Beatcast
EN

Heart rate on iPhone: start here

Updated

Short answer

Five steps get a new sensor to a live number on your iPhone: choose one, wake it and wear it, connect it in an app, set your zones, and put the number on the Lock Screen. It takes about as long as unwrapping it.

Does Beatcast need a subscription? No. You get 14 days with the whole app, then one in-app purchase that does not renew, with no account and no ads. What that means.

The path

1. Choose a sensor

A sensor is required. A strap or arm band that speaks Bluetooth is the usual pick, and AirPods Pro 3 count on iPhone if you own them. The sensor table shows what works. If you do not have an Apple Watch, you are in good company: see the guide without one.

2. Wake it and wear it

Most sensors stay quiet until they feel a heartbeat. Moisten the contacts of a chest strap. Wear it wherever it reads.

3. Connect

Open the app and allow Bluetooth. Pick the sensor from the app's list. Skip Settings, Bluetooth. The connection guide walks through it, and the checklist is there for when it does not go to plan.

4. Set your zones

A zone is a heart rate range with a name you chose. Five, named after training efforts, suit most workouts. Enter your age and you have a start. Use the zones calculator to see the numbers first, and the max heart rate page to see where the estimate comes from.

5. Put it on the Lock Screen

Start a session and the number moves into the Dynamic Island and onto the Lock Screen. Glance, do not unlock. The Lock Screen guide has what it needs. When it ends, the session is yours to export as CSV or TCX, with an active calorie estimate if you switch one on.

The guides

Where Beatcast fits

Beatcast is a heart rate monitor app for iPhone and iPad, made in Vienna. Beatcast on the App Store. Fourteen days free, then one purchase. No subscription, no account, no Beatcast server.

Good to know

Beatcast is not a medical device. It is built for training and general wellbeing, and it cannot detect, diagnose, treat or monitor any condition. If something about your heart worries you, talk to a doctor rather than to an app.

The Bluetooth word mark is a registered trademark of Bluetooth SIG, Inc. Apple, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, Dynamic Island and Lock Screen are trademarks of Apple Inc. Powerbeats and Beats are trademarks of Beats Electronics, LLC. All other device and app names belong to their owners and are used only to say which sensors Beatcast can read. Beatcast is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or certified by any of them.

Questions or a sensor that works? r/beatcast.

All guides