Check your heart rate on iPhone without an Apple Watch

You can check your heart rate on an iPhone without an Apple Watch in four ways: a camera app that reads your fingertip under the flash, AirPods Pro 3 or Powerbeats Pro 2 during a workout, a manual pulse count with a timer, or another wearable or chest strap that writes heart rate to Apple Health. The iPhone has no dedicated heart rate sensor of its own.

At rest, a good fingertip camera app can come within about 2 beats per minute (bpm) of an ECG, according to a 2017 study. Face-scanning apps were less accurate. This guide covers each method, how accurate it is, and how to get a clean reading. For what your number means, see the resting heart rate by age chart.

Can an iPhone measure heart rate?

An iPhone can measure heart rate with its camera, but it has no built-in heart rate sensor. Camera apps use photoplethysmography (PPG): the flash lights your fingertip, and the camera sees small color changes each time a pulse of blood arrives. Counting those pulses gives heart rate. Apple's own heart rate features on iPhone come from paired devices.

Method	What you need	When it measures	Saved to Apple Health
Fingertip camera app	iPhone and a PPG app	On demand, at rest	If the app writes to Health
Face camera app	iPhone and a non-contact app	On demand, at rest	If the app writes to Health
AirPods Pro 3 or Powerbeats Pro 2	Supported earbuds	During workouts	Yes, viewable in Health
Manual pulse count	A timer	On demand	You can add it by hand
Other watch, ring or chest strap	A device or app that syncs to Health	Continuous or during workouts	Yes, if sync is turned on

Sources: Apple Support (AirPods Pro 3, Powerbeats Pro 2, Health data); Coppetti et al. 2017.

How do you check heart rate with the iPhone camera?

To check heart rate with the iPhone camera, open a PPG heart rate app, cover the rear camera and the flash with one fingertip, and stay still for the time the app asks. Rest your hand on a table, press lightly, and breathe normally. The app shows your pulse when it has a clean signal.

Steps that make the reading cleaner:

• Sit and rest first: For resting heart rate, sit quietly for a few minutes before you start.
• Cover both lens and flash: One fingertip over the camera and the light. On phones with several lenses, follow the app's guide.
• Light pressure: Rest the finger on the lens; do not press hard.
• Stay still: Movement disturbs the signal. Rest your arm on a table.
• Same time each day: Morning, after waking, gives the most comparable resting value.

How accurate are iPhone heart rate apps?

Fingertip camera apps are reasonably accurate at rest; face-scanning apps are less so. In a 2017 study of 108 patients, the best fingertip app had a mean absolute error of about 2 bpm against an ECG, similar to a pulse oximeter. Two face-scanning apps had errors of 7.1 and 8.1 bpm.

Method in the study	Mean absolute error vs ECG	Correlation with ECG
Pulse oximeter (reference device)	2 bpm	r = 0.92
Fingertip app A (contact PPG)	2 bpm	r = 0.96
Fingertip app B (contact PPG)	4.5 bpm	r = 0.83
Face app A (non-contact PPG)	7.1 bpm	r = 0.62
Face app B (non-contact PPG)	8.1 bpm	r = 0.60

Source: Coppetti et al., Eur J Prev Cardiol 2017. Tested on iPhone 4 and iPhone 5 with 108 randomly selected patients. Newer phones and apps may differ.

Two lessons hold beyond that study. First, contact beats non-contact. Second, apps differ, so keep using one app to make your trend comparable.

Can AirPods check your heart rate?

AirPods Pro 3 and Powerbeats Pro 2 have in-ear heart rate sensors. Apple describes heart rate tracking during workouts: wear at least one earbud, connect it to your iPhone, and start a workout in the Fitness app or a supported third-party workout app. Heart rate shows live in the app and can be viewed in the Health app afterward.

Apple says Powerbeats Pro 2 do not separately record or store heart rate data; it goes to the Fitness and Health apps on your iPhone. Heart rate monitoring can be turned off in Settings under your earbuds. These earbuds are built for workouts, so they are not the tool for an overnight resting heart rate.

How do you check your pulse by hand?

To check your pulse by hand, place your index and middle fingers on the inside of the opposite wrist, below the base of the thumb, and press gently until you feel the beat. Count the beats for a full minute, or for 30 seconds and multiply by 2. Use your iPhone clock timer to keep time.

You can also feel the pulse on the side of the neck, beside the Adam's apple. Sit or lie down first, press gently, and never press both sides of the neck at the same time. The Health app lets you add data by hand: open the category, tap Add Data, then enter the date, time and value.

Where is heart rate in the iPhone Health app?

Open the Health app, tap Search, then Heart, then Heart Rate. That page collects heart rate from every source you allow: Apple Watch, AirPods Pro 3, Powerbeats Pro 2, camera apps that write to Health, and other watches, rings or chest straps that sync to Apple Health.

Apple Health also has a separate Resting Heart Rate type. Apple describes it as an estimate of your lowest heart rate during periods of rest, calculated from sedentary samples across the day. It appears automatically only when a device such as Apple Watch writes it. Some other wearables write heart rate samples but not a resting value. For the overnight side of resting heart rate, see sleeping heart rate.

What heart rate should you see at rest?

For adults, a normal resting heart rate is 60 to 100 bpm, and well-trained athletes are often between 40 and 60 bpm. Your own usual value matters more than the population range, so measure the same way at the same time and watch the trend over a few weeks.

See a doctor if your resting heart rate is often above 100 bpm, or below 60 bpm when you are not a trained athlete and you have symptoms such as dizziness or fainting. Also see a doctor for an irregular pulse, palpitations or chest pain. A phone app can count beats, but it can not diagnose a rhythm problem. If your number seems high, read why your resting heart rate is going up.

How Svanu measures with the camera

Svanu has a camera measurement built in. Put your finger on the rear camera and flash for 20 to 30 seconds; the reading stops early when the signal is clean, and the screen shows your live heart rate during the reading. The app computes HRV as RMSSD from the same photoplethysmography signal. Morning readings feed the recovery score.

Camera readings are compared only with camera readings, never with a watch's overnight HRV, which Apple Watch records as SDNN. The app also works with any device that writes to Apple Health. If your device does not write a resting heart rate, the app derives one from heart-rate samples during your main sleep. It is useful on iPhone alone, and there is no sign-up. Learn more about camera HRV on iPhone or see the Svanu home page.