrong, including confidently. Where something matters, check it with somebody qualified.
How do I get help?
Open You → Tell us in the app. A bug, an idea, or something that felt wrong all go through the same door, and you can attach the app version, a failed request id, and the exchange you’re writing about if you want to. We read it and reply in the app. There’s also support@wholestory.health for anything you’d rather send by mail.
Already using it? Support has the doors: telling us something went wrong, correcting what the coach remembers, and turning down how often it speaks.
It’s a coach, not a doctor: it points you to the right care when something needs it.