3 iOS apps that measure your heart rate

When Samsung introduced the new Samsung Galaxy S5 yesterday, practically everyone expected a biometric fingerprint sensor on the smartphone. However, what few of us expected was that the terminal would also incorporate a heart rate sensor on its own. It did not take long for criticism to be heard about how the iPhone 5s lacks this function but the truth is that there are a series of apps that allow us to measure our heart rate with the iPhone and the best thing is that it does not have to be the latest model presented to work. Today we are going to talk about some of them.

Specifically, the apps in question make use of the rear camera of the iPhone to determine your heart rate and are also compatible with the cameras of the iPad and iPod Touch thus expanding their spectrum of functionality. Its operation is quite simple and essentially what they come to do is determine the pulsations of our finger based on the number of times the image of the presented finger changes (more or less light enters).

1) Plus Sports heart rate monitor. This app, available in Spanish for 1.79 euros, was developed by Plus Sports and allows us to measure our heart rate either through an image of our face or with our fingertips. Create statistics of our pulse rate and calculate your training zones in relation to our heart rate.

2) Instant heart rate. This app is also available for 1.79 euros but it cannot be viewed in Spanish. As an attractive point, it stands out that it shows us our heart rate in real time as we would see it in a hospital, being able to hear the classic "beep".

3) Runtastic Heart Rate Pro. Finally we have Runtastic Heart Rate Pro. This app has been designed with a focus on sports. In this sense, it shows us our rhythm before and after exercising, when we are resting, it produces a series of attractive statistics and little else. This app is also available in Spanish and its price is slightly higher than the previous ones, costing 1.99 euros. Personally, although I love the approach I have a hard time seeing anyone using this app consistently remembering to measure their pulse before and after exercising.

All in all, they are all great options that have been praised by numerous media. They have solid reviews in the App Store and can be perfectly viable options for those who want to monitor their heart rate on a day-to-day basis without complicating existence much.