How to Choose the Best Heart Rate Monitor App for iPhone

A quick note before we start: Pulse Tracker is our app. We will tell you where it fits, and we will also say where other apps may suit you better.

What makes a heart rate app worth using?

Most camera heart rate apps work the same basic way. A fingertip over the rear camera and flash lets the camera see the faint change in color with each heartbeat. This is called photoplethysmography, or PPG. What separates good apps from weak ones is what they do with that signal.

Here are seven things to check before you commit.

What to check	Why it matters	What good looks like
Fingertip method	Fingertip apps beat face scans in head-to-head testing	Finger on the rear camera and flash
Signal quality	A noisy reading is worse than none	A live pulse wave and a quality score
Free heart rate	You should be able to try the core feature	Heart rate checks with no cap
Your own baseline	A single number means little on its own	Each reading compared with your recent normal
HRV in real units	Scores alone are hard to interpret	RMSSD, SDNN and pNN50 in plain view
Honest blood pressure	No phone camera stands in for a cuff	A cuff log, with any estimate clearly labeled
Data and privacy	Heart data is personal	Apple Health sync you control, no forced account

Does the method matter: fingertip or face scan?

Yes. A 2017 study in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology tested four iPhone apps in 108 patients against ECG. The two apps that used a fingertip on the camera had average errors of about 2 and 4.5 beats per minute. The two face-scanning apps were off by about 7 and 8.

Notice the gap between the two fingertip apps, too. The method gets you most of the way, but the software still matters. That is why a visible signal and a quality score are so useful: they let you judge each reading yourself instead of trusting a bare number.

How do you test a heart rate app in five minutes?

You do not have to take any app’s word for it. Try this before you pay for anything.

1. Sit quietly for five minutes. Resting readings are the easiest to compare.
2. Take a reading with the app. Rest your fingertip lightly over the camera and flash and hold still for the full time.
3. Count your pulse by hand right after. Place two fingers on the thumb side of your wrist and count for 60 seconds, or tap along with our BPM counter.
4. Compare the two numbers. At rest they should land within a few beats of each other.
5. Repeat with a bad reading on purpose. Wiggle your finger or press hard. A good app should show a messy wave, a low quality score or ask you to try again, rather than give you a confident number.
6. Check the paywall. Note what you can see for free, and read the price list in the App Store listing before you start any trial.

Our guide to measuring your pulse with a phone camera covers technique in more detail.

Which heart rate apps for iPhone should you compare?

Here is a fair, short look at the main choices. Feature lists below come from each app’s App Store listing as we read it in October 2026. Listings change, so check them before you decide.

• Apple Watch and the Health app. If you already wear an Apple Watch, it records heart rate automatically through the day and saves it to Health. Nothing on a phone matches that for continuous tracking. You do not need a separate app for heart rate, though some people add one for HRV detail or a blood pressure journal.
• InPulse. One of the most downloaded camera heart rate apps. It reads your pulse through the fingertip, shows a stress read-out and keeps a journal where you can log blood pressure and oxygen. See Pulse Tracker vs InPulse.
• Heartify. A popular camera app built around HRV-based stress, energy and recovery scores, plus courses and a community. A good fit if you like guided content. See Pulse Tracker vs Heartify.
• iCardio. It pairs a camera pulse check with a journal for blood pressure, blood sugar and sleep, and its listing is clear that those numbers come from other devices. It suits people who want one log for many numbers. See Pulse Tracker vs iCardio.
• HeartScan. It takes a different route: you lie down with the phone on your chest, and its motion sensor picks up heartbeat vibrations. It also runs on Android. A good choice if you would rather not use the camera. See Pulse Tracker vs HeartScan.
• Pulse Tracker. A fingertip camera app that shows a live pulse wave and a quality score with every reading. From the same scan it measures heart rate, HRV (RMSSD, SDNN, pNN50), respiratory rate, stress and energy, and compares the result with your 30-day baseline. Heart rate measurement is free and unlimited.

For a side-by-side table of features and prices, see our app comparison hub.

What about HRV, stress and blood pressure features?

Extras are where apps differ most, and where marketing can get ahead of the facts.

HRV. Heart rate variability is the small change in time between beats. The standard measures, set out by a 1996 European and North American task force, include RMSSD, SDNN and pNN50. An app that shows these numbers, not just a score, lets you compare your readings over time and with other tools. Our HRV guide explains what they mean.

Blood pressure. The American Heart Association recommends an automatic upper-arm cuff for home readings and says wrist and finger monitors give less reliable results. Be wary of any listing that promises exact blood pressure from a fingertip. Pulse Tracker lets you log readings from your own cuff, each one placed in its AHA stage. After you calibrate with a cuff, it can also show an estimated value between cuff checks. That estimate is clearly labeled and does not stand in for the cuff. Our blood pressure chart explains the stages.

Everything else. Pulse Tracker also lets you log blood oxygen from your own oximeter, save mood and notes with each reading, sync with Apple Health, try guided breathing exercises and ask an AI health assistant about your numbers. Pick the extras you will use every week, not the longest list.

What can no heart rate app do?

Even the best app is a wellness tool, not a diagnosis. A camera app gives you spot checks when you choose to take one. It cannot follow you through a workout or while you sleep, and it cannot tell you why your heart rate is high or low.

Pulse Tracker’s rhythm label is simply a description of whether a reading falls in a slow, normal or fast range. Use your readings to notice trends and to start a conversation with your doctor.

When to see a doctor

For most adults, the American Heart Association puts a normal resting heart rate between 60 and 100 beats per minute. Make an appointment if:

• Your resting heart rate is often above 100, or below 60 when you are not an endurance athlete.
• Your usual resting number changes noticeably without a clear reason.
• You often feel your heart racing, pounding, fluttering or skipping.
• You feel dizzy, faint or unusually short of breath with everyday activity.

If you have a heart condition or take medication that affects your heart rate or blood pressure, talk to your doctor about which numbers are right for you.

Call emergency services (911 in the US) right away if a fast, slow or irregular heartbeat comes with chest pain or pressure, severe shortness of breath, fainting, sudden weakness or confusion. Do not stop to take another reading first.

Sources

• American Heart Association, All About Heart Rate (Pulse)
• American Heart Association, Monitoring Your Blood Pressure at Home
• Coppetti T, et al. Accuracy of smartphone apps for heart rate measurement. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 2017.
• Task Force of the European Society of Cardiology and the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology. Heart rate variability: standards of measurement, physiological interpretation, and clinical use. Circulation, 1996.
• Mayo Clinic, How to take your pulse

Related: /compare/ · /guides/measure-pulse-with-phone-camera/ · /guides/heart-rate-app-without-apple-watch/ · What is HRV and what is a good number?

Wellness disclaimer. Pulse Tracker is intended for general wellness use only. It is not a medical device, is not FDA cleared or approved, and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or condition. Blood pressure shown in the app is either a value you entered from your own cuff or an estimate derived from the pulse signal after cuff calibration; it is not a measurement and must not be used to make medical decisions. Read the full wellness disclaimer. Camera readings, estimates and classifications are for general information only and can be affected by movement, lighting, skin temperature and other factors. Do not use them to diagnose, treat or make decisions about a medical condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional, and call emergency services if you have chest pain, shortness of breath, fainting or other urgent symptoms.