How to Get Alerted When Your Parent's Heart Rate Is Abnormal
Your parent wears an Apple Watch. It measures their heart rate all day. But when something looks wrong, the alert goes to their wrist, not to your phone.
There are three ways to change that. Two are free and built into iPhone. One is an app. Each covers something different, and most families end up using more than one.
Can you monitor someone else's heart rate on Apple Watch?
Not from your own Apple Watch. Apple Watch heart rate notifications go to the person wearing it. If their heart rate stays above or below a limit they've set, their watch notifies them. Nobody else is told.
To get those alerts yourself, your parent has to share them with you, or an app has to send them to you. The options below explain how.
Does Apple Watch alert family members automatically?
Only in one situation: a hard fall.
If Fall Detection is on and your parent doesn't respond after a hard fall, Apple Watch calls emergency services. After the call ends, it sends a message with their location to the emergency contacts in their Medical ID. (More on what Apple Watch does and doesn't do in an emergency: Will Apple Watch call 911 if your heart stops?)
For heart rate, Apple Watch doesn't contact anyone. A high or low heart rate notification appears on your parent's watch, and that's where it stays, unless one of the options below is set up.
Option 1: Health Sharing on iPhone (free)
The Health app on iPhone lets your parent share health data with you, including the notifications they receive. According to Apple, people you share with can see high heart rate and irregular rhythm notifications.
How to set it up (on your parent's iPhone)
- Make sure you're saved in their Contacts.
- Open the Health app and tap Sharing.
- Tap Share with Someone, then choose you from their contacts.
- Pick the topics to share, including heart notifications, and tap Share.
You'll get an invitation on your iPhone. Accept it, and their data appears under Sharing in your Health app.
Good to know
- You need an iPhone. The shared data lives in the Health app.
- Your parent's iPhone must run iOS 15.6 or later.
- The alerts you see are the ones their watch already sends them, with the limits set in their Watch app (My Watch → Heart).
What it covers well: heart rate trends, notifications and a quick way to message or call them straight from the Health app.
Option 2: Fall Detection and emergency contacts (free)
This one takes two minutes and covers falls.
- On your parent's iPhone, open the Health app and fill in their Medical ID, including emergency contacts. Add yourself.
- Open the Watch app, tap My Watch → Emergency SOS, and make sure Fall Detection is on. Choose Always on, not only during workouts.
If your parent has entered their age and is 55 or older, Fall Detection turns on automatically. Still check it, because the age has to be correct in their Medical ID.
What it covers well: hard falls where your parent can't respond. You get a message with their location after emergency services are called.
What it doesn't cover: heart rate problems without a fall. Apple also notes that Apple Watch can't detect every fall.
Option 3: An SMS to the family when heart rate crosses a limit
RscMe was built for the gap the first two options leave: a dangerous heart rate, with no fall, and family who need to know right away.
RscMe monitors heart rate on your parent's Apple Watch. When it crosses a limit you set, their iPhone sends a real text message (not an app notification) to up to 5 people you choose. The message includes their name, their current heart rate and a GPS link to where they are.
- Anyone can receive it. It's a standard SMS, so contacts don't need an iPhone or any app.
- Your limits, not default ones. You set the high and low thresholds that make sense for your parent.
- Nothing for your parent to press. It runs in the background on the watch.
- Pay per alert, no subscription. Alerts use credits: $3.99 for 20, or $6.99 for 50. Credits never expire. Each alert uses one credit per contact.
Requirements: Apple Watch on the wrist. In normal use, their iPhone sends the SMS and should be nearby.
Which should you set up?
| Feature | Health Sharing | Fall Detection | RscMe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | Free | From $3.99 in credits |
| Heart rate alerts reach you | Yes, in your Health app | No | Yes, by SMS |
| Hard falls | No | Yes | No |
| Location included | Not designed for this | Yes, after the emergency call | Yes, GPS link |
| You need an iPhone | Yes | No | No |
| Several family members | Each shared separately | Emergency contacts | Up to 5 contacts |
For most families: set up Fall Detection and Health Sharing first. They're free and take ten minutes together. Add RscMe when you want an immediate text with a location, for several people, or for family members who don't use an iPhone.
A 10-minute checklist for your parent's Apple Watch
- Medical ID filled in, with emergency contacts (Health app)
- Correct age in Medical ID, so Fall Detection turns on automatically at 55+
- Fall Detection: Always on (Watch app → My Watch → Emergency SOS)
- High and low heart rate notifications turned on (Watch app → My Watch → Heart)
- Health Sharing set up with you
- Optional: RscMe installed, contacts and thresholds set
Frequently asked questions
Can I get my parent's Apple Watch heart rate alerts on my phone?
Yes, if your parent shares their health data with you through the Health app on iPhone. You'll see their heart notifications in your Health app. For a text message with their location, an app like RscMe can send an SMS to up to 5 contacts.
Does Apple Watch text family if your heart rate is too high?
No. Apple Watch heart rate notifications go only to the person wearing the watch. Apple Watch messages emergency contacts after a hard fall, once emergency services have been called.
Do family members need an iPhone to get alerts?
For Health Sharing, yes. RscMe alerts arrive as standard SMS, so any phone can receive them.
Can I monitor my parent's heart rate if they don't have an iPhone?
Apple Watch Family Setup lets you set up a watch for a family member without their own iPhone, and it supports high and low heart rate notifications, but those notifications still go to the wearer. RscMe requires an iPhone paired with the watch.
Is this a medical device?
No. Neither Health Sharing nor RscMe diagnoses anything. RscMe does not call 911, and alert delivery depends on device state, permissions, battery, connectivity and credits. In an emergency, call your local emergency number.
