Apple is set to give U.S. users of its mobile Health app a one-tap option to sign up as organ, eye, and tissue donors when the company releases iOS 10 this fall (via CNBC).
The option to enroll in the national donor registry will be made available via a button in the operating system's native Health app, which allows users to view and manage their health and fitness data.
Speaking to The Associated Press, CEO Tim Cook said he hoped the new option would help ease a longstanding donor shortage, a problem that hit home when Steve Jobs endured an "excruciating" wait for a liver transplant in March 2009.
Cook reportedly offered to donate a portion of his own liver because the two men shared a blood type, but Jobs turned down Cook's offer and later received a full liver transplant.
Jobs died of pancreatic cancer in October 2011, aged 56.
"Apple's mission has always been to create products that transform people's lives. With the updated Health app, we're providing education and awareness about organ donation and making it easier than ever to register. It's a simple process that takes just a few seconds and could help save up to eight lives," said Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer. “Together with Donate Life America, we're excited to deliver this new feature to iPhone users in the US with iOS 10."
The U.S government is currently pushing an initiative to speed up the donor and matching service, while Facebook, Google and Twitter are also developing tools to achieve greater automation in the process, as part of their own public advocacy campaigns.
According to government statistics, someone is added to the national organ transplant waiting list every 10 minutes and 22 people die while waiting for life-saving transplants every day.
Apart from an interface overhaul for the Health app, iOS 10 includes major updates for Messages, Siri, Photos, Maps, Apple Music, News, Apple Pay, Control Center, and more.
Update: Apple has published a press release that says all organ, eye, and tissue donor registrations submitted from iPhone will be sent directly to the National Donate Life Registry managed by Donate Life America.
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