How to connect a Bluetooth heart rate monitor to an iPhone

Q: The strap connects and drops. Why?

See the not connecting checklist .

By Andreas B. Diendorfer · ORCID · LinkedIn · Updated 29 October 2026

Short answer

Skip Settings, Bluetooth, because most heart rate straps never appear there. Wear the strap with damp contacts, open an app such as Beatcast, allow Bluetooth when it asks, and tap the strap in the app's sensor list. A number usually shows within a few seconds. Many straps hold one connection at a time by default, so close other apps that might have it.

Last checked: 12 October 2026.

Steps

Wake the strap. Most sensors stay silent until they feel a heartbeat. Moisten the electrodes on a chest strap, or wear an arm band snugly against skin.
Open the app and allow Bluetooth. The first time, iOS asks whether the app may use Bluetooth. Say yes. If you said no once, switch it on in Settings, Privacy & Security, Bluetooth.
Open the sensor list. In Beatcast, tap the sensor line on the Monitor. The list looks for heart rate sensors and shows what it finds.
Pick yours. Tap the strap by name.
Look for a number. A working connection shows a heart rate within a few seconds, and it changes when you move.

Beatcast connects without bonding and without an allow-list, so there is no pairing code and nothing to confirm in iOS Settings.

What if the list is empty

If Beatcast finds nothing, it tells you to put the sensor on and says most only appear once they can feel a heartbeat. Still nothing? Many sensors accept only one or two connections at a time, so quit the app, watch or bike computer holding it. On a chest strap, moisten the contacts.

If Bluetooth was off when you first opened the app, switch it on in Control Center and reopen the list.

One app at a time, mostly

A strap that is connected to a watch or a bike computer will not talk to your phone as well. Several models can take two or three Bluetooth connections, usually after you turn a setting on. The model-by-model table has the numbers.

The ANT+ trap

Some straps and many older watches speak ANT+ only. We know of no iPhone with an ANT+ radio, so an ANT+-only strap needs a bridge to Bluetooth. Check the box or the maker's page for the word Bluetooth before you buy. Dual straps that send both work over Bluetooth.

Something other than a strap

Sports watches need a broadcast mode switched on. The steps differ per maker, and the Beatcast FAQ has them.
AirPods Pro 3 skip Bluetooth for this. They go through Health, on iPhone only. Powerbeats Pro 2 use the same route, with a catch about which apps receive it. See the AirPods Pro 3 page.
An Apple Watch cannot be the sensor in Beatcast.

Where Beatcast fits

Once the strap is connected, the number moves into the Dynamic Island and onto the Lock Screen, and it stays there while you use other apps. Beatcast on the App Store. Fourteen days free, then one purchase.

Questions

Do I need to pair in iOS Settings?

Not for Beatcast, and not for most apps.

The strap connects and drops. Why?

See the not connecting checklist.

Does Beatcast work with the Polar H10?

Yes. It is the sensor I test with.

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, Apple Health, Dynamic Island, Lock Screen and StandBy 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.

Got your device working? Report it in r/beatcast and it goes on the list.