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Comment by NikolaNovak | Hacker News Reader

Oh Gawd.

My wife did not feel well last year and thought her pulse was going up. I figure I'd reassure her quickly (or notice an issue) with my Note 8.

Unbeknowst to me, some samsung update put the hardware functionality behind some health app that wanted to setup a tracking profile and two factor authentication and my email and my phone and name and details and preferences and goals and 12 point health plan and whatnot.

By the end I was the one with anxiety attack. I'm still livid when I think about it. I'm not a violent or profane man but... I have some thoughts reserved for people who planned, approved and implemented that. Not all evil is big evil. Little evil is evil too (Note for all fellow software engineers here :)

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An open source app off Fdroid like HeartBeat may or may not have a similar error rate: https://github.com/berdosi/HeartBeat

I think I picked up a dedicated unit finger pulse oximeter for like $20.

FWIU Apple Watch is one product with FDA approval as a medical device (ECG Electrocardiogram) for detection of AFib Atrial Fibrillation and Parkinsons.

Medical device design > Pathway to clearance or approval: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_device_design#Pathway_...

Thx for all the tips :)

I did buy the separate $20 sp02 / pulse monitor after that episode. She has an apple watch now but I of course have zero confidence / will not trust the kindness of corporate strangers again to allow me access to my own hardware.

Pulse oximeters will also give low spO2 if your fingertip is cold. In that case, just put your hand/fingers under your armpit for a few seconds to warm them up.

My Apple Watch detected an AFib about a year and a half ago. Was mildly freaked out at the time but glad that I got the alert. Nothing major, thankfully. Was on a mostly plant-based diet (no meat at all) and wasn't getting enough iron. Easy fix.

>...Was on a mostly plant-based diet (no meat at all)...

i.e., A vegetarian diet?

Sounds like it was vegetarian, bordering on vegan.

This is correct. Or to paraphrase The Princess Bride, “Only mostly Vegan”.

The hemoglobin (blood Iron level) finger prick test is used to screen blood donations; they give you a free Iron test when you donate blood.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veganism#Nutrients_and_potenti... :

> Vegan diets tend to be high in dietary fiber, folate, vitamins C and E, potassium, magnesium, and unsaturated fats.[34] However, consuming no animal products increases the risk of deficiencies of vitamins B12 and D, calcium, iron, and omega-3 fatty acids. [34][264]

> The American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics states that special attention may be necessary to ensure that a vegan diet will provide adequate amounts of vitamin B12, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, calcium, iodine, iron, and zinc. It also states that concern that vegans and vegan athletes may not consume an adequate amount and quality of protein is unsubstantiated. [265]

FWIU, high-red-meat diet outcomes are probably on average worse.

"The Plant-Based Athlete: A Game-Changing Approach to Peak Performance" (2021) https://www.amazon.com/Plant-Based-Athlete-Game-Changing-App...

If just for rate, surely a finger and a 15 or 30 second measurement is at least as good?

Obviously you wont get oxygenation though.

I agree and that's what's my Note 8 used to provide. As I said, some update made the mandatory a health or whatever app require an account, 2fa, and a lot of setup and personal data before it'd let me access the sensor read.

previous comment meant to out the fingeron the wrist and count the pulse by yourself, analog way.

Surely the process of using fingers to measure discrete pulses is digital.

I am pretty sure you're making a clever pun, but I would suggest the word "natural".

Ah; yes I misinterpreted that thank you. Agree that would've done the trick for pulse :)

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