Heart rate tracking apps are becoming more and more popular. People use them to track their workouts, see how their fitness is improving over time, and even just for fun.
They can also be useful for monitoring your health if you have a medical condition that involves irregular heart rates, such as atrial fibrillation or cardiac arrhythmia.
These apps are all the rage right now. But how do they work? Can you trust them to give an accurate reading of your heart rate? And more importantly, can you trust them with your data?
What Are Heart Rate Tracking Apps?
Heart rate tracking apps are applications that measure your heart rate. They are often used to monitor the health of athletes and fitness enthusiasts, but they can also be useful for people who want to stay in shape.
They track your pulse and notify you when it is too high or low. These apps also tell you how many calories you have burned throughout the day and other useful information.
Heart rate tracking apps have been around for a while now, but it’s not always clear how they work. Let's explore the science behind these nifty devices!
How Do Heart Rate Tracking Apps Measure Your Heart Rate?
Heart rate tracking apps use your phone’s camera and light sensor to detect how much blood is pumping through your skin. They do this by detecting the change in color and opacity as blood is pumped through your skin.
How this works is every time your heart beats, the flow of blood to your fingers and face changes a bit. Because blood absorbs light, heart rate tracking apps can capture this change using your phone's camera flash to illuminate your skin and create a reflection.
This technique is called photoplethysmography and is used widely in heart rate monitoring. But just how accurate are these fitness tracking apps? Can they be trusted?
How Accurate are Heart Rate Tracking Apps?
Most heart rate tracking apps give near-accurate results when measuring heart rate at rest, often missing a beat, or at most two in a minute.
However, they are fairly inaccurate when measuring heart rate while exercising, missing as many as 20 beats per minute.
A study published in the National Library of Medicine tested the accuracy of four different heart rate monitoring apps showed substantial differences in accuracy between the four different heart rate tracking apps.
There were differences of more than 20 beats per minute between the heart rate measured by the apps and the heart rate measured by an electrocardiography monitor in over 20% of the measurements.
So, can you trust the results from heart rate tracking apps?
Well, it depends. When using a heart rate tracking app, the general advice is always to take its result with a grain of salt.
They’re okay as long as you’re not looking for an accurate baseline or checking your heart rate out of concern for a possible problem. They give you a reasonable ballpark number but don’t replace a professional healthcare check using professional equipment.
Beyond the question of accuracy and whether you can trust their results, there are other questions about whether it makes sense to trust their result and the privacy implications of doing so.
The Privacy Concerns of Heart Rate Tracking Apps
When it comes to your health and personal information, privacy is important. Unfortunately, many heart rate tracking apps make money by selling your data. Therefore, their privacy policies should be taken into account before you download a heart rate tracking app.
Keep in mind that if you use a popular app, your data is most likely already being sold. You should also be aware of companies collecting health and fitness stats from apps such as fitness trackers and smartphone sensors, then selling this information to insurance providers who will use the data for business purposes.
5 Things to Look For When Choosing a Heart Rate Tracking App
Not all heart rate tracking apps are created equal. When shopping around for a new or replacement app, there are a few things to keep in mind.
1. What Features Does It Offer?
Some heart rate tracking apps offer more than others, and that’s okay. For example, if you want a great way to track your resting heart rate all day but don't care about other features, a basic heart rate tracking app might be enough for you.
2. Does the App Collect Personal Information?
Some apps ask for unnecessary access to phone features. Check to see what it’s asking for before downloading.
3. Does It Offer a Free Trial or Demo Version?
You don’t want to get stuck with an app you have no use for. Many apps offer a free trial or demo version so that you can test out the features before purchasing.
4. How Is It Reviewed by Users?
What do other users say about it, and are there any widespread bugs or frequent issues? This isn’t as important if you only use an app once in a while. But if you plan to use the app all the time, make sure to choose wisely based on reviews from other people who have already downloaded and used the app.
5. What Is Its Privacy Policy Like?
Some data tracking apps sell user information, and some do not. Still, most will give you the option of sharing your info if you choose to and say which information they actually store for themselves in their privacy policy.
Is a Heart Rate Tracking App Worth It?
Heart rate tracking apps have been around for some time now, but they’re not perfectly accurate by any means.
Since they’ve been proven to be inaccurate in certain situations, you can’t simply trust them 100%. However, if you’re just using your phone to count steps or check-in with a heartbeat now and then, these apps will provide a ballpark figure.
If you want something more accurate, though, or if you’re looking for an intensive daily log of your health data, stick with professional equipment, at least until there are more results out there on how well smartphone sensors stack up against other devices.