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Update to Apple Watch OS 1.0.1 leading to less frequent heart rate monitoring

heartrate

Apple’s update to Watch OS 1.0.1 was intended to improve the performance of several fitness-related functions, but also appears to have introduced a bug. Instead of the Apple Watch recording your heart rate every ten minutes, many users – including myself – are seeing large gaps in the data.

My readings for yesterday afternoon and evening, shown above, contain four gaps of more than an hour. Two of these gaps span times when I was cycling, when the data would have been most relevant. Users in an Apple Support Communities thread (via EverythingCafe) are reporting the same thing … 

Some users are reporting that they see no heart rate reading at all unless they trigger it manually by opening the Glance. Continuous heart rate monitoring during a Workout also still seems to function correctly.

You can check your own readings in the Health app. First open the Apple Watch app and go to General > About and check the Version to make sure you are running 1.0.1, then open the Health app, touch the Health Data tab, then select Vitals > Heart Rate > Show All Data.

We’ve reached out to Apple and will update if we receive a response.

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Comments

  1. GadgetBen - 9 years ago

    Yeah I noticed that. It monitors just fine if you start a workout activity, but not great for precise general activity monitoring now. Mine is measuring about once an hour now outside workout app.

  2. Luca Soldaini (@soldni) - 9 years ago

    Same thing here. Not sure if it is a bug or a feature.

  3. mahmudf2014 - 9 years ago

    Ben, this is not a bug. This is a feature! Even if it’s, you wear it wrong 😊

  4. staywhatyouare2 - 9 years ago

    I noticed the same thing but didn’t know how to check it. I just opened the health app and there was almost a full day gap between one reading. 8:30 PM on May 20th. Next reading was 2:11 PM on May 21st. Yes, I had my watch on during this time. I get to work at 6:30 AM everyday and it is always with me.

    I also can’t be the only one that is seeing poorer batter life now, am I? I am also having trouble with my watch randomly shutting off and not being responsive for several minutes now. Not even holding down the power button will wake it up or turn it back on. Apple is looking into it.

  5. My timings are all over the place! Sometimes it can manage a reading every 10 minutes for about an hour, then it seems to be :10 and :40 past the hour. I’ve just checked again after this thread to see I haven’t had a reading in almost 2 hours which is annoying as I’ve jus been for a 3 mile walk! (Forgot to start my workout tracking)

  6. This is why I don’t update immediately. I’ll do the Watch update in a couple of weeks once all of the bugs are found and fixed.

  7. Apple Fanboy - 9 years ago

    Not a bug me thinks. Here is what is going on since the update.

    Slight tweak in how hard (long) it will try to gather an accurate reading before just skipping and waiting for next interval. It tries every 10 minutes. If unable to obtain after so many seconds, it skips. Better to skip a reading then input a wildly inaccurate reading. This could be due to a loose band or activity that is making it hard to get a good reading. Hence why there are some longer gaps. This approach will further conserve battery life and that is a great thing. I am getting such great battery life on the Apple Watch, I wear it almost all day and night. I only take it off to charge when I wake up, shower, eat breakfast and get ready for work and then I put it back on fully charged again. Pretty amazing.

    If you want constant monitoring, then turn on the workout app.

    • cgombos - 9 years ago

      Do you use any apps outside the apple health app? I’m trying to figure out the best app to mimic the info I got from my Fitbit ..
      I just want daily steps , total calories burned , sync with a scale ..
      I have the withings scale and argus app ..
      But nothing is tracking total calories well..

    • spiralynth - 9 years ago

      @Apple Fanboy

      Interesting theory. I sometimes wear my band on 4/loose. My readings have been random since the update a couple days ago.

      I’ll go down to 3/tiggety-tite for the next couple hours and see if I get consistent readings at 10 minute intervals.

      • spiralynth - 9 years ago

        Tite band, all signs pointing to life … yet no consistent readings at 10 minute intervals over the last 2 hours (including a 50 gap with no readings).

        Definitely a bug. Ben is right.

    • mdelvecchio99 - 9 years ago

      FB is wrong, this is a bug. mine is on nice & snug, as instructed.

      suggesting to turn on the Workout app is a terrible idea, as it reads 5 times a minute and will quickly deplete your battery.

    • Apple Fanboy - 9 years ago

      Like I said. They modified it to take the reading when it can get a good reading. If you are going hours between readings it’s too loose or you meet the other definition of people whi man have issues. Works flawlessly for me with just occasional skips which IS NOT a big deal.

  8. Prefab (@semlohmg) - 9 years ago

    I use it to track when my heart has an AFib attack and when it corrects back to normal heart rate. I still get readings every 10 minutes even after update.

  9. Reinaldo A (@raapzodia) - 9 years ago

    Works fine for me, every 10min , I have 1.0.1

  10. rnc - 9 years ago

    Mine is working normally at 10 minutes, sometimes it skips 5 minutes or so…

    Must be some optimization…

  11. jimr450 - 9 years ago

    The Watch should only check heartrate passively non-stop during a workout, otherwise it’s a waste of battery. Outside of a workout, it should only check if you actively ask it to.

    I haven’t noticed any change in heartrate montioring during a workout, so I’m going to say this is a battery saving feature (not that we need better battery, I’m still averaging 25 to 30% at bedtime) until further notice.

    What I did notice after the 1.0.1 upgrade was that my passcode was turned off/lost on the Watch, which I would say is definitely a bug, and so was the stored credit card for Apple Pay on the Watch. The latter might be a security thing, maybe that’ll happen with every OS update, but the passcode thing seems like a bug.

    • mdelvecchio99 - 9 years ago

      jim is wrong, the AW is supposed to actively check your rate every 10 minutes, as is still per apple’s own marketing material. this is a bug.

      • GadgetBen - 9 years ago

        Indeed, I now suffer from the problem listed in this article. Before the update it was checking my heart rate every 10 minutes and I ended up with 35-45% battery at the end of a normal day. Its now taking it once an hour at best, guess what? Same battery life.

  12. Traducto (@TraductoApp) - 9 years ago

    Chances are this is part of an attempt at a smarter way to measure at the most relevant times and save energy. Might still need some improvements though.

  13. PhilBoogie - 9 years ago

    Something terrifying must’ve happened at 13:05

  14. srgmac - 9 years ago

    Same dealio here…not cool. The update other than this though has been great…the wrist detection actually works a lot better now and so does the stand detection.

  15. James Alexander - 9 years ago

    Mine is still working the same way it was.

  16. My watch had not checked my HR in 2 hrs, until I manually checked it.

  17. Andrew Lewis - 9 years ago

    Same issue here.

    Number of readings per day:

    12/05/2015 74
    13/05/2015 68
    14/05/2015 72
    15/05/2015 41
    17/05/2015 58
    18/05/2015 69
    19/05/2015 67
    20/05/2015 60 <== 1.01 installed that night
    21/05/2015 34
    22/05/2015 33
    23/05/2015 15

    There was a 4-hour gap today!

  18. jonyappleseed - 9 years ago

    Apple adjusted heart rate monitoring parameters in 1.0.1 so that it’ll only record if it’s gets a more reliable reading. The code was not changed and this is not a bug—it’s a tolerance adjustment.

    See for yourself: Wear your Watch to sleep and you’ll see that it captures almost every 10 minutes. As soon as you wake up it will record much less frequently because you’re moving about and it’s having a harder time knowing if it got a good reading from the IR sensor.

    Remember that the IR sensor (less accurate but uses less power) is used during routine readings every 10 minutes. The green LEDs (more accurate and uses more power) are used by the Workout app and when you force it to take a reading. The tolerance parameters were changed for both but more green LED readings are kept because it’s naturally more accurate to begin with.

    Apple’s philosophy is that it’s better to keep few good readings instead of storing lots of questionable values. Think of it like the person who posts 150 crappy/blurry pictures on Facebook of a birthday party vs. the person who posts 2-3 really good ones of the same event.

    The next Watch OS version being worked on will give more of the best of both worlds. It will incorporate the accelerometer to help determine how reliable the heart rate reading will be. It can also switch to the green LEDs if there are too many failed attempts with the IR sensor during routine readings. The difficulty is in juggling all of that with battery life limitations of the tiny battery.

    • Bob Venturi - 9 years ago

      And you know this how? … please point us to an official document from Apple. Since the 1.0.1 update, the HRM is rubbish. I am a avid cyclist and runner and ever since the update my heart rate during rides and runs mainly reads “measuring” when I glance at the watch. Thanks for that “tolerance adjustment” Apple .. It now makes the AW useless as a serious training tool.

    • GadgetBen - 9 years ago

      Indeed this is a nonsense post with no factual relevance, I have the problem listed in this article. Before the update it was checking my heart rate every 10 minutes and I ended up with 35-45% battery at the end of a normal day. Its now taking it once an hour at best, guess what? Same battery life. So it hasn’t affected ‘power’ or performance in any way, except made my watch less capable as a fitness monitor!

    • jonyappleseed - 9 years ago

      Just updated the official support page (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204666): “In addition, Apple Watch attempts to measure your heart rate every 10 minutes, but won’t record it when you’re in motion or your arm is moving.”

  19. cgombos - 9 years ago

    My health app won’t even show all data anymore , the little sync wheel just spins .. Any idea if the health app can be reset. ?

  20. GadgetBen - 9 years ago

    Any update from Apple on this Ben Lovejoy? Same issue for me, used to take it every 10 minutes, now every hour. Same battery life performance as before so this must be a bug.

  21. cgombos - 9 years ago

    anyone having issues with the health app not showing heart rate data?

Author

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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