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

Absolutely! My mate wears his watch on a different wrist anyway.

Thank you for this test. It seems to confirm my results but with even fewer variables. The data the watch gives you is garbage and should not be trusted to inform you about how much or little you are working out. Maybe I expected too much, but Apple's own advertising made me believe it would just simply track my activity. Someone on one of these threads also confirmed that his behavior changed with 1.0.1. He didn't do any tests, but he used to be able to throw his watch on and fill his rings without ever engaging the workout app. Now, if he does the same thing (without engaging workout app) at the end of the day, he hasn't been given any exercise credit and fewer calories. So it seems like the watch can do what we want and what we bought it for, but Apple changed its behavior for some reason I can't comprehend.

Try re-starting the watch, or reset and restore from backup. I had some issues (mostly excessive battery consumption) after the update, but they resolved after a reset.

No offence but absolutely not. You sound like an apple support agent!

The watches are new. I don't expect to be resetting anything. There is a massive bug in the data collection of the watch it's that simple.

This 21 page thread alone may give you a hint.

I am definitely not an Apple support person-just another Apple user (a disenchanted Mac OS user-but still an iPhone/iOS supporter)). No technology is flawless especially something new like Apple Watch, and with every update comes the potential for new issues. I prefer to try and make the technology work by trying simple fixes that commonly resolve issues. My heart rate monitor works and most features work now as they did before the update-after a restart. Apple is certainly trying to resolve issues that arose with the latest update-and there are a few.

Well, i've had my watch on pre-order for quite some time and I'm almost at the PFS stage but if the 1.0.1 update stops a piece of functionality that I was specifically purchasing the watch for based on its advertising (monitor my heart rate periodically at set intervals throughout the day regardless of whether I am moving or not) then I am tempted to cancel the order. Not sure how long I could keep the watch on OS 1.0 without needing to upgrade.

If Apple can't get it right and instead of fixing the bug they change the documentation then I am sure this could be construed as false advertising or at the very least deception of some kind. It was advertised on release at every 10 minutes, all the store staff and apple care staff think its every 10 minutes so why can't it be 10 minutes. I would rather accept having to charge more often than lose significant advertised functionality. At least let your users decide by giving us the option of turning it on or off. After all its supposed to be a personal device so why can't we personalise it.

Fishlaw- Trust me I've rebooted. Reset. Paired and unpaired. There are 2 watches in my household and they both behave exactly the same. The problem (or not if you talk to apple) needs to be fixed by apple.

Rizzo- Thing is you never needed to change in more in V1. It's made no real difference.

It certainly sounds like an OS issue. I have to say the Apple Watch is not without its bugs-and the 1.0.1 update has created a few more-it didn't resolve any of my issues with the Watch-like inconsistent operation.... I assume Apple will respond to the various bug reports people are sending in. It will help if customers like you let them know you have tried the basics, like a reset, and it didn't work, it should make them aware it is a system issue. .

The more I think about your test, the more I realize that it actually shows that the watch is doing something right. The whole point of using the Workout app is to tell it when you're being more active than usual, and there is an eliptical workout, which is optimized for that kind of activity.

This said, the problem is that you may be doing other activity during the day - and a lot of it - that doesn't get counted. Back in the day, when I lived in New York, I would walk a lot, and I walk "briskly" in general. So if I were to not set the workout for a walk, the calorie count would be far below what it should be. I think it's hard to get this right, to fit every use case. I think they should do better, but I wouldn't say your test is the best example.

What would be a good test is this: do a 30-minute walk on a treadmill, using two watches, one set to the Indoor Walk workout, the other to the Other workout. (You could also do a second test, with one set to Indoor Walk, and the other not set to workout at all.) I'd be interested in seeing how much of a difference there is. In my experience, doing both, it looks like the watch counts about twice as many calories when you use the Other workout as the Indoor Walk workout (this is based on the same walk, at the same pace, on different days). That's just wrong.

I have a new theory: The Apple watch can only pick up on step-related activity by itself passively. So when it senses you taking any steps it will give you credit for walking briskly. But if you're doing anything different or higher exertion than a brisk walk you must use the workout app or you will only get the brisk walk activity. So basically this is a pedometer estimating calories based on steps taken at a brisk walk. Hardly how Apple advertises this works but that seems to be what makes the most sense to me with what I have seen.

Bingo, things other than walking/running are impossible to track with just accelerometer. They need the workout app to track them with every 5 second heart rate.

I just wish Apple was more honest in their advertising and gave us better information on how it actually works. I have always avoided activity bands in the past because I didn't feel their data was very complete. Somehow I thought the Apple Watch would be different and smarter based on the way they market it. My big explanation for "why" that I came up with was the heart monitor. But since they have now taken this away, maybe it had less to do with the calorie burn calculations than I gave it credit for.

Jcannonb wrote:

After I updated my Watch to 1.0.1, the heart rate monitor no longer monitors my heart rate in the background. It only monitors my heart rate when I ask it to take a reading.

This is really, really annoying. Has anyone else experienced this? It was working perfectly before the update.

This is intentional. previously the watch checked your heart rate once every ten minutes but in the update, apple has decreased the frequency of the heart rate detection (likely to increase battery life). unfortunately, there is no way to change the frequency yet. hopefully in future updates.

good luck

Same issue here, although mine updated before I used it for the first time.

If you don't mind my asking, how "brisk" was your walk? I'm surprised it credited you with that many exercise minutes, mine doesn't do it consistently on the updated version and that's what is incredibly frustrating.

(sorry this was in response to your 50 minute split test walk with and without the workout app, didn't realize I responded to a message 5 pages back).