Comparison

Pulse vs Pearl Jar

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

Head to head
About

Pulse

Features
Read full description

Pulse turns the heart rate data already in Apple Health into something you can actually use. Instead of opening the Health app and scrolling through raw readings, Pulse shows your minimum, maximum, and average BPM across four time windows — right where you already look: your iPhone Home Screen widget and your Apple Watch face. KEY FEATURES • Four time windows in-app — last 1 hour, last 12 hours, today, and the current month. The full set is available inside the iPhone and Apple Watch apps; widgets and complications cover the three rolling windows (last hour, last 12 hours, today). • iOS Home Screen widgets — fifteen widgets in total: nine small "single stat" widgets (one per combination of window and metric), three medium chart widgets with min/avg/max and a workout-shaded chart, and three small arc-gauge widgets. Add as many as you like and pin the views that matter most. • Apple Watch complications — circular arc-gauge complications for watch faces with circular slots (Modular, Infograph, Modular Compact, and others), and rectangular chart complications for the watchOS Smart Stack and rectangular watch face slots. Three time windows per family — pick the one you want by adding the matching complication. • Standalone watchOS app — view all four time-window statistics on your wrist, even when your iPhone isn't nearby. Includes a chart and min/avg/max for each window. • Workout correlation — when heart rate readings overlap a recorded workout, Pulse highlights those samples in the chart with a distinct color and a workout icon, so you immediately know whether a spike was exercise-driven. • Automatic refresh — widgets and complications refresh on a 15-minute WidgetKit timeline schedule that's gentle on battery. The in-app view re-queries HealthKit when you open or pull-to-refresh. • Light, Dark, and System appearance — pick your preferred theme in Settings. PRIVACY FIRST Pulse is built on a single rule: your health data never leaves your device. There is no account, no sign-in, no cloud sync, no analytics SDK, and no server. Pulse reads heart rate and workout data directly from Apple HealthKit, computes statistics locally, and stores them in a private App Group container shared only between Pulse and its own widget and watch extensions. Our App Store Privacy nutrition label is "Data Not Collected" — and we mean it. You stay in control. You can grant or revoke HealthKit access at any time from Settings, and Pulse will gracefully show "--" placeholders instead of stale numbers when access is revoked. DESIGNED FOR APPLE PLATFORMS Pulse is a native iOS and watchOS app written in Swift, built specifically for the latest Apple platforms. It uses WidgetKit for Home Screen widgets and watchOS complications, supports Dynamic Type for readable text at any size, and meets Apple's accessibility tap-target guidelines. REQUIREMENTS • iPhone running iOS 17 or later • Apple Watch running watchOS 10 or later (optional — the iPhone app and widgets work without a paired watch) • Apple Health permission for Heart Rate and Workouts (read only) NOT A MEDICAL DEVICE Pulse is intended for general fitness and informational purposes only. It is not a medical device and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical advice. Have feedback or run into a problem? Visit our support page linked below — we read every message.

About

Pearl Jar

Features
Read full description

Pearl Jar is a personal birth log for midwives, obstetricians, health care assistants, nurses, and students. Every birth you register becomes a pearl in your jar, giving you a visual overview of your midwifery journey. After a birth, you can quickly note the essentials: gender, birth type, your role, place, and year. Optional details such as weight category and zodiac sign can be added when you like. Twins and multiple births are handled as connected groups, so your log stays easy to scan. What you can use Pearl Jar for • Register births in seconds while the experience is still fresh • Watch your midwifery journey gather as pearls on the home screen • Get statistics on gender, birth type, places, roles, and more • Save private reflections that are only for you • Share milestones with colleagues you trust • Find and follow other midwives in a closed feed Built with respect for your work Pearl Jar is designed with confidentiality and data minimization in mind. The app uses birth year instead of full dates, categorical weight instead of exact numbers, and private notes are never shared in the feed. You decide what to share, and with whom. For remembering and reflecting Whether you're in practice or training, Pearl Jar gives you a place to collect your experiences. Pearl Jar is a personal practice log. It does not replace medical advice, clinical record-keeping, or your employer's systems.

Screenshots

Pulse4 screens
Pearl Jar4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Pearl Jar at none against Pulse's 1. Pulse's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and device support (3 vs 1). On price and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. Pulse sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Pearl Jar asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard3 real differences Ā· 3 level
Pulse versus Pearl Jar: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPulsePearl Jar
PriceFreeFree
Update frequency—Every 4 days
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB47 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperAdam Malik YusofAI Consultancy

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Pulse

One-time1
  • Pulse Pro$4.99
None

Pearl Jar

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pulse free?
Pulse is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pearl Jar free?
Pearl Jar is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Pulse or Pearl Jar have ads?
Pearl Jar shows ads; Pulse does not.

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