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

the apple watch is pathetic at workouts, i have a fitbit surge which i use for workouts and automatically knows when I'm excersizing so increases the measurement times of the heart rate sensor not to mention it actually measures it, with the apple watch half way during my workout it doesn't have a clue what its doing all i see is MEASURING for about an hour which drains the battery. and the only support i get from applecare is "is the watch snug"

And check this out for todays reading whilst i was sat down! Drastic change in my HR in one minute!!!!!

Bob,

Same problem here.  I submitted the following in the AW feedback section:

"The heart rate sensor/monitor (HRM) on my apple watch does not meet the accuracy standards I was expecting prior to purchase.  I was truly hoping that the Apple Watch (AW) would be able to replace my Polar watch and chest strap HRM. However, the watch is consistently providing readings tens of bpm below that on my Polar HRM and there is significant delay.  Today the AW read my HR at 64 bpm while running.  I also had on the Polar for comparison and my HR was 161 bpm.  I do not have tattoos on my wrist or excess hair.  I also bought a sport band, in addition to the milanese band I originally ordered, in hope that it would provide improved skin contact.  This did not help.  If there is a way to recalibrate or improve the reading, please share!"

-Jeff

I get those absurdly high readings too, following a bunch of perfectly normal bpm readings, though not as high as yours. Usually it's something like 97bpm or 112bpm after a bunch of low 60s readings.

well it it seems they've been hard at work in California again. At 2256 UK time last night my watch went back to checking my HR every ten minutes and has done so for the last nine hours. So as with the maps wobble they've seemingly sorted it.

And just been for a run and it recorded 12 times a minute (so the specified 5 second interval).

Same thing happened to me this morning while sitting down doing nothing...... Drastic variation.

Just back from a 4-mile run this morning and my AW pretty much recorded at the correct 5s interval.  Although some of the readings were high vs. my Wahoo Tickr chest strap.  Average for the AW was 4 BPM higher than the chest strap.

Seemed to perform better during a run than recent bike rides ... Hand/wrist position is probably more consistent while running making acquiring a heart rate easier.

I received a reply from Apple yesterday regarding my complaint to Tim Cook about this issue.  The engineers said that this is an "Expected" behavior after the update.  I replied to them that if this is expected, than the expected quality of Apple's devices have slipped greatly.  The device was working as consumers expected, by recording consistent background readings prior to the update.  This is unacceptable.  While it is fine that it records more frequently while you log a workout, what about the times you do more strenuous activities that are not logged workouts.  Such as yesterday, my family and I went to a local festival for 5 hours that was in an extremely hilly area, and in the 5 hours I had two heart beat readings.  1 when we sat to watch a show, and 1 when i sat to eat.  That is in no way acceptable or expected behavior.

That's a very surprising response. My contact with Apple support - I was put through to a senior advisor - before the update was that this is definitely not the expected behavior, and they're exchanging my watch.

For about the 10th time .. I will post this link, as it is the expected behavior of the HRM .. until Apple changes it.  It clearly and unambiguously states readings are taken every 10 minutes.

Your heart rate. What it means, and where on Apple Watch you’ll find it. - Apple Support

But I guess the response you got isn't surprising as most who buy the AW are probably more interested in Digital touch and Emojis, and don't care so much about the fitness features.  You can almost see that by how inactive these threads are for the most part.

So far my early experience with the AW has somewhat soured me to Apple (no pun intended).  So much so that if I return the watch, I might just quit the whole Apple ecosystem (iPhone and iPad) and look elsewhere.

i will give them until the next update to straighten this out.  One silver lining is if they give full sensor access to the 3rd party developers quickly, then this will likely be moot.  I don't expect that though.

If you want something with reliable and extensive fitness features then why not just buy a Garmin?  Nowhere near as good as a smart watch as the AW, but it'll give you accurate distance, HR and other stuff like power if you're cycling.  The notifications are a bit dumb (just mirrors what's on your phone) but as an exercise device it's simply streets ahead of an Apple Watch - but did anyone buy an AW specifically as an exercise device, given you have to carry your phone around with you?

I'm equally surprised and truly don't know what to make of all this. I'm keeping the watch as I expected some early adopter bugs and this certainly qualifies, but I'm at a loss for what's next. I didn't expect them to say it's expected behavior because I've also heard on other posts that it was deemed to be a bug that's being addressed. Either there's a breakdown in communication somewhere inside Apple or they're going to have to change their documentation on the HR tracker.

andyfromembsay wrote:

 

but did anyone buy an AW specifically as an exercise device, given you have to carry your phone around with you?

That's pretty much my feeling as well. If that was my primary or only interest in this device I never would have paid this much money for it. I would have selected something specifically designed for that purpose. I feel the watch is ( for me ) primarily a communications device that frees me from having to dig my phone out of a pocket or bag all the time. Or even carry it around with me such as when I'm at home. Prior to this I was following the Pebble devices but never felt they looked like something I'd actually wear and still didn't offer me the integration I have with this device. The activity and exercise/health tracking functions are useful and appreciated extras but not my primary interest.

And from the current behavior and pattern of the HR function which is completely consistent and predictable on my watch I have to make the conclusion that this was an intended change. Whether that's true or not remains to be seen and I can understand being frustrated that if it was a deliberate change there has been no communication of such a change or a specific reason for it. For me it's actually working as I would want it to but for others who were expecting something else the lack of information would be troubling, especially since the web site has not been updated to reflect this change if indeed it's not a bug and was deliberate.