A little over a week ago, Apple released an update for its Apple Watch but unfortunately it seems that at that time, the update changed how the Apple Watch recorded the wearer’s heart rate. Prior to the update, the smartwatch recorded the wearer’s heart rate every 10 minutes, but this changed to what seemed like an irregular schedule after the update.Users were complaining that the watch was sporadic in terms of capturing heart rate data in what seemed like a bug, but Apple has since clarified that this was intentional. According to a post on Apple’s website it now reads, “In addition, Apple Watch attempts to measure your heart rate every 10 minutes, but won’t record it when you’re in motion or your arm is moving.”
It has been speculated that this was done in order to conserve battery life, although so far there have not been any reports on an increase in battery life even with this feature activated, so we can’t be sure of what was Apple’s initial intentions for this change. That being said if you’re an active user, this shouldn’t really matter to you.
The watch will still be able to record and display your heart rate if you were to start a workout in the Workout app. Alternatively for users who don’t really need the continuous/passive monitoring, you can always check on your heart rate whenever you want by going to the Heart Rate Glance feature.
Filed in . Read more about Apple Watch, Smartwatch and Wearable Tech.