HeartWatch: Heart Rate Tracker

I love this app! Really, HeartWatch and the companion app AutoSleep are the best two apps I have found for the Apple Watch. I've used them every day/night for 6 weeks now. It has changed my habits almost overnight. It really is an essential app to monitor your health in the moment and over time, and for effortlessly changing your habits to improve your life. It's the bio feedback that we couldn't have dreamed of having such easy access to years ago (ok maybe I'm late to the game, I just got my Apple Watch, but I did own an expensive sports heart rate monitor that I only used a handful of times during workouts). I love how HeartWatch represents the data in various ways and the level of detail they have put into everything. Haven't done it yet but you can also export the data. Their documentation is great with a short explanation available on every screen to easily get you started (that you can make go away if you don't want to see it - I've kept it up), plus quick access to more in-depth explanations for those that want to know more.

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Among many of my cardiac issues, atrial fibrillation and supraventricular tachycardia are some of them. I have an AICD (pacemaker/defibrillator) and have almost died on multiple occasions due to my heart rate being high from activity, then going into SVT, putting me over my limit of 180bpm (last time I almost died my HR was 260bpm sustained) and my device auto-defibrillating me. It’s never been able to get me back into sinus rhythm so I just keep getting shocked until EMS arrives. The last time I was defibrillated 13 times in 7min. Fully awake and aware. Needless to say, I have debilitating/crippling anxiety and PTSD from this, especially in regards to my heart rate. This is the reason I purchased an Apple Watch and this app specifically; to track and alert me immediately of low/high heart rate. Some days I’ll get notifications 10min after the event occurred, 8 hours after the event occurred and a few times I haven’t gotten the notification until the next day! That does me no good whatsoever. I don’t know if it’s a problem with the app, the watch, or what, but I would really like it to be fixed. If the notification system worked properly this app would receive a 5-star review from me. Everything else about it I love. Unfortunately the main reason I purchased it is for immediate notification of high/low HR and it simply does not do that.

Now that I’ve had some time to use this app, it is a good app, but can be a little confusing. There is a boat load of information that it provides which be be helpful in keeping track of your heart rate. The only thing that really throws me off is their resting rate. They say the more blue is better, but that’s pretty much when you are basically doing nothing. Once you get up and move around or simply do your daily routine, the blue portion can quickly disappear with red and pink bans, kinda throws things out of whack. Other than that, it does a good job. Have been only using the app for a short while, but can already see where the information provided can be helpful for anyone needing to track their heart rate. The only question I have is I’ve noticed that when you start a exercise routine, it gives you a low and high BPM rate. It looks as though it is inserting the highest rate automatically into the results. Example, started a flexibility routine, program stating the highest BPM was 160 bpm. Before I ever began, it had inserted the 160bpm into the workout. Maybe I’m missing something, but that seems to alter the actual results for the workout.

It’s an app I continue to use more and more for the amount of detail it provides. I was diagnosed with paroxysmal AFIB in 2018 and bought the Apple Watch series 4 around Christmas 2018 for the EKG feature. The watch itself at this time does not automatically alert you of AFIB events but the personal indicators become evident. This app provides and most of all displays in great detail heart beat patterns leading up to, during and following an AFIB event. The sleep reports are also very detailed and have helped me stay on top of the rest I need. Seeing where and when you expend your energy is very informative. I’m not sure why the watch or apps don’t alert of AFIB events yet as they onset by I’d assume for legal obstruction reasons. They are definitely capable of changing patterns and documenting them. The app developers need to work on a cleaner complete document export feature. Apple apps are ALL weak in this area and it’s baffling to me as to why. Whether it’s the graphs or data entries it would be nice to export directly and completely to a pdf that could easily be shared or archived.

The app is full of information, but with so many screens and charts it takes some getting used to as far as figuring what is what. Missing (or at least I can't yet find it) is an easy graph or chart to view changes over weeks or months. It may be there, but like much of the information overloading this app, it is well hidden. Also, it strangely devalues the Apple Watch stand goal. True, it's the least interesting ring (for me) on the Apple Watch, but in the tracking history part of the app, standing is capped off at 12 hours. My watch might say 16 or 17, but the app never credits more than 12! This makes absolutely no sense, and is either a clear bug that needs fixing or another example of a user interface is need of simplification. The sleep app (an additional purchase) is interesting as an add-on, but it offers so little information it is a pricey upgrade. It would be better simply integrated into the main app rather than an additional money grab. Still, overall a good additional to the Apple Watch fitness family. FitBit still wins on ease of interface. Apple app developers still have a few things to learn when it comes to fitness tracking.