Oxygen level and low heart beat Apple Watch

on my Apple Watch 9 I receive an ‘immediate’ notification when my heartbeat is more then 10 min below the range I set.

but

it won’t wake me up by giving a notification when that occurs. By a sound or small vibration which could wake me up and warn me.

Same for the low blood oxygen level; but only shown in the data when I open the health app.

So

I might as well be dead when the notification will be shown about the low heartbeat.


Is there a way to change that? I mean; I get a vibration in certain apps when fi the app notices my drive in the Tag Heuer golf app or when I excersize every 5 minutes.

I would appreciate that too to in able to warn me about a health risk? Then I would be able to train myself to wake up and do something to breath deeper or whatever. Now it seems a bit late…my coroner could use it though….LOL, but that’s not why I bought the watch ;-).


Apple Watch Series 9

Posted on Aug 25, 2024 09:50 PM

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Posted on Aug 26, 2024 04:52 AM

It’s not a medically approved device for either of those two measurements. If you have a condition that medically requires the monitoring of your O2 and heart rate please consult your physician to determine the appropriate equipment for the monitoring.

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12 replies

Aug 26, 2024 08:43 AM in response to Jeff Donald

Hi Jeff, thanks for your reply. I’m aware of that, but if there would be an option I would have the choice. And you’re right that a doctor should be consulted (which I did).

But it wouldn’t hurt if Apple gave me the option. With the given restriction like they do now. It’s my watch, I’m the user, I should be able to choose if it wakes me up or not.

The alarm to dial the emergency and my ICE when I fall is also available. That’s even going a step further, so just a notification that warns just me, would be a good thing imho.


Aug 26, 2024 08:53 AM in response to Maxime04

These become less of a choice issue and more of a legal liability issue. Apple doesn’t want the risk. What you’re asking for is a medically approved device. That’s why hospital pay big dollars for monitoring equipment. Apple Watch is the wrong tool for the job. You are wanting the watch to >warn you of a health risk< and the device is not medically certified to do that. Watches can’t be permitted to do things they aren’t certified to do.

Sep 8, 2024 04:24 AM in response to Maxime04

Setting up low (and/or high) heart rate notification: go to the Health app, Browse, Heart, Heart Rate, scroll to the very bottom of the screen and click on Low Heart Rate Notifications (or High Heart Rate Notifications). You can set it to alert you (via vibrations) when you heart rate drops to one of these options: 40, 45, or 50 beats per minute for 10 minutes or more. This vibration alert really works well.


I’m upset that Apple Watch doesn’t have this vibration notification option for low blood oxygen. (They should at least have a badge alert!). I assumed it did, so I was surprised to learn from my physician-ordered Blackstone ring study that my blood oxygen drops to the low 80s at night and that I have moderate sleep apnea. It turns out that these low blood oxygen levels have also been reflected in my Ultra watch for well over a year, but I never thought to manually check because I assumed I would’ve been alerted. (And the third-party Pillow app that I pay for hasn’t been correctly pulling the blood oxygen data from my watch, either.)


Apple will be discussing their new products on Monday, so I assume they’ll be announcing a sleep apnea tracker if they’ve finally gotten that blood oxygen patent dispute solved. But I’m still disappointed that they don’t have an alert option for blood oxygen levels.

Sep 8, 2024 04:30 AM in response to Jeff Donald

The Apple Watch DOES have an option to set up a vibration alert when the heart rate is at 40, 45, and 50 beats per minute for 10 minutes or more. It also has a vibration alert for high heart rate. Please see my post for directions how.


Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t have a low blood oxygen vibration notification. I assume that will change once they solve the blood oxygen patent dispute and/or develop the sleep apnea feature they’ve been working on.

Sep 8, 2024 03:40 PM in response to tanyafromsaint augustine

Hi, yes notification is on, but I do get a notification for low heart beat >10 min, but no vibration? Only in the morning when I wake up I see that in a yellow marked note.


I get a checkup soon for my apnea. Thanks to the watch I am aware, but I would really like the watch to vibrate. Fingers cross it will come.

succes with you condition and thanks for your reaction

Sep 9, 2024 05:26 AM in response to Maxime04

I wonder if it’s based on watch model. I have the original Ultra, and the patterned vibration alert for low heart rate wakes me up. Even if you don’t have an Ultra, try giving Apple customer service a call to see if it’s possible to set up a vibration alert:


Thank you for your well wishes and the same to you with your upcoming appointment.


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Oxygen level and low heart beat Apple Watch

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