StressWatch:HRV Stress Tracker 4+

Well designed

I was looking for a stress monitoring app that would update automatically throughout the day when my watch takes HRV readings. I like this one because it gives me both a daily stress rating, based on HRV and RHR, and one that updates during the day.

The premium is comparably priced to similar apps, and the free version does quite a bit but doesn’t show trends or as detailed data. There is a lot of explanation and details if you like that, or you can put a simple complication on your watch to see your most recent HRV and stress rating. I have found it to be pretty accurate for me.

No Real Time Updates

I'm updating my review and adding a couple stars because I appreciate the Developer response and they shouldn't be faulted for Apple's horrible policies and refund review process.

Updated Review: Alerts don't happen in real time, which is what I specifically need this app for. The max frequency you can get (which requires configuration from default settings of 2-5 hours) is every 15 minutes. I appreciate caring Developer responses, and if real time monitoring is not needed, the app would be fine. More that watch faces don't work for all (though complications do work).

Old Review: The data was consistently several hours behind. Alerts don't come in real time (even though I made sure my settings allowed for immediate notifications). I purchased this in order to get alerts in the moment so I could make adjustments in real time. After trying it for almost a day hoping it would catch up, I canceled and requested a refund. The request was denied, I appealed, and it was denied again. Normally I wouldn't purchase without a free trial but the reviews and ratings were so high I took a chance. I think a lot of those ratings must be friends and family. I don't often write negative reviews, but this was an expensive mistake and since refunds are apparently not possible even when requested promptly because functionality doesn't work, I want to try to save someone else from a similar error in judgment.

Developer Response ,

The default HRV (Heart Rate Variability) update frequency for the Apple Watch is every 2-5 hours. However, if you need real-time updates, you can adjust the monitoring frequency to every 15 minutes by going to Settings > Stress Monitoring Frequency. This should meet your needs.

Regarding refunds, they are automatically processed by Apple, which bases its decisions on the duration of your purchase and your past refund history. As developers, we do not have the authority to participate in the refund review process.

As an app that has been recommended multiple times on the App Store, all our reviews are from genuine users.

Cannot Get Notifications to Work

Been using this app to track my hrv for weeks and I absolutely cannot get it to notify me. I have not received a single notification from the app. Not once.

I have gone through the StressWatch faqs and troubleshooting tips turning on and off features and notifications on my phone and watch to see if I can get it to ever notify me of anything. Still no.

I realize the app only takes measurements every 2-5 hours so it may not be helpful for real time “stop overdoing it” notifications but literally any notification at all would be better than none.

Now I have to remember to check the data (which isn’t always updated in the app or on my phone or on the app-specific watch face I’m using) on top of the 800 other things I have to remember to do in order to deal with my illness. Annoying! I’m going to use this until I find something better because I need those hrv measurements for my health.

But I’m not impressed.

I hate to leave bad reviews but this is an app to help people with their health and it isn’t working the way it says it does and it’s now causing me to stress about it and that’s exactly what I, an ill person, do not need.

Also the faqs/help section is not always super helpful like for example: the “when will StressWatch prompt overload” article literally doesn’t say when the StressWatch will prompt overload and considering the problems I have had it makes me suspicious that the answer is 🤷🏻)

Developer Response ,

Hi, most likely the reason you're not receiving notifications is because you have some options on your iOS or watchOS set incorrectly.
The watchOS itself has a lot of complicated settings, and it's easy to get them wrong without noticing them.
If you're still experiencing problems, feel free to contact us at badideas100@hotmail.com and we'll be happy to provide you with detailed instructions.