Frequently Asked Questions

SaunaTracker Pro is an iOS and Apple Watch app for tracking heat and cold exposure therapy. It monitors your sauna, steam room, cold plunge, cold shower, and guided relaxation sessions with real-time biometrics and a proprietary HCEI effectiveness score.

SaunaTracker Pro runs on iPhone (iOS 18+) and Apple Watch (watchOS 11+). You can use Watch Mode for live biometric streaming from your wrist, or Light Mode to track sessions with just your iPhone — no Apple Watch required.

SaunaTracker Pro uses a freemium model. The free tier includes core session tracking, timers, and basic metrics. SaunaTracker Pro unlocks advanced features like AI coaching, detailed HCEI breakdowns, HRV recovery analysis, and advanced goal customization.

HCEI (Heat-Cold Exposure Index) is our proprietary 0-100 effectiveness score. It combines five weighted components: exposure duration and intensity (40%), HRV adaptation quality (25%), heart rate reactivity (15%), hot/cold transition patterns (10%), and safety adherence (10%).

You get a live HCEI score on your Apple Watch during the session, then a finalized score after post-workout HRV enrichment data arrives for full accuracy.

In Watch Mode, your Apple Watch creates the HealthKit workout and streams live heart rate, SpO2, and calorie data to your iPhone in real time. This is the full-featured experience.

In Light Mode, sessions run entirely on your iPhone with no Apple Watch required. After your session, SaunaTracker Pro enriches your workout with data from any HealthKit-compatible wearable — including Oura, Garmin, WHOOP, and Fitbit.

SaunaTracker Pro supports five exposure types: sauna, steam room, cold plunge, cold shower, and guided relaxation. You can seamlessly transition between types within a single multi-phase session — for example, sauna followed by cold plunge followed by relax.

After each session, SaunaTracker Pro automatically queries HealthKit for your heart rate variability (HRV) data. It uses a tiered confidence system: Tier A captures HRV within 15 minutes of your session, Tier B within 60 minutes, Tier C within 3 hours, and Tier D uses nightly measurements.

This enrichment data improves your finalized HCEI score and powers recovery insights — even if the data arrives hours or days after your workout.

For live biometrics during sessions, you need an Apple Watch (Series 6 or newer recommended for SpO2). For post-workout enrichment, SaunaTracker Pro pulls HRV, sleep, and other health data from any HealthKit-compatible source — including Oura Ring, Garmin watches, WHOOP, Fitbit, and more.

SaunaTracker Pro uses a Watch-as-Authority architecture. Your Apple Watch creates the HealthKit workout, streams live heart rate, blood oxygen, and calorie data, and calculates your HCEI score in real time. Your iPhone mirrors the session and displays all metrics as they arrive.

After the session ends, your iPhone performs additional enrichment — querying HealthKit for HRV, sleep quality, and other recovery data to finalize your scores.

SaunaTracker Pro is the only app that combines proprietary HCEI effectiveness scoring, live SpO2 monitoring during sessions, tiered HRV recovery analysis, and AI-powered coaching — all in a single integrated experience across iPhone and Apple Watch.

Most competing apps offer basic timers. SaunaTracker Pro measures how effective your sessions actually are and how your body recovers afterward.

Free includes session tracking with timers, basic HCEI scores, Apple Watch live heart rate, multi-phase sessions, and Home Screen widgets.

Pro adds AI-powered per-workout coaching, weekly AI wellness summaries, detailed HCEI component breakdowns, full HRV recovery analysis with tiered confidence levels, advanced goal customization, and priority support.

You can delete individual sessions directly in the app by swiping on a workout in your history. To delete all data and your account, go to Profile Settings and select "Delete Account." This removes all local data and any synced iCloud data.

HealthKit data you've written can be managed separately in the Apple Health app under Browse > SaunaTracker Pro.

For general support and feature requests, email support@saunatracker.pro. For privacy-related inquiries or data requests, email privacy@saunatracker.pro.

Yes. SaunaTracker Pro is designed with privacy first. All your health and session data is stored on your device. iCloud sync is optional and uses Apple's encrypted CloudKit infrastructure. We don't use third-party analytics, tracking pixels, or advertising SDKs.

Your health data is never shared with third parties. Read our full Privacy Policy for details.

With your explicit permission, SaunaTracker Pro reads heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), blood oxygen (SpO2), sleep analysis, active energy burned, and workout data from HealthKit. It writes workout sessions and associated metrics back to HealthKit.

You control exactly which data types SaunaTracker Pro can access through the Health app's permissions. You can revoke access at any time in Settings > Health > Data Access.