Support

The questions that come up most — with honest answers. Almost everything that looks like a bug is an intended state.

The app's interface is currently German; the German words are quoted below where they appear on screen.

Contact

Write to us: [PLACEHOLDER: support e-mail]

Reports are most useful with device, iOS version and the time of day of what you saw. Response time: [PLACEHOLDER: usual response time].

Please do not send us health data or screenshots with values you would rather keep — for most questions a description is enough.

Common questions

What do I need for VagusSense to show anything?: An iPhone with iOS 26 or newer and an Apple Watch that writes heart rate variability and resting heart rate to Apple Health. Without those values in Health there is nothing for the app to read.
Why does it say «Noch nicht genug Daten» or «Nicht genug Daten» (not enough data)?: Because that is the honest answer. The first estimate needs four conditions to hold at once: around 40 readings, spread over at least 14 days and at least 10 distinct days, plus a resting heart rate on at least 7 days. Many readings on a few days are not a baseline. The home screen shows the progress, for example «23 von 40 Messungen · Tag 9 von 14».
My watch only measures a few times a day. Is something broken?: No. The Apple Watch samples heart rate variability irregularly, usually a handful of times a day, and decides for itself when. VagusSense cannot request a measurement and does not pretend to.
Why is there no score?: Because a number without a unit is a claim. You see your state as a word, always with the age of the reading, and your raw values with their units: HRV (SDNN) in milliseconds and resting heart rate in bpm. The app deliberately shows no index and no score anywhere.
Does the app show whether a breathing pause worked?: No, by design. The Apple Watch measures too rarely and too irregularly for that — a before/after built from one or two readings would be a guess. What is recorded is that you took the pause, nothing else.
Why are readings during a pause kept out of my normal range?: Slow breathing raises HRV mechanically. If such readings entered your baseline, your own yardstick would shift. Only pauses in VagusSense are excluded — the app does not read Apple's Breathe or Mindfulness sessions. That is a limit, not a reassurance: values your watch writes during one of them still count toward your normal range, even though slow breathing raises HRV mechanically.
I feel no haptics on iPad or Mac.: Correct. The rhythm as a vibration exists only on iPhone, and only while the app is in front; on the Apple Watch it is a tap on your wrist. The pause works completely without either — the form leads visibly.
My widget shows an old state.: Widgets refresh on a system budget, not in real time. That is why the age of the reading always sits next to the state: an old age is the truth, not a fault.
The watch says there are no values on it yet.: The watch measures nothing and computes nothing; its values come from the iPhone. With no iPhone in range it honestly has nothing to show. The breathing pause still runs.
The Mac stays empty.: On the Mac, VagusSense reads no health data — macOS cannot do that. The Mac shows only what arrives from the iPhone through your private iCloud. Without iPhone data it stays empty. Check that both devices are signed in to the same Apple Account with iCloud switched on.
How do I switch off desk activity on the Mac?: In the VagusSense Mac settings, at any time. What it records are coarse windows anyway (switch counts, active and idle time, a coarse category, a non-reversible app token) — never window titles, never keystrokes, never app names. They are deleted after 90 days.
How do I withdraw Health access or delete my data?: Withdraw access in the Health app under Data Access & Devices. Deleting the app removes that device's local store; the iCloud copy is removed in Settings › Apple Account › iCloud › app data. More in the privacy policy.
Is there an account or an in-app purchase?: No. There is nothing to sign into, and nothing to buy in this release.
Is VagusSense a medical device?: No. A wellness signal, not a medical measurement. VagusSense makes no diagnosis and does not treat or prevent anything. If your readings worry you, a doctor is the right address — not this app.

Known limits

The Apple Watch samples HRV irregularly; the app cannot trigger a measurement.
The first estimate needs around 40 readings over at least 14 days and at least 10 distinct days, plus a resting heart rate on at least 7 days.
The comparison range is then your last 28 days — for HRV also matched to the time of day.
Haptics are iPhone-only and foreground-only; on the watch they are wrist taps.
Widgets and complications refresh on a budget, not in real time.
The watch measures nothing and computes nothing; with no iPhone in range it has no values.
The Mac shows only what comes from the iPhone through your private iCloud.
VagusSense does not recognise Apple's own Breathe and Mindfulness sessions. Values your watch writes during one of them still count toward your normal range, even though slow breathing raises HRV mechanically.
The Apple Watch times beats optically at the wrist, not with an ECG. At rest the two agree well; they diverge with movement and under strain.
Wrist temperature is read and stored, but is part of no assessment in this release.
The app's interface is currently German.

If you are unwell

VagusSense is no help in an emergency and detects no emergency. With acute symptoms, contact a doctor or your local emergency number.