The Medical Anxiety
The Apple Watch is heavily marketed as a health device. By default, it continuously monitors your pulse in the background. It utilizes an algorithm designed to detect anomalies: if you appear to have been sitting completely still for 10 minutes, but your heart rate spikes above 120 BPM, or violently drops below 40 BPM, the watch will blast a massive “High Heart Rate” or “Low Heart Rate” warning across the screen. While this can theoretically detect medical emergencies, it is highly prone to false positives if you are simply stressed, watching a scary movie, or have a naturally low resting heart rate due to athletic training. For many users, these constant, incorrect medical alerts induce severe anxiety. You must disable the alarms.
How to Turn Off Heart Rate Notifications
You can permanently sever the connection between the pulse sensor and the alert engine via the Heart settings.
- Open the Settings app directly on your Apple Watch (the grey gear icon).
- Scroll down the main list and tap on Heart.
- Tap on High Heart Rate Notifications.
- Scroll to the absolute top of the list and select Off.
- Press the back arrow, then tap on Low Heart Rate Notifications.
- Scroll to the absolute top of the list and select Off.
Silent Tracking
The change is instantaneous. The Apple Watch will completely disable the background anomaly-detection algorithms. The watch will continue to silently record your pulse throughout the day, and all your data will still perfectly sync to the Health app on your iPhone. However, the watch will never again interrupt your day to aggressively diagnose your heart rate, ensuring a completely anxiety-free wearing experience.