You can use your watch as a heart rate monitor in ROUVY, as long as it broadcasts your heart rate to the device you ride on.
ROUVY doesn't connect to a watch as a watch. It reads the heart rate signal the watch sends out, just like it reads a chest strap. Garmin and many other sports watches have this broadcast built in, you just need to switch it on. An Apple Watch can't broadcast on its own, so it needs a small helper app on your iPhone called HeartCast.
This article shows how to set up each of them, what to watch out for, and what to do when the heart rate doesn't come through.
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Apple Watch needs two devices HeartCast runs on your iPhone, and ROUVY has to run on a different device: an iPad, a Mac, a Windows PC, or an Apple TV. HeartCast only sends your heart rate out to other devices, so ROUVY can't pick it up on the same iPhone. |
Apple Watch with HeartCast
HeartCast passes your Apple Watch heart rate to your iPhone, and your iPhone sends it on to ROUVY over Bluetooth.
Here's what you need:
- an Apple Watch and the iPhone it's paired with;
- the HeartCast app on your iPhone and on your Apple Watch;
- a second device for ROUVY (iPad, Mac, Windows PC, or Apple TV), close to your iPhone and with Bluetooth on.
Start the broadcast on your iPhone
- Install HeartCast from the App Store and follow its instructions to pair your Apple Watch.
- When HeartCast asks for access to Health, allow it, including Workouts. If you skipped this, you can turn it on later in the iPhone Health settings.
- Open HeartCast and tap Start. Your heart rate should appear on both the watch and the iPhone.
Connect HeartCast in ROUVY
- Open the ROUVY app on the device you ride on.
- Click the heart icon in the top-right corner to open the sensors screen.
- In the Heart rate section, click Add sensor.
- Pick HeartCast from the list. Depending on your setup, it may show up under your iPhone's name instead. If you don't see it, click Display all.
- Click Save and close.
That's it: your Apple Watch now works as your heart rate monitor.
Don't start a workout on your Apple Watch while it's sending heart rate to ROUVY. ROUVY records the ride itself, and a second recording on the watch can interrupt the connection.
Garmin watches
A Garmin watch works as a heart rate monitor once it broadcasts your heart rate, using the Virtual Run activity or the Broadcast Heart Rate setting.
Virtual Run is the easiest option if your watch has it. If it doesn't, look for Broadcast Heart Rate in the watch settings. If your watch offers neither, it can't send heart rate to ROUVY, and a chest strap is the better choice.
- Make sure the watch isn't connected to your phone or another app over Bluetooth while you ride. If needed, turn off Bluetooth on your phone, or select the watch in your phone's Bluetooth settings and choose Forget.
- On the watch, start the Virtual Run activity, or go to Sensors & Accessories > Wrist Heart Rate > Broadcast Heart Rate and start the broadcast. Menu names can differ a little between models.
- In ROUVY, click the heart icon, then Add sensor in the Heart rate section, and pick your watch.
- Click Save and close.
The watch only sends your heart rate. ROUVY doesn't send power, speed, or distance back to the watch, so you'll see all your ride data in the ROUVY app.
When you finish, discard the Virtual Run on your watch. If your ROUVY account is linked to Garmin Connect, ROUVY sends the ride there for you, and saving the Virtual Run as well would give you a duplicate activity. More in ROUVY and GARMIN Connect.
Other watches
ROUVY can read any watch that broadcasts heart rate in the standard Bluetooth heart rate format.
Many sports watches have this option, often called heart rate broadcast or HR broadcast. Turn it on before you open the sensors screen, then add the watch under Heart rate the same way as a chest strap.
Some devices measure heart rate but don't broadcast it in the standard way, the Pixel Watch and heart rate earbuds among them. They may even show as connected, but no heart rate reaches ROUVY, and there's no setting in ROUVY that can change this. For those, a Bluetooth or ANT+ chest strap is the reliable option.
Limitations
- One connection at a time. A watch, like any heart rate sensor, connects to one device at a time. If your phone, another app, or a second ROUVY device grabs it first, ROUVY won't see it.
- Apple TV has two Bluetooth slots. HeartCast or your watch takes one of them. With a Bluetooth trainer and a shifting controller as well, there's no slot left. Connecting the trainer over Wi-Fi frees one up. More in Virtual Shifting: setup, settings, and troubleshooting.
- Apple Watch can't connect to ROUVY on its own iPhone. You need a second device for ROUVY, as described above.
Troubleshooting
HeartCast doesn't show up in the sensor list ▶
Check these, in this order:
- ROUVY runs on a different device than HeartCast, not on the same iPhone.
- HeartCast is open on your iPhone and you've tapped Start, with your heart rate visible on the watch and the phone.
- HeartCast is allowed to access Health, including Workouts.
- Bluetooth is on for both devices, and they're close to each other.
- In the Heart rate section, you've clicked Display all and looked for your iPhone's name as well as HeartCast.
If it's still missing, restart the iPhone and the ROUVY device, start the broadcast in HeartCast first, and only then open ROUVY.
I want to run ROUVY and HeartCast on the same iPhone ▶
That's not possible, because HeartCast can only send your heart rate to other devices. Run ROUVY on an iPad, Mac, Windows PC, or Apple TV instead. If you only have the iPhone, a Bluetooth chest strap connects to ROUVY directly.
My watch connects, but no heart rate appears ▶
A watch only sends heart rate while it's broadcasting. Start Virtual Run, Broadcast Heart Rate, or HeartCast first, and keep it running for the whole ride: many watches stop broadcasting when they go back to the watch face. Then remove the watch under Heart rate in ROUVY and add it again while it's broadcasting.
My heart rate drops out during the ride ▶
Usually something else is competing for the watch. Make sure it isn't connected to your phone or Garmin Connect at the same time, and that you're not recording a separate workout on the watch. On Apple TV, check that the Bluetooth slots aren't all taken.
My Garmin watch connects on Windows, but the heart rate stays empty ▶
Pair the watch inside the ROUVY app, not in the Windows Bluetooth settings. If you paired it in Windows before, remove it there, switch Bluetooth off and on, start the broadcast on the watch, and add it in ROUVY again.
After some Garmin firmware updates, this can still happen. In that case, turn on PC connection mode on the watch, pair it in ROUVY, then turn PC connection mode off. If you have a USB ANT+ dongle, connecting the watch over ANT+ is usually the most stable option on Windows.
My ride shows up twice in Garmin Connect ▶
That happens when you save the Virtual Run on your watch and ROUVY also sends the ride to Garmin Connect. Discard the Virtual Run at the end of the ride and let ROUVY send the activity.
Still no heart rate? Contact us and tell us your watch model, the device you run ROUVY on, and send a screenshot of the sensors screen, so we can look into it.