Your AirPods may soon become your most important pieces of fitness gear. One of the AirPods Pro 3’s new features is heart rate tracking for both workouts and periodic pulse checks. Apple’s latest earbuds are equipped with photoplethysmography (PPG) sensors that shine infrared light hundreds of times per second to measure how light is absorbed in blood flow. What’s more, the AirPods Pro 3 work in tandem with the iPhone’s accelerometers, gyroscope, GPS and on-device AI for more comprehensive cardio insights and to estimate calories burned during exercise. Here’s how to use heart-rate monitoring with the AirPods Pro 3, along with some maintenance tips to keep the tech in prime working condition.
How the AirPods Pro 3 measure your heart rate
An important aspect of getting accurate data from your AirPods is understanding how the earbuds track your heart rate. If you’re using Apple’s Fitness app, the AirPods Pro 3 will continuously monitor your pulse during a workout. In addition to the heart rate sensor and accelerometer in the earbuds, details like location, barometric pressure and health information are also pulled from your iPhone, and they’re all used to estimate the calories you burn each session. Lastly, if you’re wearing both an Apple Watch and the AirPods Pro 3 during a workout, the device with the most accurate data over the last five minutes will be used to track your heart rate.
If you prefer to keep one ear completely unobstructed for whatever reason, you might be happy to know you only need to wear one of your AirPods Pro 3 during a workout to track your heart rate. Both earbuds are equipped with heart rate sensors; you can wear either one so you won’t have to forego your favorite ear.
Required devices for heart rate tracking on the AirPods Pro 3
It probably goes without saying, but you need a set of the AirPods Pro 3 to use the heart rate feature. None of the older AirPods models have onboard heart rate sensors. The only other option in Apple’s stable that does is the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2.
You’ll also need an iPhone that’s capable of running iOS 26. This is every model from the iPhone 11 and newer, including the second-generation iPhone SE.
How to turn the AirPods Pro 3 heart rate sensing on/off
Turning heart rate sensing on and off on the AirPods Pro 3 is simple. The feature is enabled by default, but you can turn it off in the AirPods settings menu on your iPhone.
-
Put your AirPods Pro 3 in your ears and make sure they’re connected to your iPhone.
-
Go to the Settings app on your phone.
-
On the main menu, tap the name of your AirPods, which will appear near the top of the screen.
-
Scroll down to Heart Rate and turn it off.
-
Repeat the same steps to turn Heart Rate back on.
How to view your heart rate
Heart rate stats are available as Live Activities on the Lock Screen.
(Billy Steele for Engadget)
In addition to workout apps, you can also view your heart rate in the Health app on your iPhone or iPad. Here, you’ll be able to see live data from the AirPods Pro 3’s heart rate sensors.
In the Health app
-
Put your AirPods Pro 3 in your ears and make sure they’re connected to your iPhone or iPad.
-
Open the Health app on an iPhone or iPad.
-
Tap the magnifying glass icon at the bottom right, then tap Heart, then tap Heart Rate.
-
Your live heart rate from AirPods Pro 3 will be displayed in a graph.
During a workout
As I mentioned before, your heart rate will appear in the Fitness app during workouts. The AirPods Pro 3 can also send that data to compatible third-party apps. For those, you’ll need to give the app permission to access your heart rate data, as well as the ability to read and record workouts. You’ll only have to do this once: when you use a third-party workout app with Apple Health for the first time.
-
Put your AirPods Pro 3 in your ears and make sure they’re connected to your iPhone.
-
Go to the Fitness app or a third-party workout app on your iPhone. (Apple hasn’t published a list of supported apps, but iOS fitness apps that offer heart-rate tracking should work with the AirPods Pro 3 if the developer decides to do so. Examples of those include Nike Run Club, Peloton, Runna and Ladder.)
-
Start a workout in the app you choose.
-
Your heart rate will appear in the app during your workout. If you see dashes or the number is dimmed, that means the AirPods Pro 3 aren’t getting a good reading. This is similar to what happens if your Apple Watch is not maintaining contact with your wrist and is typically a result of a loose wristband. Check the fit of your earbuds and make sure they’re connected to your iPhone.
-
To stop heart rate tracking in any of the apps, end your workout.
-
You will then get a summary of the heart rate stats for your workout in a third-party app or Apple’s Fitness or Health apps.
Just ask Siri any time
In addition to looking at heart rate data in the Health app or other workout apps, you can just ask Siri to tell you a current reading without ever touching your phone.
-
Put your AirPods Pro 3 in your ears and make sure they’re connected to your iPhone.
-
Ask Siri “What’s my heart rate?” or something similar.
-
Remember: You don’t need to touch the buttons on the AirPods Pro 3 in order to activate Siri. If Talk to Siri is set to “Siri or Hey Siri” or “Hey Siri” under Apple Intelligence & Siri in the Settings app on your iPhone, you only need to use the wake word and then ask your question. If not, you can activate Siri with a press and hold the Force Touch button on either side until you hear a chime.
Best practices to keep heart rate measurements accurate
The AirPods Pro 3 are an even more powerful workout companion.
(Apple)
Like any activity-monitoring device, there are some habits that will help ensure the data that you’re getting from the AirPods Pro 3 is as accurate as possible. Not only do the AirPods Pro 3 track heart rate, but the motion sensor data it sends to your iPhone is essential to calculate things like calories burned, steps and distance for your daily activity. For this reason, it’s crucial that your earbuds and iPhone or iPad are working together properly.
-
Make sure your AirPods Pro 3 fit well. If there isn’t good contact between the heart rate sensors on the AirPods Pro 3 and the skin inside your ear, you could get poor heart rate readings. Apple warns users that the best ear tip size for acoustic seal and the best one for heart rate tracking may be different.
-
Maintain up-to-date information in the Health app. The details that you enter into the Health app — such as height, weight, gender and age — are used with heart rate and motion sensor data to calculate metrics like calories burned.
-
Keep warm: cold ears may impact the performance of the AirPods Pro 3. If you’re exercising in cold locations, you may have trouble getting accurate readings from the AirPods Pro 3. Low temperatures can reduce the blood flow to your ears, which makes it more difficult for the earbuds to track your heart rate accurately.
-
Check your ears regularly. Earwax buildup, moisture or skin conditions can affect contact between the AirPods Pro 3 and your skin.
-
Check your jewelry or piercings. Apple says metal jewelry from piercings can also interfere with heart rate readings. If you encounter any performance issues during workouts, the company recommends removing any piercings near the location where the AirPods Pro 3 sit in your ears.
-
Know that everyone’s ears are different. The amount of blood flow detectable through the skin varies from person to person. Like I said earlier, this can also be affected by the environment (cold weather, for example) or activity levels. If blood flow in your ears changes based on either of these factors, it can impact the performance of heart-rate tracking on the AirPods Pro 3.
-
Clean your AirPods Pro 3. To keep the AirPods Pro 3 in peak working condition, clean them regularly. Tips for the best ways to do that are available in our AirPods cleaning guide.