Apple Watch Series 3, NRC and Bluetooth Heart Rate Strap

I submitted the question via Twitter and will see if they have a better answer than telephone support. If it is truly not supported, where I can find the link or what is the method to submit a feature request to Nike? I have logged on my NikePlus account but cannot find that option.

Thanks Jonathan. I tweeted my question to @nikesupport

"When will Apple Watch NRC app support display and logging of BPM from Heart Rate Strap connected to watch via bluetooth? Apple Workout app supports this configuration. What about NRC?"

and got a reply that it was logged. Twitter appears to be a good option for asking a question. If I get a more definitive answer, I will update this thread with what I find out.

Thanks,

Thanks for the followup. I have that working for the built-in heart rate monitor and have all metrics specified. The problem is that when I connect the Apple Watch to an external heart rate strap that NRC does not detect that and still expects data from the built-in monitor. So it records nothing. The Apple Watch still reports it to the iPhone but I can't view it during the run and it is not graphed in the Nike+ Run Clup app on the iPhone. With the Apple Workout app, it automatically detects the change in Watch configuration and used the strap heart rate data.

So Nike NRC support replied back that they only support the internal heart rate monitor on the Apple Watch. I wrote a note requesting that they consider adding the support. Again

- The configuration that works with NRC Apple Watch app is to use the build-in internal heart rate monitor. So if you use an external heart rate strap connected to the watch via bluetooth, such as the Polar H10, the data will be recorded and show up in the Apple Activity and Health App but the BPM will not be shown by the NRC app.

- The best work around is either to use the Workout app that does support using an external heart rate strap and displaying the BPM DURING the run. I emphasize DURING the run because that is needed if you want to use the BPM to pace your training.

- The other alternative is to use either Runkeeper or Strava for the Apple Watch, both of which properly detect and use the external heart rate strap data.

If I hear any thing more from NRC support about future plans, I will post to this thread.

Emiliano, As a recap the Watch will capture the heart rate but NRC will not display it nor show it in the app. The best workaround is to use the Workout app for those workouts.

- The Workout app does a good job of showing the stats during the run and give a good "lap" times.

- The detailed stats for the run will be captured in the Health and the Activity app. The one thing I noticed is that it does not seem to calculate the VO2 max when using an external strap.

- The basic run stats of mileage time and speed can be entered manually into NRC.

This works reasonably well for my needs. Though I can understand if you constantly use the strap the constant manual logging would be annoying, and you may seek another app such as Runkeeper or Strava. Runkeeper is good and works fine with the external strap, but it does not provide good "lap" alerts. I have not used Strava, but understand it would work with an external strap.

Emiliano, I agree and was a little surprised as well. I would say perhaps it dropped between the cracks because though who are super stat focused may actually choose a Garmin over the Apple Watch. I have a Garmin 235, so I am familiar with and love the great stats in the app that includes cadence and a well integrated set of reports. I have really enjoyed the Apple Watch 3 though and expect that the gap in reporting will continue to be addressed. The Apple Watch is clearly the best smart watch. I also find the Nike sport band much more comfortable that even the original sport band that is a solid piece of silicone and not very flexible.

Technically speaking, I would believe that the change to support an external strap would not be that difficult. I am grateful that Nike support seemed to finally understand the request. Here is my exchange with Nike Support: