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.
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 trends. This is all unique to your heart rate averages and trends over time. If the gauge is in green (lower heart rate) you are well ahead of your trends, if in red (high heart rate) you are not doing well compared to your trends. You can compare 7 day and 21 day trends by tapping the icons below the gauge, so the gauge may move depending on your heart rate averages over that time period. Swipe the tile again to go back to the Daily badge view
Touch and hold the tile to go to the Dashboards view
Tapping the tile will go to the Daily View to see your daily heart rate readings (see Daily View 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)
Your daily heart rate zones will be split into a % for time spent in each of the elevated, high resting, resting, low and very low. This will also be reflected in the circle badge next to the % breakup
Scroll down the daily view to see the time spent in each heart rate zone for the day
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. The readings will start from your first waking pulse if you wear the Watch to bed, or when you put it on in the morning
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
Any sleep sessions will be seen as grey dots in the graph, heart rate measures during your sleep will not impact the daily readings and average. Refer to Sleep for detailed information on the recording your sleep
You will notice a little person icon to the right of the screen against each measurement, this acts a quick reference to the following:
Purple 'Sleeping' Person = shows you were asleep when the measurement is taken
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 trends/averages. If the gauge is in green you are well ahead of your trends, if in red you are not doing well compared to your trends. You can compare 7 day and 21 day trends by tapping the icons below the gauge. Swipe the tile again to go back to the Sedentary (current) view
Touch and hold the tile to go to the Dashboards view
Tapping the tile will go to the Sedentary View to see your daily heart rate readings (see Sedentary View 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, split into a % for time spent in each of the zones
You can scroll down the screen 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. If the gauge is in green you are well ahead of your trends, if in red you are not doing well compared to your trends. You can compare 7 day and 21 day trends by tapping the icons below the gauge. Swipe the tile again to go back to the Sleep (current) view
Touch and hold the tile to go to the Dashboards view
Tapping the tile will go to the Sleep View to see your sleep heart rate readings (see Sleep View 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. If the gauge is in green you are well ahead of your trends, if in red you are not doing well compared to your trends. You can compare 7 day and 21 day trends by tapping the icons below the gauge. Swipe the tile again to go back to the Recharge (current) view
Touch and hold the tile to go to the Dashboards view
Tapping the tile will go to the Sleep Recharge View to see your sleep heart rate readings (see Recharge View 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 standards when measuring your resting heart rate. This is automatically captured when you start to wake from sleep if using the HeartWatch sleep function or using our AutoSleep app
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. If the gauge is in green you are well ahead of your trends, if in red your waking pulse is high compared to your trends. You can compare 7 day and 21 day trends by tapping the icons below the gauge. Swipe the tile again to go back to the Waking (current) view
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. If the gauge is in green you are well ahead of your trends, if in red you are not doing well compared to your trends. You can compare 7 day and 21 day trends by tapping the icons below the gauge. Swipe the tile again to go back to the HRV (current) view
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 :
Wake up
Toilet if required
No coffee or food
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 classification of clinic blood pressure levels in adults from the Heart Foundation. Refer to the below table to see diagnostic categories used in HeartWatch:
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.
Use Watch Tiles
Some tiles rely on retrieving data from another source such as a thermostat for body temperature, so with HeartWatch we made the ability to be able to speak these measurements into your Watch. If no data exists for the current day, a handy little reminder shows how you can use the Watch App speak functionality to record the measurement. This applies only for Blood Pressure (am/pm) and Temperature, for example, if I say "34.7 degrees" into my Watch app, it will recognise it as a body temperature measurement and update the HeartWatch Temperature tile. Refer to the Speak section for more information.
Wellness Video
Try the following video which shows the basics for using the Wellness Tiles: