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Stories abound of people whose lives were saved by wearing an Apple Watch. Some of the stories involve people using their Apple Watch to call emergency services. Many stories are about people being alerted to heart conditions from the Apple Watch.
But do you know how Apple Watch can help you discover heart issues? Do you know how to find information about your heart rate using Apple Watch?
How Apple Watch Measures Heart Rate
Apple Watch measures a user’s heart rate about every 10 minutes while resting, every minute during a workout, and in real time when the heart app is open on the Watch. Your heart rate will also be measured for three minutes after you finish a workout to measure your recovery heart rate.
Infrared and LED lights on the back of the Watch shine on the skin, and sensors detect the blood flow through your wrist while your heart rate is being measured.
The Watch then records your heart rate and keeps a history of that information, both on the Watch and on your paired iPhone. By using your Watch and your phone, you can see historic information about your heart rate, heart rate variability, resting heart rate, walking heart rate and more.
You can also get alerts when your resting heart rate exceeds a certain level.
Resting Heart Rate Alerts
Beginning with WatchOS 4 last fall, wearers of the Apple Watch can get an alert when their resting heart rate goes above a certain number. The default heart rate is 120 beats per minute (bpm), but you can change that number.
On your phone, open the Watch app. In the My Watch section, scroll down and tap Heart Rate. You’ll see that the Apple Watch will give a notification if your heart rate goes over 120 bpm when you are inactive for over 10 minutes.
The Watch will send a notification when your heart rate exceeds that level for over 10 minutes when you’re inactive. So if you’re active, or are using the Workout app, you won’t see a notification if your heart rate exceeds 120 bpm. Also, if your heart rate is temporarily elevated by a scary scene in a movie or an amusement park ride, you should not see a notification.
You can change the number of beats per minute you want to trigger a notification. Tap the number of beats per minute on this screen to choose a different number of beats per minute to get a notification from your Apple Watch.
This alert is available on all models of Apple Watch, other than the original model, and for Watches and iPhones that have been updated to Watch OS 4 and iOS 11, respectively.
This video tells a story of how this Apple Watch alert saved one person’s life, even before the alerts were available on the Watch:
How to Measure Your Real-Time Heart Rate on the Apple Watch
To see what your current heart rate is, open the Heart Rate app on the Apple Watch. Press the Digital Crown (the round button) and look for the heart icon.
Tap on the heart to open the Heart Rate app. You’ll see your current heart rate as well as the previous recorded heart rate.
Setting the Heart Rate App as a Complication on the Apple Watch
If you’re interested in monitoring your heart rate more closely with the Apple Watch you may want to set the Heart Rate app as a complication so it’s readily available every time you look at your Watch.
With this complication you can see the last recorded heart rate and tap the complication to open the Heart Rate app to measure your current heart rate.
Press and hold your watch face to adjust your complications. Note that not all watch faces allow the Heart Rate app to be a complication. If the watch face you’re using doesn’t allow it, swipe through the faces to find one that does.
The Activity watch faces all allow the Heart Rate app as a complication.
Viewing Your Heart Rate Information on the Apple Watch
On the Apple Watch you can see your heart rate throughout the day by opening the heart rate app. Tap on a section to see a graph of your heart rate today. Scroll through to see other heart rate data from today.
If you use the Workout app to track your exercise, open it on your Watch to see the average heart rate and the range during your most recent workout.
Viewing Your Heart Rate History on the iPhone
The iPhone also has information about your heart rate recorded by your Apple Watch. Heart rate information can be found in two different apps on your iPhone.
Health App
Open the Health app on your phone and tap Today in the bottom menu bar. There you will see a record of your activity for the day. At the bottom of the screen is heart information.
Tap on the Heart section to see information about your heart rate for today.
A graph will show your heart rates for the day. You can tap the sections below the graph to see information about your overall heart rate, resting heart rate, walking heart rate and more. Tap the i in each section to get more information about that section.
The Health app shows the history of your heart rate since you started using the Apple Watch. You can view the graph by day, week, month and year to get a record of your heart rate over time.
Important => While you’re in the Health app, be sure to fill out your Medical ID information so first responders can learn your medical history if you’re unable to tell them.
Learn more at: ICE: How the Apple Health App May Save Your Life
Activity App
If you use the Workout app on your Apple Watch, you can see a record of your heart rate during your workouts using the Activity app on your iPhone.
Open the Activity app and tap on a date you used the Workout app on your Apple Watch. You’ll see information about your activity for the day, including achievements, steps taken, distance moved, flights climbed and more.
Tap on the Workouts section to reveal a graph of your heart rate during the workout.
Swipe the graph to see another graph of your heart rate recovery after the workout.
You can share this information with others by tapping the sharing icon at the top of the screen.
Apple Heart Study
Apple has joined with Stanford University to study how the Apple Watch can detect irregular heart rhythms. If you have an iPhone 5 or later and an Apple Watch (other than the original model), you can sign up to participate in the study.
Find out more about the Apple Heart Study at the Apple Heart Study website.
Your Thoughts
Did you know the ways you could monitor your heart rate using the Apple Watch app? Have you ever checked your heart rate on the Apple Watch? Did you know you could see the history of your heart rate on the Apple Watch? Did you know you could get an alert about an elevated heart rate from the Apple Watch?
Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!
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*Apple Watch Sensor image courtesy of Yasunobu Ikeda
Hello
Carolyn,
I don’t have an apple watch, but here you have provided great tips to check heart rate with the help of apple watch. I also check heart rate using some Android apps and sensor of smartphone and I think both Apple watch and Andriod apps works on the same process to check the heart rate.
Thanks for sharing.
Have a great day ahead.
Praveen verma
Hi Praveen, Yes, people who wear an Apple Watch may not be aware of the many sources for information about their heart rate. Both the Apple Watch and iPhone have helpful data on heart rate, but some people may not know it’s there.
Hello, Most importantly – how accurate is the heart-rate reading on the Apple Watch compared to a traditional strap when exercising? Optical readings on sports watches vary from excellent (Mio and TomTom) when running to fairly poor (Fitbit Surge)”.
Thank you for your sharing. I m waiting for your next article.
Hi Bala, Great question. According to a recent study by developers of the Cardiogram app and the University of California at San Francisco, the Apple Watch is 97% accurate at detecting abnormal heart rhythm of users. Study Confirms Apple Watch Can Detect Abnormal Heart Rhythm With 97% Accuracy.
one good reason i like this post is that heart problem and attack in rampact now and is one of the leading killer of adult now.
Hi Akinola, Yes, the Apple Watch has saved lives by alerting people when their resting heart rate rises above 120 bpm. People also can find out much more information about their heart rates by using the Apple Watch.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, Akinola.
Great guide. But I need to get Apple Watch first. 😛
Hi Jayce, I’m glad you enjoyed this article. Yes, there are many reasons to get an Apple Watch, but if you’re interested in tracking your heart rate then you should know there are many ways to do it with the Apple Watch.
Its nice way to tells us about the Apple watch functionality. but somehow i feels that these rays will cause us harm in long run. i’m not sure about it but that’s the way i feels about it.
Hi Jack, I haven’t heard any news about these lights shining on skin being harmful to people. But you have an interesting perspective. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, Jack.