Every once in while, it’s really important to check your heart rate or BPM, just to check that everything is normal and that you’re not about to have a heart attack. It is also useful for comparison purposes with others.
The App Store has heralded a host of solutions, some of which have separate accessories, to solve this problem. CardioGraph, which measures your BPM using the iPhone’s camera and your fingertips is another one of those apps. Let’s see how it performs.
Overview
Before I proceed, let me say right from the off that it would be wrong to compare this to professional equipment. This gives a rough measurement and should be used as a guide onl. Always consult your doctor if you want an official reading.
When you first open the app, you get a nice tutorial telling you exactly what to do, and everything, in theory is very easy. The layout looks good, and everything you need is on one screen. You don’t need to swipe at all.
Getting to actually measuring the BPM, it’s tricky and while it does work, it takes more than just a few tries to get it perfect. You have to place your index finger over either the rear or front camera (you can choose which), without pressing too hard but also not too lightly either. You also have to make sure your finger is centered over the lens.
There is a meter in the app which tells you the accuracy of the reading, but rarely have I got a perfect accuracy rating. It’s very difficult to do, even though you will get a rough idea of your BPM with only three out of five bars showing on the accuracy meter.
The app could be improved so much if this was made easier to get accurate. I completely understand that it’s difficult given the nature of the hardware being used and that the iPhone is not purpose built for reading heart rates, but I still feel it could have been better.
To end on a high though, the sharing options built in are good, allowing you to share your heartrate via email. You can also print it out from within the app.
Verdict
This is a very simple and rough indicator of your BPM. It is no way near as accurate as some of the accessories you can get for your iDevice, having said that, it’s a very cheap alternative and probably fine for most.
While it takes a bit of time to get it spot on, you can get a rough reading of what your BPM is, and that’s what’s most important.
Rating: 3.5/5
Price: $1.99 (App Store Link)
Pros:
- Easy to use, everything on one screen.
- Emailing and printing options.
- One can use either camera.
Cons:
- Difficult to get an accurate measurement right off the bat.
This is a sponsored review via Review Roster.
