Quick Links
Getting Started
First Launch
When you first open Baseline, you'll be asked to grant access to your health data. Baseline reads data from Apple Health to display your metrics - it never modifies or deletes your health data (except for water logging if you choose to use it).
Initial Setup
- Open Baseline and tap "Get Started"
- Review the health data permissions and tap "Allow"
- Select which categories you want to share (you can change this later)
- You'll see your Daily dashboard with your health metrics
Understanding the Interface
Baseline has five main tabs at the bottom:
- Day - Today's metrics snapshot
- Week - Weekly aggregated data Free
- Month - Monthly trends Plus
- Year - Yearly overview Plus
- Settings - Customize your experience
Period Dashboards
Navigating Between Periods
Each dashboard shows your health data for a specific time period. Use the arrow buttons at the top to move between periods, or swipe left/right on the dashboard.
Understanding Your Data
Each metric tile shows:
- Current value - The main number (total, average, or latest depending on metric type)
- Comparison - How this period compares to the previous one (e.g., "+500 steps" or "-2%")
- Trend indicator - Arrow showing if you're improving or declining
- Goal badge - If you've set a goal, shows your target and whether you've met it
Stat Types
Tap any metric tile to see detailed information and change how the value is displayed:
- Total - Sum of all values (great for steps, calories)
- Average - Mean value across the period (great for heart rate, weight)
- Average Per Day - Total divided by number of days
- Latest - Most recent measurement
- Min/Max - Lowest or highest value recorded
Layout Options
Choose how your metrics are displayed in Settings → Layout:
- Nerd - Full cards with trends and detailed comparison data
- Compact - Single-row cards showing just the value and icon
- Pairs - Compact cards displayed two per row
Managing Metrics
Available Metrics
Baseline supports 40+ health metrics across categories including:
- Activity - Steps, active calories, distance, exercise minutes
- Body - Weight, body fat %, BMI, lean body mass
- Vitals - Heart rate, resting HR, HRV, blood pressure, VO2 max
- Nutrition - Calories in, protein, water intake
- Sleep - Duration, quality, SpO2
- Mindfulness - Mindful minutes
Enable or Disable Metrics
- Go to the Settings tab
- Scroll to see all available metrics
- Toggle the switch next to any metric to enable/disable it
- Disabled metrics won't appear on your dashboards
Reorder Metrics
- Go to the Settings tab
- Find your enabled metrics list
- Press and hold on a metric, then drag it to your preferred position
- Release to drop it in place
Health Permissions
Some metrics may show a permission indicator if Baseline doesn't have access to that data type. Tap the metric to see options for granting permission, or update permissions in Settings → Privacy & Security → Health → Baseline.
Setting Goals
Goal Types
Baseline supports two types of goals:
- Single Target - A specific value you want to reach (e.g., 10,000 steps, 8 hours sleep)
- Range Goal - A minimum and maximum range (e.g., blood pressure between 90-120)
Create a New Goal
- Tap on any metric tile to open its detail view
- Tap "Set Goal" or the goal section
- Enter your target value
- Optionally set a start date and end date
- Tap Save
Advanced Goal Configuration
When creating or editing a goal, you can configure:
- Tolerance % - Allow some flexibility around your target. For example, a 10% tolerance on a 10,000 step goal means 9,000-11,000 steps counts as meeting your goal.
- Direction - Explicitly set whether higher or lower values are better. Baseline usually detects this automatically, but you can override it.
- Date Range - Schedule goals for specific periods. Want to increase your steps during a fitness challenge? Set a goal with start and end dates.
Edit or Delete a Goal
- Go to Settings → Goals
- Tap on the goal you want to modify
- Make your changes and tap Save, or tap Delete to remove it
Goal Display
When you have an active goal, you'll see:
- A goal badge on the metric tile showing your target
- A checkmark when you've met your goal
- Progress indication in the metric detail view
Creating Reports
Generate a Report
Reports give you a shareable snapshot of your health data for any period.
Create and Share a Report
- Navigate to the period you want to report on (Day, Week, Month, or Year)
- Tap the Share button at the top of the screen
- Review your report in the preview
- Tap Share to send via Messages, Email, save to Photos, or any other app
Report Contents
Reports automatically include:
- All your enabled metrics with their values
- Comparison to the previous period
- Goal status (if goals are set)
- For weekly/monthly/yearly reports: breakdown by sub-periods
Excluding Metrics from Reports
Don't want certain metrics in your report?
Exclude a Metric from Reports
- Tap on the metric tile to open its detail view
- Find the "Include in Reports" toggle
- Turn it off to exclude this metric from future reports
Adding Trends to Reports
Trends show how a metric has changed over the sub-periods within your report (e.g., daily values within a weekly report).
Enable Trend Display for a Metric
- Tap on the metric tile to open its detail view
- Find the "Show Trend" option
- Enable it to include trend visualization in reports
Report Formats
Reports can be shared as:
- Image - A beautifully styled image using your selected theme
- Text - Plain text format, great for copying into notes or messages
Themes & Appearance
Choosing a Theme
Baseline includes 20 beautiful themes to personalize your experience.
Change Your Theme
- Go to Settings
- Find the Appearance section
- Tap on a theme to preview it
- Your selection is saved automatically
Available Themes
Colorful Themes:
- Classic, Coastal, Warm Ember, Spectrum, Prism, Skywave, Sunrise, Twilight, Nebula, Aurora, Dusk, Meadow, Halo, Verdant, Tide, Bloom, Flux
Accessibility Themes:
- Color Safe - Deuteranopia - Optimized for red-green color blindness
- Color Safe - Protanopia - Alternative for red-green color blindness
- Color Safe - Tritanopia - Optimized for blue-yellow color blindness
- Color Safe - High Contrast - Maximum readability
Light & Dark Mode
Choose how Baseline appears:
- System - Follows your iPhone's appearance settings
- Light - Always use light mode
- Dark - Always use dark mode
Widgets
Available Widgets
Baseline offers several widgets for your Home Screen and Lock Screen:
Home Screen Widgets
- Energy Balance (Small) - Today's calorie deficit or surplus
- Steps (Small) - Today's step count
- TDEE (Small) - Total daily energy expenditure
- Baseline Daily (Medium) - All three metrics in one widget
Lock Screen Widgets
- Circular - Compact gauge showing one metric
- Inline - Text-based widget showing metric value
- Rectangular - Card showing multiple metrics
Add a Home Screen Widget
- Long-press on your Home Screen until apps jiggle
- Tap the + button in the top left
- Search for "Baseline" or scroll to find it
- Choose your preferred widget size
- Tap "Add Widget" and position it where you'd like
Add a Lock Screen Widget
- Long-press on your Lock Screen
- Tap "Customize"
- Select "Lock Screen"
- Tap the widget area above or below the time
- Find Baseline and choose a widget style
- Tap "Done" to save
Widget Updates
Widgets automatically refresh approximately every 15 minutes. They also update when you open the Baseline app. Widget data always shows today's metrics and uses your selected theme colors.
Custom Icons
Personalizing Metric Icons
Make Baseline truly yours by customizing the icon for any metric.
Change a Metric's Icon
- Tap on any metric tile to open its detail view
- Tap on the current icon or "Change Icon"
- Choose from SF Symbols (Apple's icon library) or Emoji
- Use the search bar to find specific icons
- Tap an icon to select it
Icon Options
- SF Symbols - Apple's comprehensive icon library, organized by category (health, fitness, objects, etc.)
- Emoji - Full emoji keyboard with search functionality
Frequently Asked Questions
This usually means Baseline doesn't have permission to access your health data. Go to Settings → Privacy & Security → Health → Baseline and make sure the data types you want to see are enabled.
Also check that you have data in Apple Health for those metrics. Baseline displays data from Apple Health - if there's no data there, there's nothing to display.
Tap on the Water metric tile to open its detail view. You'll see quick-add buttons for common amounts (250mL, 500mL, etc.) and a custom amount field. You can also backdate entries using the date picker. Water logged in Baseline is saved to Apple Health.
Free version includes:
- Daily dashboard
- Weekly dashboard
- Up to 6 metrics
Baseline Plus adds:
- Monthly and Yearly dashboards
- Unlimited metrics
- Full report sharing
- Trend analysis
Baseline allows you to mark specific days as fasting days. This helps provide context for your data - for example, explaining why calorie intake might be lower on certain days. Look for the fasting toggle in the daily view or metric detail screens.
This means there's no data in Apple Health for that metric during the selected time period. This could be because:
- You haven't recorded that type of data
- Your connected devices haven't synced
- The data exists but Baseline doesn't have permission to read it
Yes! Use the Share button on any dashboard to generate a report. You can share this as an image or text via Messages, Email, Notes, or any other app. Your data always stays in Apple Health - Baseline just helps you visualize and share it.
Widgets refresh approximately every 15 minutes. They also update whenever you open the Baseline app. Due to iOS limitations, widgets can't update in real-time, but they'll always show your latest data when they refresh.
Absolutely. Baseline processes all data locally on your device. Your health data is never uploaded to any server or shared with third parties. We don't have accounts, analytics, or tracking. Your data stays completely under your control. Read our Privacy Policy for more details.
Tap on any metric tile to open its detail view. You'll see buttons for different stat types (Total, Average, Latest, Min, Max). Tap the one you want - your preference is saved and will be used on the dashboard and in reports.
Baseline is currently designed for iPhone. HealthKit data is primarily available on iPhone, which is why Baseline focuses on providing the best iPhone experience. iPad and Mac support may be considered for future updates.
The trend arrow shows how your current value compares to the previous period:
- Up arrow (green) - Value increased, and that's good for this metric
- Down arrow (green) - Value decreased, and that's good for this metric
- Up arrow (red) - Value increased, but lower would be better
- Down arrow (red) - Value decreased, but higher would be better
The color depends on whether higher or lower is better for each specific metric. For example, more steps is good (green up), but higher resting heart rate might not be (red up).
If you've previously purchased Baseline Plus and need to restore it (e.g., on a new device), go to Settings within the app and look for the "Restore Purchases" option. This will check your App Store purchase history and reactivate your subscription.
Still Need Help?
We're happy to assist with any questions.
Contact Support