Apple Watch Ultra Heart Rate During Workout

It is 100% a software issue. I bought the Ultra when it came out and there was no such problem for the first months until recently, January or February or so.

I tried all the things mentioned here, wearing it on the inside of the wrist instead of outside, have it more lose or extremely tight, it makes no difference at all.

It seems the sensor gets stuck on getting a reading.

I can tell when I take the watch off, the 2 green lasers (or whatever it is) keep flashing forever. Normally, when you take the watch off, they stop after 2 seconds since the watch recognizes it is no longer worn.

What sometimes helps, but not consistently is turning the watch off and on again.

It happens for me in all kind of workouts. Running is the most annoying, since I really need to know which zone / heart rate i am at. Same happens when rowing, Yoga and even walking.

I even started training without the watch and just go by "feeling".

This cannot be the expectation to a $1,000 watch!

Apple please fix this crap. I am literally thinking of selling it, the only thing that keeps me from it is that I am "living" in the Apple-Ecosystem for 15+ years now.

So I now run with a heart rate strap to be sure I get my HR data but I have found something that works and please feel free to try it for yourself. So when i see that the watch has lost the HR I place the arm that I have the watch on up to my chest and don't move it for 5 - 10 secs (yes this is difficult running I appreciate that) but the watch will pick up the HR again. The trick being you have to keep the arm still. Ive tried it running and its worked sometimes after just 5 secs. Ive also tried it while cycling and its also worked. It seems to need to be close to the heart and the watch must be still. I ran with a different watch the other day and the HR was all over the place so have gone back to the apple watch. I also don't like having data on 2 devices so will still with the watch until they can improve this issue. i hope this helps.

maavan wrote:

Let me ask you the following question - what Apple Watch Ultra band are you using when this HR reading issue happens? I have the Alpine Loop and the Trail Loop. This issue only happens when I wear the Alpine Loop, not with the Trail Loop.

For running I only tried Trail Loop and I tried it real tight, normal, loose; problem was always the same.

During an activity I think you can recognize when the watch is not tracking - in my case the HR is greyed out and not changing at all. In normal situations the HR recording is colored. Do you see the same in your cases?

Yes and no: When I get no recording, then yes, the HR is grayed out during the activity. However when I get wrong recordings, I do see a HR, but it is clearly wrong. E.g. I see 157 when just starting too run and then after 3 min or so it suddenly jumps down to a more normal 142.

I have done comparisons with Garmin Fenix. When the Apple Watch Ultra is recording normally, then it is them same as Garmin +-1. When it is off, there's a difference of up to 20.

I just don't know when the Ultra is showing it wrong, unless the readings are clearly off.

Hello, is there any update on this topic.

Have Ultra first release, having the same, it does stop recording with Workout up (Outdoor Run).

I follow all the instructions (position of the watch is ok, read and write data ok, seems nothing out of the ordinary) but still, randomly, having issue.If I use chest strap the issue dosent show up.

I been talking with Apple support on the phone, they flagged the possibility that 3rd party app like Strava could interfere with the heart rate sensor even if they are not running (I don’t believe this could be possible) so they could prevent sometime to have the app Workout not to read/write properly.

Ita just very frustrating.

Thank you.

I read all the comments as I have the same issue with my Ultra watch.

the only one that works for me is the explanation of when the body is cold the connection between watch and body is not quick.

my issue is at the gym and when I swim both situation my body is cold.

the heart monitor works ok when I walk or bike.

I also noticed when I am in an electrical machine at gym and holding the heart rate monitor of the machine it takes few minutes before it can read the pulse.

I also talk to my daughter who works at a hospital and mentioned some of their instruments don’t work as well when the patient body is cold.

I think I found my answer. Thank you.

This is clearly a problem. (there are others with the ultra such as it being difficult to activate Siri without saying “hey siri,” something I never had trouble with on my 7).

BUT, I have solved it (mostly). 

When exercising I wear the watch a bit higher on my arm (away from wrist). 

I wear my band very tight. I also found a third party band that is modeled on the trail loop but is a bit more stretchy. 

Though I have "fixed" the problem, this might be the last Ultra that I buy 

Chris

Same issue here, no heart rate at the beginning of my runs. My fix: stop running after the first 500 meters, pause the running app, and wait till your watch picks up your heart rate after half a minute or so. This works for me but it is a massive annoyance.

I am sure it is software related because it was not his bad before the latest update. I wish I could go back to my trusted Garmin, but even that one had some heart rate issues now and then. It's just one of those things I guess. Hoping the next update fixes this issue.

I can confirm it works for me after updating! I had some issues in the previous version when heart rate sensor wasn’t steady

Same problem. Garmin 245 working fine. So far the only solution is with an external (Polar) heart rate strap. I still can’t believe that I paid for that 1000 USD.

"...it looks like I’m the only one with this problem..."

You could be right. This Watch is under warranty so if nobody else has any ideas..

Click here > Contact - Official Apple Support

or phone numbers 

Click here > Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support

I seem to having the same problem with an Ultra watch not locking on. to heart rate. Interesting that if I pause the run, and restart the heart rate will come back, but may or may not stay.. Seemed the watch was fine for about a month, but when I go back to the beginning. When I went back through my runs on Fitness I could see this happening periodically. Most of the time but doesn't record for the first few minutes and then will start and work ok. I am going to unpair and re-pair the watch and see whether this helps the issue.

After months of heart rate recording problems on my Ultra I found this thread. Like everyone else: starts recording, then stops for a (sometimes long, 30min+) while, then continues until the end of my runs. My old Apple Watch 5 had no such issues. My Garmin Descent Mk2s, no issues.

My conclusion after every possible experiment (tightening watch band, moisturizing my skin, etc.) is that it must have something to do with the watch weight... during running it just moves too much on the onset because the skin tends to be more dry. As the moisture builds up, the friction increases and the watch movement relative to the wrist diminishes.

Or Apple just messed something up, majorly. I am pretty upset that an $800 piece of supposedly "rugged & capable" equipment fails to perform as advertised.

I put a strap on my wrist to comfortably hold the ultra up and away from the end. So far it has been consistently recording my heart rate well. I like the ultra for being an all rounder so I'm prepared to live with it. I do wonder what is the difference with the other watches though and how they get around this issue. Maybe it can be fixed with software and somebody suggested!

Not the answer you’re looking for, but I’m pretty sure it’s hardware based and there’s nothing you can do about it.

I ended up buying a basic $40 heart rate monitor chest strap on Amazon, and it works fine with that and I get my heart rate metrics after my workout and I can just move on.