HRV4Training App Reviews

Developer Marco Altini is a PhD researcher in HRV and other biometrics. It shows in this app, because you get an in depth look at all HRV metrics over time as well as your personal annotations. Outstanding and constantly enhanced with new features. --William Croft

I love this app except that every time I try to reset my password it crashes and fails to send me the email. Im locked out of my data until this is fixed!

--Old review from mid 2014: I tried this app for the convenience of the camera option, because fiddling with a chest strap first thing in the morning did not appeal to me. Also, I have friends using a more popular HRV app, that have trouble with their HR strap and finger sensor not always working correctly. This app is no frills, but is cheap and seems to be accurate in evaluating my condition. I wish it had a way to note sleep quality and "life stress" too, since they certainly impact my HRV as much as a workout. the "standing" and "compare" functions do not work, since it always defaults to "lying". Maybe that functionality will be added some day..? The position of my finger on the lense took a little while to get just right, but now I get it every time. After ten weeks of using this app every morning, I can recommend it as a solid, simple tool. --Updated review September 2015: Marco has made numerous nice enhancements to this app, which now make it more accurate, interesting, and valuable than ever before. I have use this app for over a year now, and plan to continue using it. It helps keep me from over training, and helps me plan the intensity of my workouts. in addition, Marco provides interesting analyses on his website. He also is quick to answer any questions that I have had. Thank you Marco.

I have been using the app for some time and you can see the drive and care the developer puts into the app. I have tried other HRV apps and this one tops them all for ease of use, functionality, and information about your adaptation to training. Best of all no @&$?#% heart rate strap to have to put on every morning!! BUY IT ALREADY!!

Ive used most of the apps available and this is the best Ive found. A key feature is that it will upload your data to dropbox as a CSV for more detailed analysis.

First exposure to heart rate variability was as an anesthesiology resident 25 years ago; used during labor and delivery as an early indicator of fetal distress, even before decelerations in heart rate. Thrilled to find this easy to use, well thought-out and designed app. Im 61 years of age, and its greatest utility is that it allows me to make informed decisions about Crossfit workout intensity and track non-workout sources of stress; a great window into ones own physiology. Bravo, Marco Altini! T. Bridges MD

As a professional sport scientist I can attest that this app is accurate, reliable, and easy to use. I cant take my research lab home with me, but with this app I dont need to! Marco is constantly adding features, listening to user feedback, and making his app better than each previous iteration. And the ability to export data and really nerd out on it is outstanding! If youre looking for an app to monitor your training load, recovery, and more, look no further. I recommend HRV4 to all my athletes. Seriously one of the most well-developed apps period. What are you waiting for??

Extremely useful application for data-driven training and lifestyle monitoring. While this app is primarily geared towards dedicated athletes, I am having a lot of success with it as a sanity-maintenance tool; when I dont exercise for a while, my stress goes up and my sleep gets bad, causing havoc in my entire life... With this app, I can see that trend ahead of time and keep ahead of the game.. A misuse, sure, but data is data! The author is also extremely well versed in the underlying science, and maintains a blog that explains it all in relative-laymans terms, with citations to peer-reviewed papers if you want a deeper understanding. I bought this app as part of the bundle, and I would happily have paid double for what Ive gotten.

Of all the HRV apps, I really like this one because I can measure using the iPhone camera instead of a strap. I find Im consistently getting good quality which makes it easy to keep up. The advice is simple and straightforward, "take it easy today" or "go work out with intensity today".

I super appreciate the support Ive gotten to make sure my app is operating well! I love the app and its working great!!!

Was using this app faithfully, but suddenly the app ""freezes" with the flash on and timer stuck at 22 secs remaining. Only way to unfreeze is to quit app. Please help!!! Using iPhone 6s.

As an Ironman triathlete and coach, HRV is a must have tool for all long course / endurance athletes. I’ve used and tested Ithlete, Sweetbeat HRV, Elite HRV, and HRV4Training concurrently to evaluate the each product/offering. Three things standout about HRV4Training that make it what I recommend to my athletes, as well as what I use personally: 1) The ability to use the camera for the HRV reading. Most of the products require a bluetooth chest strap, and the majority of the standard chest straps are Ant+, which will not work without a separate Ant+ dongle for your iPhone. Using the camera makes it very simple, quick and easy to take readings each morning. Likewise, no worries about remembering a separate bluetooth strap when you travel. 2) Beyond simply providing a physical readiness to train, the app has correlations for the information you provide. For example, it will look for relationships between your training intensity and your resulting HRV or sleep and morning HR. When I’ve been interested in this with other apps, it’s required me to download the data into Excel to manually run the correlation information. This app has it built in, and only requires a selecting the two categories to get a resulting correlation. 3) The author does a fantastic job of providing useful information on HRV in general, and studies, etc. as part of his newsletter (optional). He also does a great job of soliciting feedback / input, and continuing to improve and add value within the app on a regular basis. For the record, I paid for the app personally, and have NO affiliation with the author. I simply think it’s the best HRV app out there and well worth the cost.

Love the teaching this app does to help me not just measure but understand what these numbers mean. Been using for a good 12 months without issue and the reliability behind getting a reading on the first shot has been fantastic, way more so than many others. Also the developer is super responsive to feedback and has made it easy to use the metrics gathered in my own ways

I use this app daily and love it. The readings are reliable and the results are easy to use. You can use the general recommendation (e.g., "take it easy today") or dive in to historical trends and analysis. Recent versions allow you to customize what youre tracking too. Hes also been working on some advanced analytics that are helpful if youre consistent taking your readings. The readings are evaluated relative to your recent condition, so being consistent is very important.

Ive experienced major improvements in my triathlon training. Ive discovered I need to draw down my mileage and drive up intensity prior to tapering to reach new PRs. This is an amazing tool. There are similar benefits for non athletes as well. I know a colleague who has used it along with sleep tracking to vastly improve his productivity (he is a sculptor). If you have any interest in optimizing your life you need to check out this app. It is intuitive and flexible. The best HRV app out there! Ive tried them all.

Hands down best HRV app. Marco is constantly updating with brilliant new features.

Ive used the camera and HR strap, both work really well. I like the stats and the ability to download. Good support from the app designer too.

To the sports

Amazing app, constantly updated, and outstanding customer support when you email and ask!!

So far we have used it for basic pulse monitoring by athletes who are not "chest strap compliant" and it worked well