Beatcast
Chest strap heart rate in Apple Health
By Andreas B. Diendorfer · ORCID · LinkedIn · Updated
Short answer
A Bluetooth strap sends its readings to an app. For the numbers to appear in Health, that app has to write them there. Polar's apps can sync to Health, and the Wahoo app shares workouts. Beatcast can write a finished session as a workout with heart rate samples, if you switch it on.
Last checked: 21 October 2026.
Why an app has to do it
Polar tells you to pair its straps inside its own app, not in the Bluetooth settings of the iPhone, and says the Polar Beat app is compatible with Apple's Health app. A 2018 post on Apple's developer forum, from a developer, reports that a strap connected under Settings > Bluetooth showed no samples in Health on some phones. It adds that apps with their own Bluetooth manager read the strap directly. So an app has two jobs: read the strap and write to Health.
The routes
- The maker's app that syncs. Polar Flow says on its listing that it shares your heart rate with Apple Health, and Polar Beat offers a Health connection. The Wahoo listing says the app shares workouts to Apple Health. Check the listing for the model you own.
- An app that records a workout. Strava and similar apps write workouts, subject to their own settings.
- Beatcast. Finished sessions can be saved as a workout with heart rate samples.
What Beatcast writes
A workout, with heart rate samples. If you have switched on the optional calorie estimate, it also writes active energy. If you allow heart rate but not workouts in Health, it saves the heart rate samples alone. Saving to Health is optional and off by default. Beatcast doesn't read your Health data, with one narrow exception for AirPods Pro 3 and Powerbeats Pro 2 as sensors, where it reads live heart rate for the running session.
Turn on Save to Apple Health in Settings, and allow it on the Health sheet the first time.
What doesn't go to Health
The camera spot check stays out of the session history. A broadcast to another app doesn't write to Health by itself.
Questions
Does Apple Health read my Polar H10?
Polar says to pair the H10 in a Polar app, not in iOS Settings. The heart rate reaches Health through an app that writes it there.
Will Beatcast read my past workouts?
No. The earbuds route asks for workout access because a workout session needs it, but Beatcast never reads past workouts or history.
Do I have to turn Health on?
No. It is off until you switch it on.
What if I want a file instead?
Beatcast exports CSV and TCX. The export guide has what each file holds and where it can go.
Where Beatcast fits
Beatcast reads the strap, keeps the live number on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, and can pass the finished session to Health. A sensor is required. Beatcast on the App Store. Fourteen days free, then one purchase.
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, Apple Health, Dynamic Island and Lock Screen are trademarks of Apple Inc. Polar, Wahoo, Strava and other names belong to their owners and are used only to describe compatibility. Beatcast is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or certified by any of them.
Got yours working? Report it in r/beatcast and it goes on the list.