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Ultrahuman rings, including the new Ring Pro, come with an extensive app. Even before you activate any PowerPlugs (add-on features), there are plenty of graphs and numbers to get lost in. Here are a few hacks you should know to navigate the data deluge and make sure you’re getting the most out of its clever hidden features.
I’ve used two of Ultrahuman’s rings: the Ring Air, which I reviewed here (and which is no longer available in the U.S.), and the Ring Pro, which I wrote about a little here. Ultrahuman just came out with a new version of its app, so if anything here looks different from what you’re used to (like the Longevity tab), make sure you have the latest version.
Use the Ultrahuman ring’s longevity tab, but not for longevity
Credit: Beth Skwarecki/Ultrahuman
Ultrahuman gives you an estimate of your biological age, which you may (correctly) think of as kind of a silly gimmick—but don’t ignore the longevity tab altogether. It’s actually a great summary of your long-term trends. If you think of the Ring tab as giving your day-to-day data and suggestions for what to do today, then the Longevity tab tells you what all those days have added up to.
This is where you’ll find an estimate of your VO2max, which gauges your cardio fitness. You’ll also see a card describing your sleep debt; mine tells me I’m one hour in debt, due to bedtimes creeping later over the past week, but it also tells me a few on-time bedtimes should wipe out the debt.
Get better heart rate accuracy in Ultrahuman ring workouts by using a different device
Credit: Beth Skwarecki/Ultrahuman
Smart rings don’t make great workout trackers, as I’ve told you before. You have to take the ring off for comfort or safety for many workout types, and the heart rate readings aren’t particularly reliable, even when you may want to keep the ring on.
Ultrahuman can track workouts with the ring, of course, but the app also has a setting that accounts for exactly my complaints. If you have another device, like a Garmin or even a basic chest strap heart rate monitor, you can have Ultrahuman use that more reliable device for your heart rate during workouts. Just start a workout from the app (under the plus sign menu), and you can choose another device. It actually works with anything that can broadcast heart rate and gives you instructions for connecting your Airpods Pro 3, Apple Watch, Polar sensor, Whoop, or Garmin.
“Train” your Ultrahuman ring for better accuracy
Credit: Beth Skwarecki/Ultrahuman
A new feature in the Emerald update is the ability to “train” your ring’s heart rate detection algorithm. To use it, you’ll wear a secondary device at the same time as your ring, and Ultrahuman will compare the signals it gets from the two devices. This is supposed to allow Ultrahuman to detect your heart rate more accurately.
So far, the feature is only available for a few specific Polar heart rate monitors, none of which I have on hand, so I haven’t been able to test this yet. But Ultrahuman says that support for other devices, like Garmin, is coming soon. Training for step counting is also coming soon.
Keep an eye on sunlight with the vitamin D plugin (even if you don’t care about your vitamin D)
One of Ultrahuman’s strengths is that it keeps track of the best time to do certain things. By default, you’ll get recommendations about when you should stop looking at screens for the night, and you’ll also get a recommendation to get a certain number of steps during the early morning and “golden hour” (around sunset) timeframes. There’s a similar timeline for what Ultrahuman thinks are your best times to have caffeine during the day.
But there’s another handy timeline you can add: one that shows you the timing for sunlight. To see it, go to Powerplugs and activate the Vitamin D plugin. You can use this for its original function, of course: taking note of when you are outdoors and getting sunlight. The ring detects some sunlight on its own, and you can tell it when you’ve been outside if you’re trying to rack up a certain amount of time in the sun.
Now, you’ll get a line on your timeline showing when the sun rises and when you’ll get “partial sunlight” in the evening, customized to your location. You can infer some of this timing from the circadian windows plugin, but I like having it in its own little column on the timeline. I find this handy for planning outdoor activities toward the end of the day—if I go out near the “partial sunlight” time, I should probably bring a flashlight if I’ll be on the trail. To see all your timelines in parallel, tap on the Active Windows card on the main screen.
Save battery on your Ultrahuman ring with Chill Mode
One of Ultrahuman’s most useful features is a simple battery-life setting that you won’t find unless you go looking for it. When you first buy your ring, it will operate in Turbo Mode, which the app describes as running “all sensors at full intensity for continuous, all-day tracking.” And sure, when the ring is new to you, maybe you’d like to use Turbo Mode and turn on live heart rate on the home screen so you can get the most data to look at.
But for everyday use, Chill Mode makes a lot more sense than turbo. This mode still tracks your sleep and restful periods, and it will still sample plenty of data during workouts, but it skips detailed tracking during other times. Your battery will last longer in Chill Mode, and honestly, I don’t feel like I’m missing anything important.
