There are all kinds of applications on our smartphones dedicated to various operations, some of them are dedicated to health. This category of applications includes solutions that allow you monitor your heart rate.
In this article we will look at the best heart rate apps and briefly explain how they work.
How do heart rate measurement apps work?
These applications work using the photoplecysmography. This is a technique with which a program can calculate the heart rate of the subject, from the data taken through the flash light and the lens of the smartphone's integrated camera.
This data is collected by reflecting light on an individual's finger or face, the result will be a short film with color and brightness variations that the application will process using special algorithms.
Apps that measure heart rate can be divided into two large families:
- contact with photoplethysmography application, which are those that need to contact the body to function;
- contactless photoplethysmography application, which exploit the framing of the face.
Are heart rate measurement apps reliable?
The answer according to a study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology in 2017 (in detail Accuracy of smartphone applications for measuring heart rate. DOI: 10.1177/2047487317702044) is not positive.
The study compared four apps, two contact-type apps (Instant Heart Rate and Heart Fitness) and two non-contact apps (Whats My Heart Rate and Cardiio).
Among them, it turned out that only the instantaneous heart rate is really close to the comparison results obtained with the ECG.
The other applications, especially non-contact ones, showed significant deviations, especially in cases of low body temperature and high heart rate.
Different applications also have significantly different reliability, it seems this depends on the algorithms used. Therefore, in case of pathologies it is advisable to opt for more reliable solutions.
Once this necessary premise is made, we can move on to talk about the best apps to measure heart rate.
Best heart rate apps
Instant heart rate (Android and iOS)
As highlighted by independent research, Instant Heart Rate is by far the most reliable app among those analyzed in its test.
This app was one of the first solutions to appear in stores and has continued to improve ever since.
The application is free in its basic version, which basically only allows you to measure heart rate through the smartphone's camera.
If you want more, such as the previous measurements graph, the complete heart rate report, the heart health test and personalized plans, you must upgrade to the premium version which costs $0,58 per week or $29,99 per month.
Use is very simple: just start the application, give permissions (if you are on Android), place your finger on the camera lens (if your smartphone has several, place your fingertip on the main camera) and press the light blue "Start" button. Measurement".
Installation is equally easy, simply download the app from the Play Store for Android and App Store for iOS.
Heart Rate Plus - Heart rate monitor (Android and iOS)
It is a very popular application that, without having to make any purchase, offers many more functions than Instant Heart Rate. The Heart Rate Plus app offers the possibility of checking the history (also via graph), being able to use the sensor of an Android Wear smartwatch instead of the camera (for greater accuracy) and support for Google Fit.
Using the app is very simple, once installed from the Play Store or App Store, simply launch it and place your finger on the main camera and flash to get a reading.
Cardiograph – Cardiograph (Android)
It is a comfortable and practical free application for Android, with a practical and essential appearance.
The app resembles a professional medical instrument in its approach and allows measurements to be taken with the phone's camera or with the meter sold by the company.
The use, also in this case, is similar to the previous apps: you start it, place your fingertip on the camera and the flash and measure your heart rate.
The app will then make the ECG style graph and allow you to keep track of all our previous measurements by making history.
Installation is also simple, just go to the Play Store and press the "Install" button.
Cardiio: heart rate monitor (iOS)
It is one of the most valid heart rate monitoring applications available for Apple devices, it works like similar solutions that we talked about earlier, has a simple appearance and is highly appreciated by users.
The application can measure each heartbeat with the two detection modes we talked about, for greater precision we recommend using contact mode by placing your finger.
Cardiio can be downloaded for free from the App Store, but unlocking all features requires in-app purchases.
The best applications to measure heart rate
