Your Apple Watch can count the number of times your heart beats per minute. But the data you get from the built-in heart rate monitor app may not be as in-depth enough for you.
So if you want to see more heart stats than just your BPM when resting or working out, get one of the third-party apps that can get you the data you want to see.
Best Apps That Monitor Heart Rate on Apple Watch
The best heart rate monitor apps you can use on your Apple Watch and iPhone are Cardiogram, Kardia, Qardio Heart Health, Heart Watch, Heart Analyzer, and Welltory.
1. Cardiogram Heart IQ
Cardiogram goes beyond calculating every beat your heart makes each second. It uses your HR trend’s data to evaluate the condition of your heart and then it gives you personalized suggestions you can use to take care of your cardiovascular health.
Heart IQ allows you to:
- Monitor your heart rate in real time and see every piece of information collected by your Apple Watch.
- Determine whether you’re at risk of irregular heartbeat, abnormal blood pressure, and sleep apnea.
- Interact with color-coded charts of significant health data and set customized notifications for high and low heart rate readings.
- Connect with Apple Health, see your ECG readings and blood pressure data, and use this information to understand your overall health.
Furthermore, Cardiograph Heart IQ has high quality in app content that provides helpful tips you can use to enhance your heart’s health.
2. Kardia
Kardia monitors your heart rate in real-time, it detects indications of irregular heartbeat, and it identifies abnormalities such as an excessively lower and an extremely higher heart rate.
If Kardia detects any abnormality, it immediately sends an alert to your Apple Watch, so you can take the necessary action such as performing a breathing exercise to regulate your heartbeat.
Kardia allows you to share your readings with your doctor for further evaluation and assistance. This feature is particularly useful if you have a heart condition or other health problems.
Additionally, Kardia is compatible with Apple Health, so you can connect the apps and get a combined overview of different and significant metrics.
3. Qardio Heart Health
Get Qardio Heart Health if you’re looking for an easy to use app. Record up to 7 unique metrics, including body composition, temperature, and blood pressure.
Open Qardio Heart Health on your Apple Watch and tap the green Start button to monitor your heart rate. The app will use the onboard optical sensor to record your data. It also uses the SpO2 sensor to measure your blood oxygen levels.
What I love about Qardio Heart Health is how it presents data. It gives you access to your stats and trends in smart charts, so you have a clear visualization of your heart’s health.
There’s also a share feature, which allows you to send your metrics to your doctor for comprehensive medical advice. If you like, share the same data with family and friends to let them know your heart is in good condition.
4. Heart Watch
Heart Watch gives you daily health briefings based on heart rate, heart rate variability, blood oxygen, and blood pressure data collected by your Apple Watch.
It also offers a detailed ECG analysis, detailed HR trends and patterns, and an early detection of heart rate abnormalities to help you keep your health in check.
You can connect Heart Watch with other apps such as Eclipse Yourself, Auto Sleep, and Training Today and view all your health and fitness data in one place. Then, you can analyze this data to get a comprehensive understanding of your overall well-being.
5. Heart Analyzer
Heart Analyzer connects with Apple Health to access your stats and then presents this information in easy to interpret charts.
You’ll love Heart Analyzer because it gives you access to an easy to navigate dashboard packed with comprehensive health information. Plus, it uses your Apple Watch’s SpO2 sensor to calculate your blood oxygen saturation.
Additional data in Heart Analyzer include heart rate variability, blood pressure, heart rate recovery, ECG, heart rate zones, and heart rate calibration.
Heart Analyzer will notify you if it detects an irregular heartbeat, in which case you’ll need do some breathing exercises to regulate your heart rate.
6. Welltory Heart Rate Monitor
Welltory pack a lot of health information in one place, giving you in-depth insights into your overall health, fitness, and lifestyle.
The Welltory app uses Apple Watch’s optical sensor to monitor heart rate. And it goes as far as to provide you with helpful sleep analytics and blood pressure interpretations.
You can take advantage of pre-installed breathing exercises in stressful situations to lower your stress levels and get your heart beating normally again.
Additionally, you can use your average heart rate to maximize your performance and see how each workout affects your recovery.
How Does Apple Watch Monitor Heart Rate?
Apple Watch monitors heart rate using a combination of sensors and rules.
The green LED lights paired with light-sensitive photodiodes flash hundreds of times a second to determine the amount of blood flow in your body.
Photoplethysmography monitors the increase and decrease of blood flow between heartbeats, allowing your Apple Watch to measure your heart rate reliably.
Your Apple Watch then analyzes the data collected by photodiodes and photoplethysmography algorithmically. The algorithm even filters out noise to give you a reliable heart rate number.
