After the Apple Watch 1.0.1 Update, Heart Rate stopped working...

Okay, so after updating the replacement watch (see above), the new one is not reading every ten minutes. So far, I haven't done enough to see whether the heart rate is correct. I'll post later after I've taken a walk.

I would absolutely call Apple Care/Support and let them know that your new replacement watch - after updating to 1.0.1 - is no longer working as described in this document which details the functionality of the heart rate sensor.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204666

The document clearly states...

And throughout the day, Apple Watch measures your heart rate every 10 minutes and stores it in the Health app.

And that the replacement was working as described in the document prior to the update. Obviously, a software bug was introduced, or functionality was changed that is inconsistent with the stated functionality of the device.

Same issue here. The watch's heart beat monitor has been working perfectly with 10 minutes interval prior to updating to 1.0.1..

I'm so regret that I updated the firmware instead of waiting a few days to see how it goes. I have trusted Apple too much in the past...

Now the heart beat monitor varies from 10 minute to 4-5 hours! It seems the 10min interval stops working if you MOVE.. so if you want the heart beat monitor to work every 10 minute, all you have to do is STOP moving.. which contradicts with Apple Watch's goal to promote moving more frequent..

I have been constantly walking during last weekend and I found my heart rate hasn't been updated for 4.5 hours or even more. I'm extremely disappointed by this firmware update as well as how Apple still not handle this critical issue for almost a week now!

Hello everybody,

I just was informed that this is NOT AN ISSUE.

It is a WORK AS DESIGNED feature.

(sorry for shouting)

My Apple Support Advisor had a talk with the development team and they implemented the "feature" to preserve battery life.

I told that it preserves about 5 % a day with my watch and that I'd appreciate to let the user choose to enable the constantly measuring.

The only possibility to get this feature back is to give massive feedback to apple via that form: http://www.apple.com/feedback/

In the times of Steve that wouldn't have happened.

So lets give them the feedback they want!

Cheers

N8

If this is indeed an intended feature they need to change their documentation that says it records it every 10 minutes. Hardly usable as a fitness tracker if heartbeat is not monitored consistently. Isn't that one of the key things about the Activity Rings? That it monitors your heart rate throughout the day and if you're active (i.e. high heart beat along with movement) it will help move those rings? They only seem to move much now if I put it into Exercise mode and force the heart rate monitor on.

That is totally unacceptable. I liked the way it worked before the update. Hate it now. When I was on the treadmill this morning using the Exercise app, it was fairly accurate, although it only gave me 52 minutes of credit for a 65-minute workout. However, that was better than the 40 minutes it gave me for a 65-minute outdoor walk for which I used to get a 60-minute credit.

After I got off the treadmill and started doing my weight machine routine, without the exercise app since there's no option for doing strength training, I got a reading after 20 minutes and then the next one wasn't for an hour and 10 minutes. I got no exercise credit for the entire time was doing weights, although I'm sure my heart rate should have been high enough to get some credit.

Additionally, it takes a long time for the rings in the app on my phone to catch up to the rings on my watch. It used to be instantaneous. I don't know why there is a lag time now.

The high and low spikes I got the day before yesterday when at rest, ranging from 36 to 212, made no sense at all. Even when I exercise, I never get that high, and 36 is insanely low. This can't possibly be intentional. There is obviously a bug of some kind in the software.

My battery life was fine before. I didn't need them to cut down on the frequency of checking my heartbeat. It should be an option for those who may want it.

Apple ... this is IDIOTIC and ASININE...

Let's do a little math here...

AW = 18hrs of battery life (on average) * 1.05 (increase in battery life by crippling the HRM) = 54 minute increase in battery life (for one, I doubt it).

It takes about 2 hours to charge the AW from empty (mine never gets close to this). So for every hour of battery life we have to charge it for approx. 7 minutes.

So Apple with this wonderful new feature that renders the HRM useless for 24 hour tracking is saving us about a whopping 6 minutes of charging time per day.

Thanks a lot APPLE.

Maybe you should just disable the screen with no option to turn it back on, that would save a lot of battery life too.

I'm hoping then that you'll write something about this issue.

I just got off the phone with Apple Care on the case I reported. After a couple of back-and-forths with the engineer, the apple care rep said that this was expected behavior in the 1.0.1 update. I don't understand how we could all be getting mixed messages from Apple Care - some saying that this is an issue that will be addressed and some of us being told it will be fixed.

I bought this watch as a serious fitness tracker. I wanted to track my total active calories also outside of my timed workouts.

What I have now is a $750 fitbit and an utter disappointment. I just requested and received confirmation for a refund, even though it’s been over 30 days. I guess I’ll wait until they release the next version and hope that it will be better. Even the Microsoft Band tracks HR every 10
minutes. Jeesh….

I stand with you and others on the HR tracking and overall fitness tracking disappointment that was introduced with the 1.0.1 update. Wouldn't this new behavior of the sensor annoy Apple execs who claim to be fitness buffs (e.g. Tim Cook)?

As tempting as it is to get my hard-earned cash back (and it is very tempting), the AW has been a value add for me beyond the fitness stuff. Therefore, I'm keeping mine and will be vocal about making it better. Having said all that, some of the magical shine has definitely been vaporized by this HR bug.

stevenpj777 wrote:

I'm hoping then that you'll write something about this issue.

I just got off the phone with Apple Care on the case I reported. After a couple of back-and-forths with the engineer, the apple care rep said that this was expected behavior in the 1.0.1 update. I don't understand how we could all be getting mixed messages from Apple Care - some saying that this is an issue that will be addressed and some of us being told it will be fixed.

I bought this watch as a serious fitness tracker. I wanted to track my total active calories also outside of my timed workouts.

What I have now is a $750 fitbit and an utter disappointment. I just requested and received confirmation for a refund, even though it’s been over 30 days. I guess I’ll wait until they release the next version and hope that it will be better. Even the Microsoft Band tracks HR every 10
minutes. Jeesh….

I submitted my feedback...again.

There are two related issues here. One is about the frequency of heart rate checks, which has changed since the 1.0.1 update, and the other is about the accuracy of the heart rate sensor. I had both issues with my first watch, before the 1.0.1 update. I think they are both related.

This said, after conducting an informal poll of friends and twitter followers, it seems that very few people have either of these problems. As for the accuracy issue, I wonder if it's a skin thing. I have very light skin - and no tattoos - but I wonder if that is causing problems. It shouldn't; I'm sure they've tested this.

How many people have both of these issues?

I have both issues. It tracks it on it's own very infrequently. Usually just a handful of times each day.

When doing a workout and manually engaging the exercise app where it forces it to read it will generally be OK, but often it will be sitting at ~130bpm and then go down to 65bpm (almost like it is reading half of what the heart rate should be) and then come back up. It seems that the angle of my wrist and what I'm doing with my hands (i.e. lifting weights) cause this to almost happen all the time. On an elliptical or walking it is usually correct. Overall, not very impressed by the heart rate tracking of this watch and this was one of the main reasons I bought it.

Edit: Actually when doing things like lifting weights, I have noticed it sometimes can't even get a measurement as well. I sort of think these anomalies are more due to the limits of a wrist-worn tracker though.

kirkmc:

Honestly, everyone has the frequency of heart rate issue if they have upgraded to 1.0.1. If they say they don't, then one of the following probably applies:

1. They don't know where to look (Health App)

2. They don't care about the heart rate monitor

3. They haven't upgraded

4. They don't understand how it is supposed to work

As others have posted today, Apple seems to now be saying it was changed on purpose to save battery life.

As for the accuracy issue, that is a little more vague. Anecdotally, I believe it was more accurate with Watch OS 1.0, but not every ride or run I have completed with 1.0.1 shows inaccurate data. For instance, I just did a run at lunch, and the AW tracked very well with my Wahoo Tickr chest strap, except for one spike at 19 minutes (not unexpected with wrist-based HRMs).

Here is a graph of my HR data from my run today recorded by the AW:

I experience both issues since the update. Are you saying that people are reporting that after the 1.0.1 update it is tracking their heart rate every 10 minutes, as it did prior to the update? According to apple care, it's not supposed to do that any longer.

Well, mine was interesting after the update. This afternoon, it recorded my heart rate at the following times:

15:31 (I did it manually then)

16:20

16:30

17:50

18:38

Now, from about 17:00 to around 18:45, I was seating, recording a podcast. Wait; at 17:50, I stood up, because the watch told me to. So maybe there's something going on there.

To be honest, if I'm not moving, I don't care that much about the heart rate. But if it's used to calculate calories, then it needs to be every ten minutes when one is active. And I'm certainly not seeing that.