Introducing Heart Analyzer V8.2
Today I’m delighted to finally share my summer work with you.
I was thrilled when Apple announced that Electrocardiograms measured by Apple Watch would now be available to third party apps. Alongside that, there has been rumours for a while of Apple Watch Series 6 supporting Blood Oxygen Saturation measurements. With this information, I’ve worked to come up with the following massive update.
New Features:
Blood Oxygen Saturation support with the ability to track daily ranges and view a week’s chart
ECG support keeping you in touch with readings and letting you compare two ECGs side by side
Re-designed complications throughout on Apple Watch
A customizable Dashboard for those who what to be choosy about their metrics
Extended data doubled from two to four years
A Heart Analyzer Guide - You’ve been asking for a while if there was somewhere to find more details on what the app has to offer this is now here!
A home screen heart rate Widget
And seriously….. soooo much more
I’d like to focus on some details about a couple of these new features.
With Apple now giving developers the ability to read in ECG data for the first time with iOS 14 & WatchOS 7, I was really keen to incorporate this into Heart Analyzer. The single lead ECG really is an amazing thing to have out there around the world on people’s wrists. It could be said that in some ways it is not as meaningful for many users because it requires manual measurements, this contrasts to Heart Rate and Blood Oxygen Saturation which are recorded periodically in the background. But I believe, for those who are keen to focus on their Heart Health, it’s a key tool.
To try and build on what the standard Apple Health app report offers for the ECG feature, I’ve gone a step further to offer ECG comparisons. This allows users to select through days in their Dashboard and find a particular ECG. After generating a chart of their selected ECG, they can then select a second ECG to view directly underneath. You can see the average Heart Rate of each ECG alongside them so that you are able to match ones of similar rhythms. My hope is that in future, users will find extra meaning in the ECG data by being able to compare them in this way. This is exactly how the Apple Watch has thrived with Heart Rate measurements. An individual measurement at a single point in time combined with any potential inaccuracies is likely to give very little meaning. But combining many measurements over significant periods of time allows you to see your trends and gain valuable insight into your Heart Rate. This is what Heart Analyzer has always offered, but now it does so with Electrocardiograms as well.
Secondly, Blood Oxygen Saturation, also known as SPO2. Whilst this feature was rumoured for a while, it was difficult to know how Apple Watch would incorporate the feature. Would it take periodic measurements? Would it record at night? Would it record during workouts? Well, some careful guesses to these questions plus a few short hours with the Apple Watch Series 6 before Heart Analyzer V8.2’s release has allowed me to complete a feature set.
Having found that the Apple Watch Series 6 measures the users Blood Oxygen Saturation most often at night, Heart Analyzer offers charts for the users past week range of measurements, with a filter for nighttime values. For users who want to keep in touch with the periodic measurements taken, there’s also a complication option available directly on the Apple Watch. I plan to incorporate more on these features soon, if you have feedback, I'‘m listening!
Making this update has been an absolute pleasure. I’ve delighted with how the platforms have advanced this year and excited to see how users enjoy these new features, especially the ECGs and SPO2!
Please keep the feedback coming and stay safe!
Simon