Hacker News Reader

Comment by odyssey7 | Hacker News Reader

When I tried on an Apple Watch at an Apple Store, I noticed that the heart rate it displayed was definitely different from mine.

I mentioned it to the employee who was manning that table, and she told me the demo watches had some pre-programmed data for demo purposes.

I was puzzled by this since heart rate monitoring is a key feature users care about. It occurred to me that heart rate data of everyone who has tried on the watch might count as the kind of medical information you shouldn’t publish on demo watches.

Imagine ridiculous stories like “CEO of X’s heart rate was 130bpm when he tried on the new Apple Watch, says journalist who tried it on right after.”

View on HN

> It occurred to me that heart rate data of everyone who has tried on the watch might count as the kind of medical information you shouldn’t publish on demo watches.

That's an overly generous explanation. Fitbit-like devices are notoriously inaccurate[1], and the simplest explanation seems to be that their inaccuracy is unintentional.

[1] https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families...

The Apple Watch is in a different regulatory space than the devices listed in that source, since it's cleared as a class II medical device by the FDA. HIPAA laws will apply in some use situations, so their lawyers will have thought about it and made recommendations. (Lawyers aside, the feelings of both the medical community and Apple are generally that you shouldn't leak customer information. This seems like the kind of data that people would accidentally leave behind at the store without thinking about it, which doesn't feel right.)

https://hipaahealthlaw.foxrothschild.com/tags/class-ii-medic...

so we need to find someone with access to 2 identical watches, perhaps someone who bought some for the whole family? instead of strapping all to the same arm, just strap one on each wrist (assume the "left" heart's rate is approximately equal to "the heart on the right").

Are we claiming that every product needs 2 FDA applications: one for the end user and one for a special run of demo watches? I believe (but did not check) that demo watches would be either exempt or go unnoticed considering the amount of data it could gather...

Heart rate data gathered from a store demo device without any personally identifiable information isn't subject to HIPAA rules. If it was reading inaccurately then most likely the band was loose or the sensor was dirty.

Well, I'll be damned! Thanks for the explanation, I really appreciate it. I'm still wanting to buy one, but now I don't know what to think. I wonder how I am supposed to try one out before I buy one and to make sure it works.

I guess you would have to bring a proper heart rate monitor and compare the two readings.

Although people might give you strange looks :)

You can buy any Apple device, use if for two weeks and return if for a full refund if you don’t like it.

In a study two years ago Apple Watch was the most accurate tested device with a median error of 2%.

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/05/24/apple-watch-heart-rate-...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com