HeartCast: Heart Rate Monitor 4+

Difficulty connecting

I have to turn my watch off or reinstall the app every time I use it. It is great when it works but this issue is causing me a lot of frustration.

Update: the app is very unstable and has become unusable. I have to reboot my watch and phone every time I use it. I don’t know if this is an iPhone/watch issue or an issue with the app. And it won’t reliably connect to my peloton anymore. Sometimes it drops in and out; sometimes it takes a while to connect and sometimes it won’t connect at all. Again, it is great when it works because it saves me having to wear a heart chest monitor or otherwise seeking a work around for peloton. But, it has not been reliable and when it takes me 5 minutes or so to start the app and get it working it throws off my workout routine.

Please get this app stable! It is so good when it works.

This saves time & money and removes hassle.

My stupid cardiologist wants me to track HR while exercising. Okay great. I have peloton bike (not + version) but only 2 years old. I HATE wearing a chest strap to track HR. The chest strap HRM that came with the bike was never a great solution anyway - often it just would not connect. I even tried another Peloton branded chest HRM and that failed to connect just as often. I tried a HRM (~$50) that is worn on forearm and it worked for a few months then died. And don’t forget how dumb I felt wearing a forearm HRM and having it sit right next to my seemingly ineffectual Apple Watch. I hated the fact that the Apple Watch is a great HRM but was unable to work with the bike, and therefore forced me into another piece of hardware.

So I stumbled onto this app Thru a review on a random blog. (‘Champaign and coffee stains’). They detailed a process and usage that was simple and effective.

It’s a great app. I would gladly pay $$ to put the apple watch to good use and not have to wear an annoying HRM.

A superior and free way to connect your Apple Watch to Peloton

One of the few frustrations of the Peloton platform is its inability to use your Apple Watch as a heart rate monitor. I’m not going to get into a discussion of whether Apple or Peloton is to blame for this, just note that it is a frustration looking for a solution. Here is your solution.

HeartCast runs on your iPhone and Apple Watch simultaneously, taking your pulse from your watch, broadcasting it to your phone, which then rebroadcasts it in a way that Peloton recognizes as a true heart rate monitor. Genius. And guess what — the app is free.

I tried to use another similar app, which is quite popular, and uses the “freemium” model. That is to say, the app forces you to watch a long commercial unless you upgrade it for a fee. I could never get it to work. From what I can tell, the length of the commercial may have caused the bike to disconnect from the Peloton before it could even get started. There are many posts online as to how to get around the problems with this other app. I suppose I could have paid to upgrade it and see if that solved my problems. But can you imagine the frustration if I had paid for the app and it still didn’t work. So instead I downloaded HeartCast. For free. And I never looked back. In fact, I’ve been so pleased that I made a voluntary donation to the developer.

Save yourself some grief and check it out. You won’t be disappointed.

Developer Response ,

Uwlaw94, thank you for this great review and for your donation. Your support is much appreciated. ♥️