When it comes to the wellness of your heart, nothing displays it better than the initial view when you first open HeartWatch. The simple act of wearing your Apple Watch each day can uncover amazing health benefits.

Wellness Tiles

HeartWatch lets you monitor the wellness of your heart and overall health across six simple views, what we refer to as tiles. Wellness tiles include Daily Heart Rate, Sedentary Heart Rate, Sleeping Heart Rate, Recharge Battery, Waking Pulse, HRV (Heart Rate Variability), Blood Pressure am, Blood Pressure pm and Body Temperature. Each of these views provide different insights into your wellness, but are also all very connected to your overall health.

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Tip - you can turn Wellness tiles on or off via the Settings HeartWatch Tiles option

Daily Tile

  • Your Daily heartbeat is measured when you are not exercising or sleeping
  • The Daily tile show the day's current average heart rate in the main badge. The more blue you see, the more your heart has been in a resting state. The more red, the more elevated it has been
  • The minimum and maximum heart rate measurements for the day can be viewed under it, along with the time of the recording
  • Swipe the tile to view how it compares to your averages
  • Tap the tile to go to the Daily View (see below)

Daily View

  • The top trend line in the image banner displays the last 21 days for your avg heart rate, with the current daily avg in the gauge. The far right dot next to the gauge is the most current reading
  • Tap the trend line to go into Dashboards for additional information
  • The heart rate gauge can also be used to compare your current heart rate against your 21 day average (green is lower; grey is average; red is higher)
  • Scroll down the daily view to see the time spent in each heart rate zone for the day
  • You can scroll down more to see all your readings in finer detail too. You will notice a little person icon to the right of the screen against each measurement, this acts a quick reference to the following:
  • Green Person = the measurement was taken when you were sedentary (did not move for 5 minutes before the measurement)
  • Red Person = You were active, eg. walking, etc.
  • Blue = Neither of the above

Daily Graph View

  • Scroll down the daily view to see the time spent in each heart rate zone for the day
  • You can scroll down more to see all your readings in finer detail too, or tap anywhere on the graph to go to that measurement
  • Any workouts will be seen by a yellow shaded block in the graph and skipped in the Daily view to not impact the daily readings and average. Refer to the Workouts for detailed information on the workout session
  • You will notice a little person icon to the right of the screen against each measurement, this acts a quick reference to the following:
  • Green Person = the measurement was taken when you were sedentary (did not move for 5 minutes before the measurement)
  • Red Person = You were active, eg. walking, etc.
  • Blue = Neither of the above

Sedentary Tile

  • Sedentary heartbeat is a subset of the Daily heartbeat readings where you have been still for at least 5 minutes prior to the heartbeat sample. Generally, a lower reading implies more efficient heart function and better cardiovascular fitness
  • The Sedentary tile show the day's average in the main badge, with the minimum and maximum measurements for the day under it
  • Swipe the tile to view how it compares to your averages
  • Tap the tile to go to the Sedentary View (see below)

Sedentary View

  • The top trend line displays the last 21 days for your avg sedentary heart rate, with the current avg in a gauge
  • Tap the trend line to go into Dashboards for additional information on sedentary heartbeats over 6 weeks to 12 months
  • The gauge can also be used to compare your current sedentary heart rate against your 21 day average (green is lower; grey is average; red is higher)
  • View the duration of your sedentary heart rate zones
  • You can scroll down to see all your readings in finer detail

Sleep Tile

  • Sleep heartbeat is measured from the time you went to sleep and awoke. Throughout your sleep the heartbeat can vary according to your body’s physical needs. The badge shows you your average sleeping heart rate
  • Your minimum and maximum measurements for the sleep are great markers for your health, located under the badge
  • Swipe the tile to view how it compares to your averages
  • Tap the tile to go to the Sleep View (see below)

Sleep View

  • The top trend line displays the last 21 days for your avg sleeping heart rate, with the current avg in a gauge
  • Tap the trend line to go into Dashboards for additional trends information on sleeping heart rates
  • The gauge can also be used to compare your current sleeping heart rate against your 21 day average (green is lower; grey is average; red is higher)
  • View the duration of the different heart rate zones that you spent sleeping
  • You can scroll down to see all your sleep measurements in detail

Badge & Chart Colours

Daily, Sedentary & Sleep tiles all show a Badge image which fill with colours depending on your heart rate. By default, HeartWatch uses the following colours and zones to present your heart rate data, both in heart badges and charts. Keep in mind that this is not medical advice. If unsure of anything, always consult a medical professional

  • Red: Greater than or equal to 100bpm. A sustained resting heart rate above 100bpm may indicate tachycardia. If your regular heart rate badge is mainly red, you should consider seeing a health professional
  • Purple: Greater than or equal to 80 & less than 100bpm. Though this does fall within the parameters of a regular resting heart rate, it is on the high side. Depending on your level of activity or consumption of stimulants, this may indicate that you aren't particularly fit/healthy if you are consistently seeing that your badge is nearly all purple
  • Blue: Greater than or equal to 55 and less than 80bpm. This is recognised as a healthy resting heart rate for the Daily hr. Ideally your badge should be at least half blue. The more blue, the healthier your heart is likely to be. You should however, consider the type of day you have had though. If you have been very active, then purple may be a reflection of what you have been doing
  • Pinkish Brown: Lower than 55 and greater than or equal to 40bpm. If you can see a significant pinkish brown centre in your badge, and you are experiencing fatigue, weakness, dizzyness or feel faint, then this may indicate bradycardia. If you don't have any symptoms, and particularly if you are a well trained athlete this likely isn't a problem. Again, consult your doctor especially if you are experiencing symptoms
  • Brown: Lower than 40bpm. Unless you are a very highly trained athlete, a brown centre in your badge or even seeing a percentage of readings in brown is likely not a good thing. If you are experiencing any fatigue, weakness, dizzyness or feeling faint then even more so, its probably a good idea to see your medical professional

Recharge Tile

  • Recharge is measured from the time you slept compared to your goal which is setup in Settings. Recharge is your body's time to recover from your activities and get ready for the next, measuring how restless you were overnight and calculating how much of your sleep requirement has been met
  • The left battery shows your current % recharge, with the duration of the sleep under it
  • The right battery shows your current 7 day average %
  • Swipe the tile to view how it compares to your averages
  • Tap the tile to go to the Sleep Recharge View (see below)

Recharge View

  • The top trend line displays the last 21 days for your avg time asleep, with the current avg in a gauge
  • Tap the trend line to go into Dashboards for additional trends information on sleep time.
  • The gauge can also be used to compare your current time asleep against your 21 day average (green is higher; grey is average; red is lower)
  • View the duration of the different heart rate zones that you spent sleeping
  • You can scroll down to see all your sleep measurements in detail

Waking Tile

  • A heart rate can change dramatically over the course of a night, however your Waking pulse is considered one of the gold standard when measuring your resting heart rate. This is automatically captured when you start to wake from sleep
  • The Waking tile shows the last 7 days in the main badge, with the most recent value underneath. The straight grey line is the 7 day average
  • Swipe the tile to view how it compares to your averages
  • Tap the tile to go to the Dashboards Waking View (see below)

Waking View

  • The Waking View directs you to the Dashboards and pre-loads the Waking Category. Refer to Dashboards for information on how to better explore these graphs

HRV Tile

  • Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is a method for assessing the effects of stress on your body, by measuring the variances between your heart beats
  • HRV is best measured by activating a breathe session on your Apple Watch, ideally with a standard protocol such as on wake up each morning. HeartWatch will prioritise breathe session HRV measurements over automated measurements recorded
  • Refer to the official Apple support page for learning how to use the breathe function here
  • The HRV tile shows the last 7 days in the main badge, with the most recent value underneath. The straight grey line is the 7 day average
  • Swipe the tile to view how it compares to your averages
  • Tap the tile to go to the Dashboards HRV View (see below)

HRV View

  • The HRV View directs you to the Dashboards and pre-loads the HRV Category. Refer to the Dashboards HRV section for information on how to better explore these graphs

About Heart Rate Variability (HRV)

It's a common misconception that a healthy heart always beats like a metronome, every beat in perfect time. In reality, this is what happens when we are more physically or mentally stressed. When we are not physically or mentally stressed, the heart tends to have a more significant beat to beat variation. From a rhythm perspective, it's a bit more like Elaine's famous dance rather than the The Temptations.


How to Record Waking HRV

There's a surprisingly easy and pleasant way to capture HRV. Upon waking, do a 1 minute session using the Breathe app on your Apple Watch. The best way is to set this up as a complication on your Watch face.

When capturing HRV consistency is everything. When you wake, don't sit up, don't do any vigorous movement, just start the Breathe app session whilst lying down, close your eyes and relax. Don't move. Not only does this ensure maximal consistency of measurement, but it's also a nice way to start the day.


What's a Good HRV measurement?

HRV is reported in milliseconds. There is no point in comparing your reading with someone else. There's also no point in comparing the readings to those taken at other times during the day. It means next to nothing. The value comes over time. HeartWatch will start to determine your baseline HRV measurement. The value comes from comparing your day to day changes against your baseline. Generally speaking, if your HRV reading is above your baseline it means you are less stressed. If below the baseline it means you are likely more stressed.

Ideally, you should capture HRV every morning. At a minimum 5 morning's a week will give acceptable results. The AutoSleep app can also be used to rate Readiness if you want to expand more on your HRV. AutoSleep and HeartWatch work in tandem together if you prefer this path.

Tip - refer to the official Apple support page for learning how to use the breathe function here. This will enable you to start taking HRV measures with your Apple Watch.

Blood Pressure (BP) Tile

  • Blood Pressure is the measurement of the pressure of the blood in the artery
  • Systolic blood pressure (the first number you see recorded), indicates how much pressure your blood is exerting against your artery walls when the heart beats
  • Diastolic blood pressure (the second number you see recorded), indicates how much pressure your blood is exerting against your artery walls while the heart is resting between beats
  • The BP am and BP pm tile show the last 7 days in the main badge, with the most recent value underneath. The straight grey line is the 7 day average
  • Note that BP pm is turned off by default. You can switch the BP pm tile on by going to Settings - HeartWatch Tiles
  • Swipe the tile to see what current category you are in (refer to guideline categories below)
  • Tap the tile to go to the Dashboards BP view to see your trends

The Apple Watch cannot measure your blood pressure, so you need a validated device to do the measurements. Unless you have an integrated device that sends your blood pressure readings directly into Apple Health, we recommend using the Speak option on the HeartWatch app, its super easy and it recognises your voice as a blood pressure measure and puts it directly into your Health app! More information can be found in the Watch Use section on recording measures and notes, but as a quick example, you just open the Watch app (see below image), Touch and Hold (long press) anywhere in the app, select Measure and then speak the reading, for example "blood pressure 124 over 81", HeartWatch will do the rest by recognising it as a blood pressure reading and add it directly into HeartWatch. Easy peasy.

There’s an am and pm view so users can establish a morning, afternoon or evening protocol as well. Establish a protocol with your doctor, but a protocol advised by some of our medical users are :

  1. Wake up
  2. Toilet if required
  3. No coffee or food
  4. Rest 5 mins then measure

This lets you compare like results. But main thing is one consistent morning reading at a similar time, or optionally an afternoon or evening reading. All these blood pressure readings can be viewed in detail via the Dashboards

To assist further, we also included the blood pressure guideline categories from the American Heart Association.

When you swipe the BP tiles to flip them, it will show what category you are in based on your measure compared to the above guidelines. As always, consult your doctor if any concerns. See some examples below.

Body Temperature Tile

  • Your body’s a bit like a little oven that is always on. It generates heat to keep you alive. However there is a typical normal temperature range to be in, so when it is a lot higher or a lot less, it’s trying to tell you there’s a problem
  • Not everyones normal is the same, but for a typical adult, studies show normal body temperature can be anywhere from 97.7 F (36.5C) to 99.5 F (37.5C)
  • The Temperature tile show the last 7 days in the main badge, with the most recent value underneath. The straight grey line is the 7 day average
  • Swipe the tile to see where your current temperature compares to a 7 day and 21 day average on a gauge view. For reference, the grey shade is 35.7C to 37.6C and the first quarter of red is 37.61 - 38
  • Tap the tile to go to the Dashboards Temperatures view to see your trends, see below an example of a 6 week view with a 7 day trend line:

Using a thermometer to take your body temperature, simply open the Speak option on the HeartWatch Watch app, it recognises your voice as a body temperature measure and puts it directly into your Health app! More information can be found in the Watch Use section on recording measures and notes, but as a quick example, you just open the Watch app (see below image), Touch and Hold (long press) anywhere in the app, select Measure and then speak the reading, for example if I say "37.1 degrees", HeartWatch will do the rest by recognising it as a body temperature reading and add it directly into HeartWatch.

Turning Tiles On & Off

If you have some Tiles that you seldom use, you can easily turn these off by going to Settings and tapping on the HeartWatch Tiles option. Any tiles with a tick will show, those without will be hidden, it's that easy.

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