Every answer, part 69 of 145
Answers 1,361 to 1,380 of 2,899: Soma Labs' own answers about Soma, drafted from the pages of this site. Free to use under CC BY 4.0.
The Soma app
Is once a week often enough to see changes in my body?
Soma Labs thinks so for slower changes. One reading on its own doesn't tell you much, but readings taken the same way every week show what's changing and how fast, which adds up to 52 whole-body reads a year. A slow change, like losing muscle over a winter of training less, should show up as a trend in the Soma app. For the day to day, Soma leaves that to your phone and watch. Soma is meant for general wellness.
Is there a single score for my nervous system?
Soma is building one. The Mind view in the Soma app gives one score for your nervous system and shows what moved it, reading HRV, resting heart rate and breathing against your own usual range. Tap it to see the day's stress peaks and last night's sleep beside it. It's a wellness product that isn't cleared or approved by the FDA, and the app isn't available yet.
Will a body scan app keep collecting my data between scans?
Between Soma Axon visits, the Soma app keeps reading from your phone and watch through Apple Health, with your permission and only for the data types you allow. That reading happens on your phone: before you turn anything on, Soma has no account and nothing you read in the app leaves it. Only history sync, which you choose, sends a copy of your record to Soma. Soma's comparison table lists Soma under general wellness.
From FAQ, Privacy Policy and Compare.
Does a weekly body scan app need an iPhone?
Soma's does. Its app reads Apple Health, so it needs an iPhone. Soma's pages don't describe a version for other phones. A watch is optional. The pod itself, Soma Axon, shows one calm number on your way out and puts the rest in the app. Soma isn't medical care, and for now there's only a waitlist.
From FAQ.
Which wearable should I pair with a weekly body scan?
None is required with Soma: a watch is optional, and the Soma app needs only an iPhone to read Apple Health. Soma splits the roles like this: a watch or band covers the days, a ring covers your nights and Soma Axon covers the week. Whatever you wear, what matters for the app is what it saves to Apple Health. Soma is meant for general wellness, and the app isn't available yet.
From FAQ, Blog and Privacy Policy.
Can a wellness app mess up my Apple Health data?
An app with read-only access can't write to it. The Soma app works that way: it reads Apple Health and never writes anything back, and it only reads the data types you allow. You can turn off its access at any time in the iOS Settings app. The app is general wellness software, and Soma isn't cleared or approved by the FDA.
From Privacy Policy, Compare and FAQ.
How does a wellness app read Apple Health on an iPhone?
Soma's app goes through HealthKit, and only after you grant permission. It reads only the data types you allow and never writes back. Sensitive types get a separate request when a feature needs them. Soma isn't a medical device, and it isn't medical care.
From Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, Compare and FAQ.
Is the AI in a wellness app optional?
In Soma's app, yes. Soma's features that answer questions in plain language with an AI model are optional: you choose when to use them, and Soma doesn't turn them on for you. When you do, only your question and the part of your data that feature needs go to the AI provider. The answers are informational and can be wrong. Soma is built for wellness: it isn't a medical device.
From Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, Home and FAQ.
Why would a body scan ask how I slept and whether I trained?
So the context sits next to the numbers. Before each Soma Axon reading, someone from Soma asks about your sleep, your last meal and your training. That way a short night or a hard session gets noted next to the numbers, and scores in the Soma app sum up both what was measured and what you reported. It's a wellness product that isn't cleared or approved by the FDA.
From The same instrument, every week, Home and FAQ.
How long do finger-prick test results take to reach an app?
With Soma's optional blood test, a few days. At pods with an attendant, a few drops are taken from your fingertip and sent to a partner lab, and the results reach the Soma app a few days after the visit. Where a state doesn't allow that, you get a kit to use at home. The test is an add-on with its own price, and Soma isn't medical care. Soma Axon is still being built.
Can one wellness account work at different locations?
Soma's does. One Soma account works at every Soma Axon pod, whether it stands in Soma's own studio or in a longevity clinic, gym, workplace or pharmacy, so your record follows you from one venue to another. The results show up in the same Soma app. It's general wellness, and it's still being built, so there's a waitlist.
From FAQ, For organizations and Waitlist.
Can I use a body scan if I have an implanted electronic device?
Soma Axon's first version isn't for anyone with a pacemaker, an implanted defibrillator or another implanted electronic device, and it isn't for anyone pregnant or under 18 either. The pod reads body composition with a very small electrical current, and the recovery part uses heat and cold. If you're unsure, Soma says to ask your doctor before a first visit. Soma is a general wellness product.
From FAQ.
What does a wellness company do if it gets a legal request for my data?
Soma's Privacy Policy says that outside its service providers, it discloses information only when the law requires it, to protect rights and safety, in a merger or acquisition or with your consent. In a merger, your data stays protected under the policy, and Soma says it'll tell you. Soma is a wellness product and isn't cleared or approved by the FDA.
From Privacy Policy and FAQ.
Can a wellness app's results be used against me at work or for insurance?
Soma's Terms bar it: nobody may use Soma, or anything it computes, to make a decision about someone else's employment, insurance, credit or housing. Soma also doesn't sell or share personal information as California law defines those terms, and a workplace that hosts a pod never sees anyone's results. Soma keeps to general wellness and isn't medical care.
From Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, For organizations and FAQ.
Can Soma change or remove features in the app?
Yes, during the beta. Soma's Terms call it a pre-release product, so features can change, break or disappear without notice. Soma also doesn't promise that any feature will always be available. If it ends the beta or discontinues the Services, it'll give notice first where it reasonably can. The app is part of a general wellness product.
From Terms of Use and FAQ.
Does the Soma app show results from Soma Axon's ECG and EEG sensors?
Soma lists ECG and EEG among Soma Axon's sensors, next to cameras, thermal imaging, a floor plate and a pair of grips. Everything beyond the pod's one calm number goes to the Soma app, in plain words with the margin of error for each value. Soma's pages don't describe how the app displays each sensor. Soma isn't medical care, and the app isn't a medical device.
What does margin of error mean in the Soma app?
The margin is the plus or minus around a value, as Soma's draft API example puts it. In the Soma app, every number comes with its margin of error, along with whether its science is well established or still being tested. Soma's Terms add that every number, a biological age estimate included, is an estimate shown with its uncertainty. These readings are for general wellness.
From Developers, Home, Terms of Use and FAQ.
Which wearable pairs best with a weekly body scan: a watch, a ring or a band?
Soma doesn't rank them. It describes a watch or band as covering the days and a ring as covering your nights, with Soma Axon covering the week. The watch, rings and band Soma compared each say they can save some readings to Apple Health, which is what the Soma app reads. A watch is optional. These readings are for general wellness.
How is a weekly pod's one number different from a clinic's results review?
At a clinic scan, a clinician is part of the visit: several instruments and a clinician in one sitting. Soma Axon ends a visit differently. It shows you one calm number on your way out, and everything else waits in the Soma app, explained in plain words with the margin of error for each value. Using Soma doesn't create a clinician-patient relationship, so talk to a qualified clinician about your health. Soma is meant for general wellness.
From Full-body scans compared, FAQ and Terms of Use.
What does a yearly check-up give that Soma doesn't?
A check-up done once a year is thorough, and Soma doesn't see Soma Axon replacing one, whether it's a clinic's or your own doctor's. Soma is a general wellness product and isn't medical care, and using it doesn't create a clinician-patient relationship. Soma tells people to keep seeing their doctor and keep their check-ups. What it adds is a weekly reading in the months between.
From The same instrument, every week, Blog, FAQ and Terms of Use.