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Heart rate on iPhone without an Apple Watch

By · ORCID · LinkedIn · Updated

Short answer

An iPhone has no built-in sensor for a live heart rate during a workout. You add one: a Bluetooth heart rate strap or arm band, such as a Polar H10, or heart rate earbuds like AirPods Pro 3 (Powerbeats Pro 2 take the same route). Beatcast then shows the reading live on your iPhone, in the Dynamic Island and on the Lock Screen, and keeps it there while you use other apps.

A Garmin, COROS, Polar or Amazfit watch, or a Whoop band, works too once heart rate broadcast is switched on. Beatcast cannot use an Apple Watch as the sensor.

Last checked: 2 November 2026.

The three routes

1. A Bluetooth strap or arm band

This is the route most people take. Polar, Garmin, Wahoo, Coospo and others make sensors that send Bluetooth heart rate. Wear it wherever it reads: chest, upper arm, forearm. Beatcast does not care.

On the phone you need to allow Bluetooth in the app and wake the sensor. Most only appear once they feel a heartbeat, so moisten the contacts of a chest strap. The connection guide has the steps, and the sensor list shows which models I have covered.

2. AirPods Pro 3

If you already own them, they are a sensor. Heart rate from AirPods Pro 3 reaches an iPhone app through Health while a workout session runs. In Beatcast you pick the row named "AirPods Pro 3 or Powerbeats Pro 2" and allow Heart Rate and Workouts. The first reading takes a few seconds. It works on iPhone, not iPad. Powerbeats Pro 2 use the same route, with a catch about which apps receive it. Details on the AirPods Pro 3 page and the Powerbeats Pro 2 page.

3. A sports watch from another maker

Newer Garmin watches, COROS, Polar, Amazfit models with Heart Rate Push, Suunto's Race 2, Vertical 2, Race and Race S, and Whoop can broadcast heart rate once a broadcast mode is on. Each maker hides the switch somewhere different. An Apple Watch is not on this list, since no Apple broadcast mode is documented. If you wear one, Beatcast can show your strap's heart rate on it.

What about the camera apps?

Search for this and you will find many apps that read your pulse through the camera. You hold a fingertip over the lens and keep still for a moment. It suits a quick check. For a number that keeps going through a workout, or while you wind down, people add a strap or earbuds.

What won't work

  • An Apple Watch as the sensor.
  • Straps that speak only ANT+, unless an ANT+-to-Bluetooth bridge sits between them and the phone.
  • Smart rings such as Oura, which use their own protocol.

Why you might want to leave the Apple Watch off

Plenty of people keep the Apple Watch for the day and put a strap on for the bench, the bike or the sofa. A strap sends about one reading a second and it sits where you decide. A phone propped up in front of you is easier to glance at than a wrist you are using.

If you wear both, the strap is still the sensor. Beatcast on the watch becomes a second screen for it.

Where Beatcast fits

Start a session and the number moves into the Dynamic Island and onto the Lock Screen. It stays there while you are in another app. Prop the phone up and it fills the screen. The readout takes the colour of your zone, and Beatcast can tell you when you leave it, by sound, voice or haptic, with the phone locked in a pocket.

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Questions

Which route should I start with?

The one you already own. If that is a strap in a drawer or AirPods Pro 3 on your desk, you are done.

Can I do it with only my iPhone?

Not for live heart rate. A sensor is required.

Do I need Bluetooth on?

Yes, for straps, arm bands and watches. The earbuds route goes through Health.

Which strap should I get?

See the sensor list for what works. I rank none of them.

See also: Which watches broadcast, choosing a strap.

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.

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