Heart rate tracking not usable? What about sleep tracking?

[adamalter]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like there are NO Urbane 2-compatible, 3rd party apps that offer fitness tracking (24/7 heart rate, steps, calories, cycling, sleep). Google Fit is the closest, and it can only take a heart rate sample from the Urbane 2 once an hour, can't read the heart rate during activities, and has no way to track sleep.

I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something, as I've tried so many different ways to get 24/7 heart rate, steps, calories, and my cycling activities, coming from the Urbane 2, into 1 platform. It appears impossible. Nearly all apps can't see the heart rate, and you can't export it or share it with another platform.

*Update* in case someone reads this who is thinking of buying and these features are important:

Daily HRM
I'm using the Android Wear 2.0 beta (2nd edition). For daily heart rate tracking, "Heart Rate OS" from Google Play, seems to smoothly and efficiently use the optical HRM and syncs the data with Google Fit. However, it doesn't appear to be stand-alone yet and may need the phone near. Steps and other data can go straight to Google Fit already.

Sleep Tracking
Sleep as Android, from Google Play, now works, and logs heart rate. With cell and display off, a 7 hr night took off ~32% battery in the 2 nights it's worked for me now.

Activity Tracking
The other thing I was looking for is tracking (w/hrm) my 40+ miles of daily bike commuting. Even though I use a cycling computer, I need the frequent heart rate tracking redundancy for many personal and work reasons. While this hasn't yet been solved for the Urbane 2, I see the latest Strava app update actually shows live heart rate on the watch, in an activity, but doesn't appear to record. I suspect it's coming soon, though. GhostRacer has all of the heart rate settings, but no data is showing, same with Google Fit Activity. I have no doubt they're all working at this, given the extremely obvious fact that it's in high demand across the board. To not spew things without my reasoning, my basis for this is: Fitbit now has activity HRM in many devices, Pebble has moved to it, Apple noted it's one of the biggest interest factors, and my own polling/surveys I've done, with significant respondents, clearly shows holistic, active, and athletic groups are identifying it as a top priority.

 

[foxbat121]

Sleep tracking works fine with one app I tried. Continuous heart rate monitoring is not possible because of the sensor needs continuous strobing of lights to detect the heart rate which drains battery rather quickly. steps and calories are automatically collected 24/7.

I like the heart rate monitor on Apple Watch. It is 24/7 and quite accurate.

 

[adamalter]

I've actually tested the Apple Watch and about a dozen other devices. I do 2 hours a day of cycling where I track heart rate. Between that, sleep tracking, and daily steps, calories/heart rate, devices like the Apple watch & Moto 360 Gen 2 can burn through nearly 2 full charges each day.

Garmin's latest devices cover a lot of features, but their optical heart rate in the 235, 735, Fenix 3 HR, have all been horrible. Their notifications are limited, but still usable. Also, their heart rate uses an algo that can go hours without a sample.

Samsung locks down their data and you can't even see heart rate in Google Fit. You have to jump through hoops to pull it out.

Ironically, Fitbit's latest Blaze seems to be pretty solid for battery and accurate/frequent heart rate, but I'm still testing it. Their notifications are pretty bad, but then again, it's not compatible with the Galaxy S7, which blows my mind.

Here's a very basic dashboard graph overlay of the Fitbit Blaze vs. Garmin 735XT. I was just lounging around from midnight to 4PM, yesterday. Fitbit shows 103 peak heart rate, Garmin, 166, with many spikes. This is a rough example of what I over-all found with Garmin.

Then there's devices like the UA Band, which was a complete waste, as it only checks heart rate once per day and records it as if it's usable or meaningful. You can manually do a check, but it doesn't record it...

The Microsoft Band 2 has a good platform, with solid sleep tracking, 24/7 tracking, and notifications, but isn't very comfortable and the 1 minute heart rate data isn't very usable for non-endurance activities.

 

[foxbat121]

It's a smart watch first. Fitness tracker is passible but nothing compared to dedicated trackers.

 

[adamalter]

Thanks! I guess you're right, it's a "smart" watch. To think an Android Wear watch with an Optical Heart Rate Sensor would show & record heart rate during an activity using GOOGLE FIT would be a HUGE stretch lulz...

 

[jchwila]

Thanks! I guess you're right, it's a "smart" watch. To think an Android Wear watch with an Optical Heart Rate Sensor would show & record heart rate during an activity using GOOGLE FIT would be a HUGE stretch lulz...

I'm using Endomondo on daily basis to track activity. Earlier on Urbane W150, now W200. It has continuous heart rate monitoring and GPS suport. Data syncs nicely with Google Fit. Only issue you have to keep screen in always on mode. Otherwise it stops measuring heart rate.

 

[tech_head]

I'm using Endomondo on daily basis to track activity. Earlier on Urbane W150, now W200. It has continuous heart rate monitoring and GPS suport. Data syncs nicely with Google Fit. Only issue you have to keep screen in always on mode. Otherwise it stops measuring heart rate.

I use a heart rate app that allows you to check at specific intervals.
https://forums.androidcentral.com/e....jwork.wearable.heartratesync2&token=kZHERcWH

I purchased the pro key.
It logs and graphs on the phone and communicates with the watch sensors.