Comparison

iSmoothRun vs heartbeatz Connect

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

iSmoothRun

This app tracks and logs various fitness activities like running, walking, and cycling with extensive sensor support. It offers advanced training features, workout planning, and seamless integration with popular fitness platforms and HealthKit.

Highlights
  • Activity tracking (running, walking, cycling)
  • Advanced sensor support (HRM, stride, power)
  • Running Power training
  • Workout editor and planner
  • TrainingPeaks/Final Surge sync
  • HealthKit integration
  • Data export (GPX, TCX, KML, PWX, CSV)
Features
Read full description

iSmoothRun is the best App to effectively track and log all of your running, walking, hiking, cycling and any other fitness activity. Solid performance. Continuous development. Best sensor support (HRM, stride sensor, speed/cadence combo, cycling power, running power, treadmill) Now with support for Watch OS9 "Running Power". (for devices that support it), Always ON Display support and Apple Watch Ultra Action Button. Base your training on Running Power, create workouts with power intervals and take your training to the next level. The best stand alone Apple Watch app, with configurable pages and solid performance that puts to shame any sports watch. Connect your BT sensors to your watch and leave your phone home. Best Interval and workout editor to help you follow your training plan. Create any workout based on HR, HR Zone, Pace or Power and let the app pace you. Workouts are available on the Apple Watch too with full Audio support! Auto sync structured workout plans from Training Peaks, Final Surge and TrainAsOne (requires Pro subscription). Connect with these services and have your structured workouts directly on your Apple Watch or iPhone. Start your run and let the app coach you. Integration with HealthKit. iSmoothRun uses HealthKit to export your activities into the Health and Activity apps and to read heart rate and biometric data. Accurately tracks time, distance, location, pace, altitude, running cadence, heart rate, power and reports them with audio announcements at configurable time or distance intervals. - Improve you running Form iSmoothRun will consistently track your running cadence. Use the build in metronome (iPhone only) to easily raise it. - The most extended support for sensors All BT Smart sensors (HRMs, footpods, speed/cadence combo, cycling power, Stryd running power custom metrics like Contact Time, Form Power etc are supported too) All ANT+ (extra hardware needed: 4iiii Viiiiva ) - Your data are yours, Don't lock yourself in. We love being open. Export your training data in GPX,TCX,KML,PWX, or CSV format. Connect and share your workouts with the most active running communities, Strava, Runkeeper, sportTracks, Movescount, SmashRun, TrainingPeaks, FinalSurge, Runalyzer, TrainAsOne and MapMyRun .This is the most connected app, period. -Run/Walk Are you into Run/walk training? Great. Now it's easier than ever to set your timers and enjoy all the benefits of the best running app. - Track your Shoe mileage Every runner knows that tracking the mileage of his running shoes is essential. - Check your workout statistics Average pace/speed, cadence, total distance, time, average/maximum heart rate and climb. Splits and interval statistics. - Your iPhone is your training log All your data stored in the device. Amazing customizable graphs for each run and for weekly, monthly loads. Follow closely your training load, train smarter and avoid overtraining. - Ghost Run Race against a previous run of yours or a predefined pace. Get motivated, evaluate your training. ...and much more! ** You can subscribe and pay through your iTunes account. Payment will be charged to iTunes account at confirmation of purchase. Your subscription will automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renew may be turned off after purchase by going to the 'Manage Subscription' page in settings. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. The subscription will renew at the same cost. ** Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. **iPod touch users are advised to use an external sensor, GPS or footpod.

About

heartbeatz Connect

This app enables your Apple Watch to broadcast heart rate data to various BLE/ANT+/Polar receivers like Peloton bikes and Garmin devices. It allows seamless integration of your watch's heart rate into your workouts on compatible fitness equipment.

Highlights
  • Broadcasts Apple Watch heart rate
  • Connects to BLE/ANT+/Polar receivers
  • Works with Peloton, Garmin, and treadmills
  • Real-time heart rate display
  • Integrates with Apple Health for workouts
Features
Read full description

Heartbeatz connect app must be used with the heartbeatz device purchased at https://store.npe-inc.com. Heartbeatz broadcasts heart rate data measured by the Apple Watch® to any BLE/ANT+/Polar receiver such as Peloton® bikes, Garmin head units and treadmills. Heartbeatz setup is simple; mount WYÛR to your bike or treadmill, start the heartbeatz connect app and pair to WYÛR. Bikes and treadmills using proximity awareness will automatically associate with heartbeatz. Once associated, exercisers can start their workout and the bike or treadmill will display the heart rate data measured by the Apple Watch® in real-time. Your Apple Watch becomes a BLE/ANT+/Polar Heart Rate Monitor when you use a WYÛR connected to your watch allowing you to used your Apple Watch heart rate with virtually anything that will connect to a heart rate monitor. By using Apple Health to record your workouts you can close your rings and have your heart rate data show up on your Peloton, Garmin, Heart Zones or in front of you on any treadmill or rowing machine supporting BLE/ANT+/Polar heart rate monitors.

Screenshots

iSmoothRun4 screens
heartbeatz Connect1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: heartbeatz Connect at Free against iSmoothRun's $4.99. iSmoothRun's advantage is review sentiment (70% vs 32%) and chart position (#75 vs unranked). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

heartbeatz Connect is free to download; iSmoothRun costs $4.99 up front. iSmoothRun sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and heartbeatz Connect sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iSmoothRun ships an update every 2 months, heartbeatz Connect every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
iSmoothRun versus heartbeatz Connect: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriSmoothRunheartbeatz Connect
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.4 (943 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews70.1% of reviews — better32.4% of reviews
Number of ratings943 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#75 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPod, Apple WatchiPhone, iPod, Apple Watch
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size31 MB27 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLake Horizon LtdNorth Pole Engineering Inc

Customer experience

iSmoothRun

All ratings942 ratings
Positive84.2%
Neutral3.5%
Negative12.3%
Written reviews752 reviews
Positive70.1%
Neutral7.8%
Negative22.1%

heartbeatz Connect

Written reviews68 reviews
Positive32.4%
Neutral8.8%
Negative58.8%

User reviews

iSmoothRun

From 943 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💻 Excellent app for running, biking, and other activities
  • 🎨 Highly customizable with great features
  • 🔗 Seamless integration with various platforms and devices
  • 🕰️ Reliable and accurate tracking
  • 🏃‍♀️ Fantastic for interval training and coaching

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs, especially with recent updates
  • 🔋 High battery drain, especially on Apple Watch
  • 🔍 Inconsistent distance and pace tracking
  • 🤖 Poor integration with some platforms like Garmin and Strava
  • 🤔 Confusing and outdated user interface

heartbeatz Connect

From App Store reviews

What we love

  • 👍 Works with Garmin/Zwift
  • 👍 Connects Apple Watch HR
  • 👍 Cost-effective alternative
  • 👍 Responsive support (sometimes)
  • 👍 Good for specific use cases

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes/freezing
  • 🐛 Duplicate workouts logged
  • 🐛 Connection issues
  • 🐛 Battery drain on watch
  • 🐛 Permissions issues

Bugs and requests

iSmoothRun

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Frequent app crashes, especially when starting a workout
  • Inconsistent distance and pace tracking, especially on treadmill
  • Issues with syncing data between iPhone and Apple Watch
  • Problems with audio cues and notifications not working as expected

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved Apple Watch app with standalone functionality
  • Better integration with popular fitness platforms
  • More customization options for data fields and audio cues
  • Ability to import and sync workouts from other sources
  • Improved battery life optimization

heartbeatz Connect

Reported bugs

78 issues
  • App crashes in the middle of workout
  • App asks for Apple Health permissions repeatedly
  • Duplicate workouts created in Apple Fitness
  • App on watch is laggy and buttons don't work
  • Watch app asks for Apple Health permissions twice on start
Show 73 more
  • Permissions to read/write heart rate data toggle off
  • App doesn't work after last update
  • Cannot find Runn sensor
  • Duration shown on Apple Watch does not reset
  • App writes data to Apple Health 10 times per second
  • Cannot disable writing to Apple Health
  • Kills watch battery even when not running
  • Records double the miles/distance
  • Initial connection can be flaky
  • Need to shutdown app on watch after each use to reconnect
  • Immediately jumped to three minutes from zero
  • Doubled running distance
  • Timer already at over 10 minutes on start
  • App transmits HR from Apple Watch to Zwift via Runn sensor
  • Recording workouts with npe Runn does not work
  • Cannot swipe for different metrics on watch
  • Timer is not elapsed time since start of run
  • Distance written to Apple Health is double
  • Save button does not work reliably
  • App records 'minus' XX-km
  • Device connected, started new run, timer already over 10 minutes
  • Cannot get Heartbeatz device to connect to phone or watch
  • Watch's functionality to 'Start workout' disappeared
  • App needs to stay in foreground to broadcast HR
  • Cannot start other apps while broadcasting HR
  • No longer connects with ant/Bluetooth device after watch OS update
  • Cannot have two pods listed on the app
  • Missing speed, cadence, incline metrics
  • Only ability to record 'cardio' or 'hitt' workout
  • Recent update removed ability to record walk or run
  • Cardio workout has no distance or pace metric from Runn device
  • Legacy Heartbeatz might still work
  • Takes longer to pair with version 2
  • Only get Cardio or HITT, no choice of activity
  • Apple Watch complication removed in version 2
  • HR sensor on Apple Watch Ultra not very accurate
  • Need to close all other apps using heart rate on watch
  • Cannot get elapsed time, distance, pace on one watch screen
  • Hasn't worked since iOS 9
  • Doesn't work with iOS 16 and Watch OS 9
  • App is unstable and unusable
  • Latest update for iWatch OS8 broke the app
  • Latest version no longer shows total climbed or reports to Apple Fitness
  • Worked with Wahoo Elmnt Bolt for first ride, hasn't worked since
  • Discarding a workout from Apple Watch no longer works
  • App crashes on watch and cannot be closed
  • Connection to heartbeatz device appears sluggish
  • Device doesn't show proper battery load
  • Software could be stronger
  • Too complicated to switch between tags/bikes
  • App seems to run battery down
  • App disappeared from Apple Watch after update
  • Newest update dropped functionality for older watches
  • App requires watchOS 7, cannot use with older versions
  • App disappears from Apple Watch after last update
  • Latest 'update' makes app 100% dead
  • HR not displayed in app or on bike computer
  • HR reading gets stuck and does not update
  • App constantly runs on watch and cannot be closed
  • App opens right back up again even after killing it
  • Cannot kill the app on Apple Watch, restarts on its own
  • Drops every 50-100 strokes for a couple of minutes
  • Doesn't pair with watch
  • App cannot be closed on the watch
  • Keeps running after workouts, activates itself
  • Stopped working three days in, blank black screen
  • Suddenly stopped working, shows - - bpa
  • Doubling issue in Apple Health
  • Heartbeatz app on Apple Watch stopped picking up heartbeat
  • Double-logging problems in Health app
  • App needs a setting to NOT write data to Health app
  • First watch screen no longer shows needed information for runners
  • Low priority: Make two buttons pressed simultaneously function as pause

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add workout type options (rowing, biking, running)
  • Add Apple Watch complication
  • Allow disabling writing to Health app
  • Make screens configurable
  • Simultaneous button press for pause
Show 1 more
  • Improve HR sensor accuracy on Apple Watch Ultra

In-app purchases

2 purchases

iSmoothRun

Subscriptions2
  • Pro Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Annual Pro Subscription7 Days trial$24.991 Year
3 purchases

heartbeatz Connect

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$0.991 Month
  • Yearly$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • heartbeatz Pro Unlimited$19.99

Questions

Is iSmoothRun free?
iSmoothRun costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is heartbeatz Connect free?
heartbeatz Connect is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do iSmoothRun or heartbeatz Connect have ads?
Neither iSmoothRun nor heartbeatz Connect shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iSmoothRun or heartbeatz Connect?
iSmoothRun ships an update every 2 months, and heartbeatz Connect every 3 months. Most recently, iSmoothRun was updated on November 1, 2026 and heartbeatz Connect on October 29, 2026.

Other comparisons