# HRV Watch: Stress & Recovery — Understand Your Nervous System

> Apple Watch HRV analysis for stress, recovery, and readiness scores. (iPhone/iPad app by Bernhard Hering.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hrv-watch-stress-and-recovery/id1368079276 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Bernhard Hering](https://appshunter.io/developer/327542085)
- Category: Health & Fitness, Medical
- Price: Free with in-app purchases (on sale, was $1.99)
- Rating: 3.70/5 from 7 App Store ratings · 16 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 18.0 · 14 MB
- Languages: American English, European Spanish, Italian, German (Germany), Brazilian Portuguese, French (France), Japanese
- Released: 2018-05-08
- Data updated: 2026-08-20
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hrv-watch-stress-and-recovery/id1368079276/reviews.md

## What is HRV Watch?

HRV Watch helps you genuinely understand heart rate variability. Instead of labeling every reading as “stress” or “recovery,” the app compares HRV with your personal baseline and shows when a meaningful pattern is developing.

What is HRV?
HRV describes your body’s ability to adapt the frequency of your heart rhythm to meet current demands. A healthy individual constantly adjusts their heart rhythm, reflecting resilience and adaptability. Regular tracking of HRV, RHR, and related metrics can provide useful context on stress and recovery trends.

Key features:
- A personal HRV baseline built from comparable days, not population cutoffs
- Clear states: in your range, unusual, sustained change, or returning toward baseline
- Nervous-system context from sleep, resting heart rate, respiratory rate, wrist temperature, and recent workouts when available in HealthKit
- Calm Home Screen, Lock Screen, and Apple Watch widgets
- Focused notifications with quiet hours, cooldowns, and immediate outliers off by default
- Mindful and overnight views for more comparable measurement conditions
Data Integration:
The app seamlessly connects with Apple’s Health app to display your recorded data on:

Apple Watch: A dedicated app and complication for quick insights.
iPhone: A user-friendly interface to analyze trends and progress.
How to Use:
Compatibility: The app requires an Apple Watch Series 3 or later.
Recording HRV Data: Use the Apple Breath App or other mindfulness apps to measure HRV values.
Consistency Matters: For accurate trends, measure HRV, RHR, and Recovery Ratio consistently in similar conditions, such as "first thing in the morning" before starting your day. Best practice: do a short mindful session right after waking to collect a reliable HRV baseline and use the mindful/non-mindful filter to compare.


This app utilizes advanced AI technology to provide context-aware coaching tailored to you.
This app uses artificial intelligence with OpenAI to analyze your data.
These metrics are informational trend tools and are not intended to diagnose medical conditions.
Medical disclaimer: HRV Watch does not provide medical diagnosis or treatment. Always seek advice from a physician or other qualified healthcare professional in addition to using this app and before making medical decisions.

Scientific references used in-app:
- HRV standards: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8598068/
- HRV review: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5624990/
- AHA heart rate guidance: https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/fitness/fitness-basics/target-heart-rates

Terms and conditions: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

## Key features

- HRV SDNN value analysis
- Resting Heart Rate monitoring
- Daily HRV Readiness Score (0-100)
- Recovery Ratio tracking
- Mindful session data filter
- Apple Health integration

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**Subscriptions**

| Subscription | Price | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| AI Health Insights | $2.99 | per 7 days |
| AI Health Insights | $3.99 | per month |
| Yearly Subscription | $14.99 | per year |


## Recent user reviews (10 of 16)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hrv-watch-stress-and-recovery/id1368079276/reviews.md

### 1/5 — Best function: SubscriptionMorphing

*2024-11-21*

One if those apps, that were great until the one update changed it to an subscription model without warning! 
Plus: 
The new interface is really bad. 
There are other apps out there that are premium for a two month subscription cost, constantly updating.

**Developer response:** Hi. I am sorry when you loved the old version. But the old version was not working anymore for most people. So i had to update it. You can still load die old version in the app store i guess if you like this more.
Subscription is only for the new introduced ai feature

### 1/5 — Typisch

*2024-11-16*

Gekauft. Jetzt Abo und Funktionseinschränkung. Lausiges Design und jetzt der erbärmliche Versuch mit „KI“ 😂 Geld zu machen. Wird gelöscht weil nervig.

**Developer response:** Hi Danke für dein Feedback.
Vorher konnte die app nur widgets und die Datenanzeigen. Diese Funktionen gibt es immer noch und sind jetzt kostenlos. Neu hinzugekommen ist in der Tat eine KI Analyse der Daten

### 2/5 — Naja

*2024-04-06*

Leider meiner Meinung nach  schlechte Darstellung der Diagramme, da gibt es bessere Appz.

### 5/5 — HRV complication

*2024-03-15*

Works well, recommended!

### 1/5 — Funktioniert nicht mehr

*2022-05-16*

Seit einiger Zeit erkennt es keine HRV mehr, die mit Atmen aufgenommen wurden.

### 5/5 — Sinnvolle Erweiterung

*2021-04-26*

Diese App (und noch ein paar weitere des Entwicklers) sortiert die oft unübersichtliche Menge an Messdaten in sehr sinnvoller Weise. Endlich lassen sich die entscheidenden Parameter, die für sportliche Nutzer der Apple Watch wichtig sind, übersichtlich auf einem Watchface vereinen. Super Idee, sauber umgesetzt! Danke!

**Developer response:** Vielen Dank, das freut mich sehr!

### 4/5 — Works well

*2021-02-06*

Supports iOS 14 and Watch Series 6. Wish I could filter by type of reading on the Watch app but still lets me see the info on the go without my phone. Thank you.

**Developer response:** Thank you so much, glad you like it!

### 1/5 — So angry

*2019-01-15*

For 1.99 it needs to be more stable

**Developer response:** Thank you for your review and sorry to hear that. I am constantly working on the app to improve it.

### 5/5 — apple watch 4 のコンプリケーションでHRVが確認できる

*2019-01-13*

HRV をapple watch とiPhoneで手軽に確認できる。特にapple watch のコンプリケーションに出しておくと常にストレスなどをチェックできてよい。
あとはグラフがやや見にくいのと、コンプリケーションのデザインカスタマイズ、HRV下落時のアラートに対応してほしい。

### 1/5 — Crash de l’application

*2018-11-09*

Dès l’ouverture, l’application crash...

Iphone X à jour - Watch serie 4 et j’ai déjà essayé de réinstaller l’app

**Developer response:** Merci pour votre commentaire et désolé de l'entendre. Je travaille constamment sur l'application pour l'améliorer.

## Frequently asked questions about HRV Watch

### What is HRV Watch?

HRV Watch analyzes Heart Rate Variability (HRV) data from your Apple Watch to provide insights into your body's stress and recovery. It offers a readiness score, resting heart rate monitoring, and a recovery ratio.

### Does HRV Watch have ads?

No, HRV Watch is ad-free. It offers optional in-app purchases for advanced AI health insights and yearly subscriptions.

### What devices are compatible with HRV Watch?

HRV Watch is compatible with iPhone and Apple Watch Series 3 or later. It requires an Apple Watch to record HRV data.

### How accurate is the HRV data in HRV Watch?

The app relies on data recorded by your Apple Watch, often through mindfulness apps like Apple Breath. For best results, consistency in measurement conditions, such as first thing in the morning, is recommended.

### What are the subscription options for HRV Watch?

HRV Watch offers AI Health Insights for $2.99 per 7 days or $3.99 per month, and a Yearly Subscription for $14.99 per year.

### Can HRV Watch diagnose medical conditions?

No, HRV Watch provides informational trend tools and is not intended to diagnose medical conditions. Always seek advice from a physician for medical concerns.

### How often is HRV Watch updated?

The latest version, 2.9, was last updated on March 8, 2026. Updates typically bring improvements and new features to enhance user experience.

### What is the age rating for HRV Watch?

HRV Watch has an age rating of 4+. This indicates it is suitable for a wide range of users, including children, with no mature content.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 3.0.1 — 2026-08-18

New in 3.0: a personal HRV baseline, nervous-system context, clear trend interpretation, calmer widgets, and focused notifications. This build also completes English localization across the app, Watch, widgets, notifications, and AI insights.

### 3.0.0 — 2026-08-11

New in 3.0: a personal HRV baseline, nervous-system context, clear trend interpretation, calmer widgets, and focused notifications. This build also completes English localization across the app, Watch, widgets, notifications, and AI insights.

### 2.13.1 — 2026-07-21

This update prevents a potential crash during HealthKit background updates on Apple Watch.

### 2.13 — 2026-06-15

This update improves Apple Watch HRV updates:

- Apple Watch now listens for new HRV readings and can notify you as soon as HealthKit delivers a new HRV value.
- The HRV view on Apple Watch now shows the last 5 individual HRV readings with time, source, and value.
- Improved background handling so new HRV data refreshes widgets and readiness context more directly.

### 2.11 — 2026-05-12

This update makes HRV Watch clearer and more reliable:

- HRV now surfaces the newest reading more clearly instead of confusing it with daily averages.
- Dashboard, detail pages, Apple Watch app, and widgets now show HRV/RHR more clearly against personal normal ranges and baselines.
- New mindful session summary on the dashboard: recent sessions, matched HRV value, and baseline-band assessment.
- Mindful HRV detection is more robust, including HRV values written shortly after a mindful session.
- After a mindful session, the app can send a push with the HRV value and assessment.
- The morning push now reminds you to start a short mindful session for a more reliable HRV reading.
- AI evaluations are no longer generated automatically; they run only when you tap the button.
- HRV, RHR, Recovery Ratio, and Readiness charts are easier to read and less misleading.

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## More apps by Bernhard Hering

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All apps by Bernhard Hering: https://appshunter.io/developer/327542085

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-20.*
