Choose the guideline for the colours and categories
Open Other, Settings, then Categories standard, and pick one of four guidelines: ESC (2024), ESH (2023), ACC/AHA (2017) or JNC7 (2003). All your readings get their category and colour from the guideline you pick.
The app puts every reading into a category, such as "Elevated" or "Stage 1 hypertension", and gives it a colour. The categories come from a medical guideline. Different countries use different guidelines, so you can choose the one your doctor uses. This is free.
The categories describe a reading. They are not a diagnosis. Whether you have high blood pressure, and what to do about it, is for your doctor to decide.
Open the guideline setting
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Tap Other, the last icon in the row at the top of the screen.
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Scroll down to the section Miscellaneous and tap Settings.
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Under Data settings, tap Categories standard.
Pick a guideline
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Tap the guideline you want. The choice applies at once; there is no button to save it.
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To see the categories of a guideline and their limits, tap Details below it.
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Go back. Your readings now show the categories and colours of the new guideline.
The app offers these four guidelines, in this order:
| In the app | Guideline | Categories |
|---|---|---|
| ESC (2024) | European Society of Cardiology, 2024 | Non-elevated, Elevated, Hypertension |
| ESH (2023) | European Society of Hypertension, 2023 | Optimal, Normal, High correct, Stage 1 hypertension, Stage 2 hypertension, Stage 3 hypertension |
| ACC/AHA (2017) | American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association | Normal, Elevated, Stage 1 hypertension, Stage 2 hypertension |
| JNC7 (2003) | Joint National Committee 7, an older American scheme | Normal, Prehypertension, Stage 1 hypertension, Stage 2 hypertension |
The limits of each category are shown under Details in the app. For a comparison of the European and American categories, see the blood pressure guidelines compared. The ACC/AHA categories in the app are the ones described there.
Which guideline is selected at the start
On a new installation, the app picks a guideline from the phone's language and country:
- ACC/AHA (2017) for phones set to English (United States), Korean or Chinese, and Arabic (Saudi Arabia);
- ESC (2024) everywhere else.
If you used the app before ESC (2024) was added, the app kept the guideline you already had, so your readings keep their categories. You can change it at any time.
What the guideline changes
The guideline is the same for all profiles in the app. It decides the category and the colour of every reading, also of readings you saved earlier, in:
- the History tab and the details of each reading;
- the charts and the analysis;
- the PDF report;
- the category filter.
Your readings themselves do not change. You can switch back at any time.
Additional classification
At the bottom of the screen, under Additional classification, there are two options. Both are switched on when you start.
- Hypotension: a reading with a systolic value of 100 or less and a diastolic value of 60 or less is shown as Hypotension, whatever guideline you chose. Untick it if you do not want this.
- Threshold for diagnosis: the app can show the note Drug treatment may be required for readings above a threshold from a guideline. You choose between two schemes, JNC8 and Canadian. With JNC8 the threshold depends on the age and diabetes setting in your profile, see Change your name, date of birth and diabetes setting. With Canadian the app uses the average of the readings of that day. The note is information from a guideline. Only your doctor decides about treatment.
Whatever guideline you choose, a reading with a systolic value of 140 or more and a diastolic value below 90 is shown as Hypertension isolated. See What the colours and categories mean.
Checked with app version 7.9.0 · Last reviewed November 14, 2026