Top Tips

(Select your language using the flags below if required)

Tip 30 - Graph Size

When in the calendar/dashboards view, the size of the dashboard graph can be expanded or shrunk. It is personal preference as some users love a nice big graph, while other would prefer more room for the calendar days. You can switch between both once in the calendar/dashboards view by tapping the 'expand/shrink' icon in the top right corner.

Past Tips

Tip 29 - Recording Medications

A request we see from some users is how to best track a new medication they have been prescribed by their doctor, to monitor any changes to their heart rate.

Using a combination of Daily bpm alerts and notes on the Watch is a nice solution. HeartWatch will alert you based on your heart rate alert settings and you can then speak into the Watch to record a note which will also stamp the time and heart rate reading. All comments and measures are then accessible via your iPhone in the Journal tab, which you can easily show to your doctor or email an export:

Tip 28 - Touch and Hold

HeartWatch tiles on the Today tab can be touched and held to open additional information. By using a single finger, hold the touch on the screen for one second to trigger the action (also referred to as a force press). As seen in the example below, when I touch and hold the Daily tile it opens the Dashboards view, pre-loading and presenting all my Daily heart rate data and trends. Refer to Dashboards for information on exploring your trends.

Tip 27 - Refreshing Data

Your Apple Watch syncs data to your paired iPhone at various times during the day, but rather than wait for these syncs, HeartWatch allows a force sync that lets you get to the second information from your Watch. When on the Today view, just do a long swipe/pull down and hold and you will see some text appear with 'Release to Refresh', it may also prompt you pull down harder if required. Once you release your finger you will see the HeartWatch logo to indicate a refresh is in progress.

Tip 26 - Journal Exports

The whole intention of using notes in HeartWatch is to create your very own heart journal, to easily capture records from your Watch but also with the ability to easily add extra context. Just tap on the Journal tab and all your recorded metrics and journal entries will appear. You can even take it to the next step and export your journal entries in Settings.

Learn more about Journals here and Exporting here.

Tip 25 - Using HRV (Heart Rate Variability)

Using HeartWatch for HRV monitoring is a non-invasive way to figure out whats happening in your body, as it is sensitive to your stress and physical energy levels. A lot of our users measure their HRV from the Apple Watch while sleeping and use HeartWatch to monitor your daily state and changes on waking up. Keep in mind that HRV relies on your individual context, so be sure to read up on its application or consult a medical professional. Use the HRV tile on the Today tab to track your measures.

For more information, refer to the HRV tiles on the Wellness page.

Tip 24 - GPS Maps

If you use one of the following workout activities - Outdoor Run, Outdoor Walk, Outdoor Cycle or Outdoor Hiking, a GPS activation will show on your Watch when you start the workout using HeartWatch. Wait for the GPS to lock and then select Go. Once you finish and save the workout, a location map will be available to view from your Workout record in the iPhone app. This is selected by tapping the Location which will open a maps view.

For more information on using all the controls in maps, refer to the Workouts page.

Tip 23 - Pulse Graph on Watch Face

A very popular large rectangular pulse graph complication for those users wishing to see a current trend line for their Daily heart rate. This complication shows the last 3 hours. You can even select to show or hide workout heart rates in this complication. To do this, open the HeartWatch on the Watch and go into the Settings menu, you will see a setting called 'Hide Workout', if turned on it will hide workout heart rate plots. Below I have the workouts showing, notice the big peak of red!

Tip 22 - News Stories

Go into the News tab and tap into the Morning Briefing. This contains multiple health stories presented with a graphic and description and they are packed with information! Each story consists of a graphic that will show your trend line, average and current measurement. See below an example using the blood oxygen (SpO2) story. I can see my current measure, my average, my last 7 days trend and an indicator in one quick glance:

Tip 21 - Indoor Cycling Distance

For those who do indoor cycling workouts. One of the pains we found with indoor cycling was that unless you had a smart connected bike, the distance would always get missed! So we built a distance capture that you can input on your Watch after an indoor cycling session using HeartWatch, see below.

Tip 20 - Swiping Tiles

HeartWatch tiles on the Today screen can be swiped to display additional information, its just like flipping a card. Just use one finger on any tile to swipe left or right which will flip the tile. As you can see in this example below, I have swiped the Daily bpm tile to reveal the gauge and can now see the % change compared to my 7 day and 21 day averages. I can swipe back at any time or tap the all tile flip found in the top right (see below).

Tip 19 - Tomorrow's Forecast

For those tracking their activity with the HeartWatch recommended goal switch on, HeartWatch uses your trends to forecast what tomorrow looks like for you. It's super handy if you were planning a gym session, a walk, or even a more relaxed day. Just tap on the Today's Forecast tile on the Today tab in the Activity section and it will flip to show you Tomorrow's Forecast! Note that this will update during the day, so checking it in the evening before bed is usually the best indicator after a full days activity.

You can learn all about the unique HeartWatch recommended goals for activity here.

Tip 18 - QuickStarts using 'Touch & Hold' on the Watch App

A great shortcut option for starting workouts, adding notes or measures, simply touch and hold (force press) anywhere on the HeartWatch Watch app screen and the Quickstart options will appear. So you tap Workout to go directly into the Workout menu. See below, its very handy!

Tip 17 - Enter Quick Notes Using the Watch

Use the Watch app to make notes any time of the day. Open the HeartWatch app on your Watch, tap into Daily from the menu, click the side arrow and then tap the microphone icon in the bottom right corner. You then have a choice to type or tap the microphone again and speak the note into your Watch. HeartWatch will confirm this note and also stamp the time and heart rate reading. All comments and measures are then accessible via your iPhone in the Journal tab, which you can easily show to your doctor if required.

Tip 16 - Activity Rings

Depending on your goal level, the HeartWatch activity tiles including Move, Steps and Distance will look at your past and current trends and prescribe the appropriate zone, as decreasing your targets may be required to make sure you still improve your habit, but don't try break yourself every day. Follow your improvement zone by drilling into each of your activity tiles, or simply swipe the tiles from the Today view.

Tip 15 - Measuring Blood Oxygen/SpO2

The Blood Oxygen app on your Apple Watch will occasionally measure your blood oxygen levels if background measurements are on. This will usually happen when you are not moving. Depending on how active you are, the number of readings collected each day and the time between these readings will vary. Blood oxygen measurements use a bright red light that shines against your wrist. HeartWatch lets you view daytime SpO2 and Sleeping SpO2 on the Today tab.

An important tip to note is that blood oxygen measurements only occur during sleep if the 'Track Sleep with Apple Watch' setting is turned on. Refer to the SpO2 Setup page for more information on setting up.

Tip 14 - Compare Health Metrics

Did you know you can overlay different health metrics in the Dashboards view using the 'Touch to Pin' function? Dashboards can be opened from a number of places in HeartWatch, but when getting started the easiest way is to tap the calendar icon in the top left corner when on the Today view.

In this example I want to compare my Daily heart rate with my Weight over a 6 week period. While in the Dashboards view, I tap on the Wellness tab and then Daily bpm in the sub menu. You will then see links for 7D trend and 21D trend, I am going to tap on 7D trend to apply a 7 day rolling average line. You will then notice a link called 'Touch to Pin' appear, see below:

After selecting the 'Touch to Pin' which has locked the Daily bpm line, next we want to overlay the Weight measures. Tap on the Body tab and then tap on Weight in the sub menu. This will apply the Weight 7day trend line with the Daily bpm trend line, so I can easily see insights into what may be impacting the other (see the 2 lines below). Play around with different metrics and overlays over a longer time period, it is incredible what you can uncover with this feature.

Tip 13 - Recording Notes

Use the HeartWatch app on your Apple Watch to make and record notes any time of the day, no need to get the iPhone out! You can speak into the Watch app to record a note which will also stamp the time and heart rate reading. All comments and measures are then accessible via your iPhone in the Journal, which you can easily show to your doctor or email an export. To record a note using the Watch app:

Tip 12 - Show Last Displayed Screen

When you open the Watch app, you have the choice to open the last displayed screen when a complication is tapped instead of displaying the related function. For example, you may have the Steps Dial as a complication on your Watch face, but you would prefer it to open the last viewed screen which may be the Daily Pulse graph instead of going into the Steps screen each time. This gives you the option.

To setup, on the Watch app go into the Settings menu and scroll down until you see the 'Open Only' switch.

Tip 11 - Watch Complications

Complications are widget like displays on your Watch face. HeartWatch has an incredible array of customisable  complications to suit different Watches and different needs, all controlled through the Watch. Better yet, the complications act as shortcuts through to the function in HeartWatch. See the image below with reference to a couple special ones:

Activity & Date (see the top left complication) - its so annoying when you have to use up a complication just for a Date, so we combined one with Activity! The outer red one is for Move, the inner orange one is for Steps. The circles represent your progress towards your goal, a full circle being 100%.  The day and date of month display in the middle.

Pulse Graph (see middle complication) - a fantastic large rectangular graph complication for those users wishing to see a current trend line for their Daily heart rate. This complication shows the last 3 hours. You can see a large maximum dot and minimum dot indicating the high and low points.

Refer here for more information on setting up.

Tip 10 - Touch & Hold

HeartWatch tiles on the Today tab can be touched and held to open the Dashboards view. By using a single finger, hold the touch on the screen for one second to trigger the action (also sometimes referred to as a force press). As seen in the example below, when I touch and hold the Daily bpm tile it opens the Dashboards view, pre-loading and presenting all my Daily heart rate data and trends.

Tip 9 - Workouts Breakdown

On the Today tab under the Workouts section, you will see a 6 Week Breakdown graph.  This looks at all your recorded exercise sessions over the past 6 weeks, summarising the top 5 activity types. This is a fantastic view at a glance to easily understand your longer term progress across multiple exercises.

Under the pie graph you will see 3 options called 'Cals - Time - Load'. Tap on each one and the pie graph and % will update. 'Cals' is great for understanding your energy expenditure, 'Time' helps view the amount of duration and 'Load' provides insights on your training volume intensity.

Tip 8 - Journal Entries

The Journal tab is a bit like a diary entry about your health. The Journal can be found in the bottom Navigation bar by tapping the Journal tab (see below). This will show all notes entered from the Watch or those entered directly into the iPhone using HeartWatch for that day.

The Journal is primarily used for recording (1) notes and diary entries and (2) measurements on your vitals, such as weight and blood pressure. Any recording will then show in a running list view to allow you to easily see your history over time or navigate to the information you need.

Tip 7 - Adding Measures with Your iPhone

Using the Journal in the iPhone app lets you easily add key measurements like weight and blood pressure. Just open the HeartWatch app on your iPhone, go into the Journal tab, select the new icon and then 'Add a Measure'. You will then be presented with the following screen:

Tip 6 - Date Ranges

When in the Calendar looking at all your amazing information you have collected in HeartWatch, you can tap on the date period and it will drop down to give you additional options. You can filter the data between these periods: 6 Weeks; 3 Months; 6 Months; 9 Months and 12 Months. As soon as select an option, all graphs will automatically update super fast!

Tip 5 - Watch Quick Links

One of the best features on the Watch app is the ability to jump straight into a workout, take a measure or record a note. Just open HeartWatch on your Watch and 'press & hold' anywhere on the screen and you will see the Quick Links open. Just tap what you are after and away you go in no time at all! It looks like this:

Tip 4 - Turning Tiles On & Off

Did you know you can elect which tiles you would like to see on the Today tab? For example, if you have no need to see the Blood Pressure tile, just turn it off to free up your screen. 

To do this, open HeartWatch on your iPhone and go into Settings (its a little red cog in the top right of the screen), then tap on HeartWatch Tiles. We also added a shortcut on the Today view, just tap the 'Add/Remove Tiles' which is under the Wellness and Activity sections. It looks like this:

You can now see all the options available. Any items with a tick will show, those without a tick will be hidden. Just tap on each one to turn on or off as required.

Note: similar to the above, you can also add/remove story panels from the Morning Briefing in the News tab. Just scroll to the bottom of Morning Briefing and tap 'Add/Remove Stories'

Tip 3 - What Do The Colours Mean?

On the Today view, your Daily bpm, Sedentary bpm and Sleep bpm tiles will show a circle badge with coloured ring layers. These colours provide an easy glimpse to see how long your heart has spent in different zones. 

By default, HeartWatch uses the following colours and zones to present your regular heart rate data, both in heart badges and charts. It is generally understood that a regular resting heart rate is from 60-100 bpm though resting heart rates from 50-60 bpm are common amongst healthy individuals.

Tap on the tile and it will open the Details page, where you can see the breakup % of each heartrate zone including a  graph with all the measurements.

More information on badge colours can be found in the Glossary page.

Tip 2 - Just Talk to Enter Weight

Recently weighed yourself and want to record the measure? No need to grab your iPhone, just open HeartWatch on your Apple Watch and speak in the weight. It's that easy.

Note this also works for other metrics like body temperature, blood pressure, blood glucose, waist, blood oxygen and so on, but for this example we will use body weight.

Steps to record your Weight using your Watch:

To follow your Weight over time:

Learn more about using Speak here, or you can always still use the Journal on the iPhone to enter key metrics.

Tip 1 - Using Heart Rate Recovery

Tracking your Heart Rate Recovery is a great feature for monitoring your pulse drop over a controlled time, as it is a very good indicator of fitness. 

Steps to Perform a Recovery Measure:

Note your heart rate has to be slightly elevated to perform a 2min recovery reading, your watch will notify you if too low to record a measurement. Refer to the Workouts section to discover more about the recovery ratings.

Home or next topic - Whats New