Do a short breathing exercise before measuring

Stress, hurry or talking can raise a reading for a while. A few minutes of rest before you measure help you record a calmer value. The app has a guided breathing exercise for this. It is free.

Start the exercise

1. Open the Data tab.

2. Under Manual blood pressure measurement, tap Calm down.

3. Sit comfortably. The app shows Get comfortable and sit still. The screen stays on during the exercise.

4. Tap Begin.

Follow the steps

After a few seconds to settle, the exercise runs five rounds. Each round has four steps of four seconds each. The dots and Step … of 4 show where you are, and a timer at the top shows the time left.

1. Breathe in slowly through your nose. The circle grows.
2. Hold your breath.
3. Exhale slowly through your mouth. The circle shrinks.
4. Hold your breath again, then the next round starts.

The whole exercise takes about a minute and a half. There is no sound, so keep the screen in view. To stop early, tap the cross at the top.

At the end the app shows Well done! and Now take a new blood pressure measurement. After a few seconds it closes by itself and you are back on the Data tab.

Now measure again with your monitor and record the new values.

When the app suggests the exercise

When you already have more than three readings from the past week, the app compares a new reading with your recent average before saving. If it is very different, the app shows Your reading stands out.

• Tap Start breathing exercise to do the exercise first. The reading is not saved. Measure again afterwards, set the new values and tap Add. This time the app saves without asking.
• Tap Save reading anyway to save the reading as it is.

The app only compares numbers with your earlier ones. It does not tell you whether a reading is good or bad for you. Talk to your doctor about your readings.

What to check if it does not work

• There is no Calm down button. It is part of the larger input screen, the one with Manual blood pressure measurement at the top. See Add a reading: date, time and values for how to switch the input screen.
• The exercise closed before you were ready to measure. That is normal: it closes a few seconds after Well done!. Your values were not changed.