Elevated blood pressure affects 1.3 billion people globally and unfortunately this number continues to grow. If you are trying to take your blood pressure under control, you should seriously consider using a blood pressure app. Best blood pressure tracker apps (or blood pressure log apps) will clearly show you how different activities impact your blood pressure.
If you are one of those people whose high blood pressure is linked to anxiety and stress, then best breathing and meditation apps will help you to lower blood pressure at least in the short term.
Also monitoring your heart rate doesn’t replace taking regular blood pressure readings, it may be a helpful tool in understanding your overall heart health and ultimately help to lower blood pressure.
How is this blood pressure app review structured?
To start with we look at the best blood pressure tracking apps judging by downloads and user reviews. Then we review the best breathing and meditation apps which help to lower anxiety and stress. We also look at the most popular heart rate monitor apps and HRV apps.
HRV, which is short for Heart Rate Variability, is a metric which shows the balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems and hence is a great indicator of the direction of change of someone’s anxiety and stress. Heart rate and HRV can be measured with your phone’s camera.
Finally, we look at one blood pressure app which includes all three tools and also some physical exercises, which according to the latest scientific research help to manage blood pressure long term. Ultimately this post will help you to learn what are the best blood pressure apps.
What are the 5 best blood pressure log apps?
1. SmartBP, www.smartbp.app
SmartBP is one of the most popular blood pressure log apps that offers easy-to-use interface, and customisable data tracking.
2. Qardio, www.cardio.com
Qardio manufactures several health monitoring devices to read your blood pressure, weight and even take your ECG. Qardio provides a nice app which collects the data from all these devices and helps to monitor your overall heart health.
3. Blood Pressure Diary, www.appbrain.com/app/blood-pressure-diary/com.bluefish.bloodpressure
Blood Pressure Diary is one of the most popular apps of this kind on Android. It has one of the best ratings (4.8) based on over 63,000 reviews.
4. Blood Pressure Monitor, www.taconicsys.com
This app allows you to easily manage your health data: blood pressure, weight, temperature, and many others. Shows how vital signs are affected by consumed medication.
5. Blood Pressure Monitor Checker, www.feeltracker.com
Good basic diary with tables and graphs for tracking blood pressure. Allows to share data with family and health providers.
IMPORTANT: At the time of writing this post (October 2023) there are no mobile apps which allow you to take blood pressure readings without an external blood pressure monitor. This technology is simply NOT available yet. Do not fall for fake apps which advertise this functionality! Can Apple Watch measure blood pressure? Not at this time.
What are the best breathing and meditation apps for lowering anxiety and stress?
The top 3 apps for calming and relaxation by the number of installs across the world are Calm, Headspace and Insight Timer. All three apps have 5-star user ratings. They are exceptional apps which are enjoyed by millions of users.
Their functionality is pretty similar. Calm is more geared towards better sleep and Headspace is more about meditations. Insight Timer is somewhere in between. None of these apps are specifically targeting blood pressure management. However if you are looking for a great app to help you relax and sleep better you can’t really go wrong with either of them.
Ultimately it comes down to your personal choice of interface and graphics of these apps. All three apps offer free trial periods so it is very easy to try all of them and select the one which resonates most with you.
Why may I consider using a heart rate app or a stress monitor (HRV) app?
As we already explained, there are apps on the market which allow you to take heart rate readings (measure your pulse) with a phone camera. A user applies their finger to the camera and flashlight and the phone shortly produces the user heart rate. Though monitoring your heart rate is not a substitution for taking regular blood pressure readings, it may be helpful in understanding your overall heart health and ultimately help to lower blood pressure long term.
Also some apps perform a stress monitor function by measuring the user’s Heart Rate Variability (HRV). Though it may seem that the time between consecutive heart beats is constant in reality it is not the case. These variations can not be felt by a human but an ECG machine or your phone can pick them and produce your current HRV values.
Some stress monitor apps go a long way trying to derive too much health data from HRV measurements taken by phone. We need to remember however that the accuracy of HRV measurements by phone are nowhere close to the accuracy of HRV produced by an ECG machine. Also absolute HRV values vary significantly from one person to another. So one off HRV measurement taken by your mobile app is totally meaningless.
However it can be very useful if you take HRV measurements for several weeks at the same time of the day (usually first thing in the morning). Changes in HRV values in this case show if your Total Life Stress (TLS) (overall health, recovery from exercise, emotional state, etc) improves or declines with time.
The other useful way to use HRV stress monitor is to learn objectively how a particular relaxation exercise (i.e. breathing or meditation) has worked for you. Higher HRV value immediately after an exercise means that it produces a measurable calming effect for you.
What are the best heart rate monitor apps?
To select the most popular heart rate and HRV stress monitor apps we looked at the most popular apps in this category with the best user ratings.
1. Instant Heart Rate Monitor, www.instantheartrate.com
One of the early heart rate monitors on the market. Excellent customer reviews. No frills graphics. Lots of useful data. As this app has been on the market for quite a few years their developers have really fine tuned the technology of capturing heart rate with a phone’s camera. Users massively praise the app for the accuracy of taking pulse readings.
2. Heartify, www.heartify.io
One of the most popular heart rate monitor app with a simple and clear design. Users can also measure their HRV. Includes over 100 unique pieces of content related to heart health.
3. Welltory, www.welltory.com
One of the early apps on the market which were focussed on HRV technology. Supports Apple Watch. Produces lots of data which judging by user feedback may be sometimes overwhelming. Excellent graphics. The most expensive of the three reviewed heart rate monitors.
What if I need the app which includes a blood pressure log, heart rate monitor and also provides guides for lowering anxiety and blood pressure?
We build such an app based on our personal experience of fixing anxiety and high blood pressure without medications. It is called BreathNow. The combination of the three above mentioned functions in one app makes it a unique product on the market. Essentially you are getting three apps for the price of one.
You can track your blood pressure changes, share results with your doctor remotely, perform a relaxation exercise like slow breathing or meditation and immediately see if it worked for you by measuring your HRV with a phone’s camera. Without even reaching out for a blood pressure monitor.
BreathNow team includes a PhD in cardiology and we are constantly adding new guides based on the results of the latest scientific research related to managing anxiety and blood pressure. Some examples include IMST (which stands for Inspiratory Muscle Training) breathing exercises and 1 minute isometric exercises.
We cooperate with the scientists from the University of Cambridge in the UK and the app includes a 5 minute cardio test developed together with them. The app tracks several metrics related to heart health risks and alerts you if these metrics get out of normal range. Our users have access to a library of several hundred educational videos and private Anxiety and Blood Pressure Support Group.
Summary
There is a great selection of excellent blood pressure log apps, calming apps and heart rate monitor apps which collectively help users to manage their heart health. If you are looking for an app which includes all these functions and focussed specifically on lowering anxiety and high blood pressure you may consider trying BreathNow. Most of the features are free and users can test premium features during a free trial period. Please give it a try and let us know what you think.
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