Resting heart rate often rises when your body is under unusual strain. Lower HRV, higher wrist temperature, or faster breathing can make that change more useful than heart rate alone.
Body Insights reads these Apple Health records and turns the pattern into Symptom Radar. The result helps you see when several measurements have moved away from your normal at the same time.
What does Symptom Radar show?
Symptom Radar places the current pattern on a 0 to 100 gauge and gives it a plain-language state. You may see Settled, Minor signs, Worth watching, Clear signals, or Still learning your body.
The detail view adds a confidence percentage. When enough data is available, it may estimate how many days away an illness could be. The app also suggests what to do next.
Five rows explain the result. They cover HRV, Temperature, and Heart Rate. Respiratory and Cardiac Efficiency appear in their own rows. A seven-day history shows whether the pattern is building, holding, or settling.
What changes first when you are getting sick?
A wearable study found changes in resting heart rate before or near symptom onset. In your own data, look for several changes together. Resting or sleeping heart rate may rise. HRV may fall. Wrist temperature or respiratory rate may move above your normal.
Similar changes can follow a hard workout, poor sleep, or alcohol. Travel, stress, medication, and sensor problems can also affect the pattern. Body Insights checks recent exercise and whether several kinds of data agree.
What goes into Symptom Radar?
Apple Watch records the measurements. Apple Health stores them. Body Insights reads the available data and compares it with your recent history.
- HRV
- Wrist temperature
- Resting or sleeping heart rate, with walking heart rate when it helps confirm a change
- Respiratory rate
- Cardiac efficiency based on walking heart rate and walking speed
- Recent exercise and training load context
Symptoms do not change the core score. Pacing Mode uses your check-in after it calculates the score. Your answers can change the suggested actions.
Example: reading one unusual morning
Suppose your HRV is below its usual range. Your wrist temperature and resting heart rate are also higher after an ordinary day. Symptom Radar may show Worth watching. Open the contribution rows to find which measurements mattered most. The seven-day trend tells you whether the pattern is new or continuing.
If only heart rate moved after a hard workout, the exercise context may reduce its effect. This can help you tell a training response from a broader pattern. It cannot identify the cause.
How should you use the result?
Start with the state and confidence. Then review the strongest contributions and the seven-day trend. If several measurements keep moving in the same direction, follow the displayed actions. The app may suggest reducing training, protecting sleep, or staying hydrated. It can also prompt you to log how you feel or monitor your temperature.
Use Symptom Radar to decide what to check next. To confirm an infection, use a clinical test. You can also speak with a healthcare professional.
What happens while your baseline is building?
A full personal baseline needs at least 14 days with HRV data. Until then, the app may show Still learning your body. Missing measurements reduce the available evidence. Confidence and visible detail depend on what Apple Health provides.
Symptom Radar refreshes when relevant Apple Health records update. It starts a new daily result when the date changes. If a refresh fails, the app keeps the last valid result.
On iPhone, Symptom Radar uses the broader set of inputs and shows contributions and history. The Apple Watch version centers on HRV. It adds resting heart rate and respiratory rate when they are available. That difference means the two results can differ.
See Symptom Radar in your own data
Body Insights shows the current state, confidence, contributing signals, and seven-day trend.
Check Symptom Radar