BreathNow app

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⭐ What BreathNow Does (At a Glance)?

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• Track blood pressure manually or via Bluetooth blood pressure monitors

• Lower blood pressure naturally using guided breathing exercises, meditations, and calming activities

• Works as a stress monitor for Apple Watch using HRV and pulse

• Includes guided protocols from University of Colorado IMST and science-backed relaxation

• Offers heart-rate monitoring, pulse trends, HRV insights and stress alerts

• Supports cardio fitness tests inspired by University of Cambridge (UK) protocols

• Syncs with Apple Health and Android Health Connect to read heart health, exercise and sleep data

• AI Health Coach (“Flow”) recommends  personalized health actions based on your Apple Health data

• Provides reminders for building heart-healthy habits 

• Helps you monitor irregular heart rhythm patterns using Apple Watch heart data

• Shows real-time changes in pulse and stress (HRV) during breathing

• Integrates guided meditation and calming audio for stress reduction and lowering anxiety​​​

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🧠 BreathNow Features​

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• Blood pressure tracking (manual log + Bluetooth cuff integration via Apple Health and Android Health Connect)

• Breathing exercises to lower blood pressure

• Free blood pressure app for iPhone

• Blood pressure app for Apple Watch

• Stress monitor for Apple Watch

• Pulse & HRV tracking

• AI Health Coach with recommendations for heart health

• Cardio fitness test (Cambridge-inspired)

• Sleep trends as analyzed by AI Health Coach

• Relaxation exercises, meditation & calming audio

• Personalized daily routines for heart health and stress

• Health reminders (breathing, walking, BP checks, etc)

• Apple Health and Android Health Connect integration

• Progress charts 

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📱 Why BreathNow App Stands Out? 

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BreathNow is one of the few apps that:

• Tracks stress via HRV, pulse and blood pressure AND actively helps to optimize them

• Reads your Apple Health data and gives personalized AI guidance how to improve

• Combines breathing, meditation, BP logging, HRV, cardio tests and trends in one place

• Shows real-time pulse response during breathing

• Has a clean, simple design for quick daily use

• Helps you build long-term heart-healthy habits through reminders and coaching

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🔗 Call to Action

Try BreathNow on the Apple AppStore for iPhone / Apple Watch and Google Play for Android and start improving your blood pressure, heart rate, stress, and heart health today — naturally, scientifically, and effortlessly.

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🔍 Frequently Asked Questions

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How exactly does the BreathNow app benefit my health?

 

BreathNow helps users to lower blood pressure, heart rate and stress with calming techniques (slow breathing, meditation, etc) and special science proven exercises (mindful walking, stretching, aerobic and isometric). Naturally,  without medications. 

BreathNow identifies potential heart health risks, i.e. elevated heart rate, elevated blood pressure, irregular heart rhythm, low heart rate drop during sleep, etc) from user data stored securely in Apple Health, alerts a user and suggests potential actions. AI health coach Flow provides recommendations for specific exercises to users based on their data in Apple Health.

 

Users also can measure and track their heart rate, HRV/stress changes or cardio fitness through the phone's camera. No extra sensors needed. Users can track their blood pressure changes and learn insights re which activities impact these changes. BreathNow, like all other mobile apps,  requires an external blood pressure monitor to take blood pressure readings. 

 

BreathNow also helps users to lower anxiety and stress and fall asleep faster. 

 

BreathNow stress monitor, breathing exercises and blood pressure tracking are also available for Apple Watch. BreathNow also includes a cardio fitness test and My Environment assessment developed together with the scientists from the University of Cambridge (UK). 

 

Please note that the BreathNow app has a different feature set for iPhone and for Android phones. Please refer to the app descriptions on Apple AppStore and Google Play Store for the latest set of features for each of the versions. 

 

Who may benefit from using the BreathNow app? 

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Everyone who cares about their heart being healthy will benefit from using BreathNow. BreathNow will be especially useful for those experiencing anxiety, elevated heart rate and/or elevated blood pressure and stress. 

 

In many situations these conditions may be alleviated with the help of exercises available in BreathNow. Users are encouraged to discuss with their medical providers how to integrate BreathNow better into their overall treatment plans. Users can also share their progress from the app with their doctors remotely. 

 

How is BreathNow different from other heart health apps?

 

Most heart health apps on the market provide just tracking functionality for heart rate, blood pressure, etc. There are other apps which provide general guidance for breathing, meditation, etc. And then there are apps which focus on exercise workouts. 

 

BreathNow is different because it complements heart health tracking functionality with specific tools to lower anxiety, heart rate, blood pressure and stress right in the app. BreathNow not only alerts you to potential heart health risks, it also guides you on how to lower them long term and in some cases helps users to feel better immediately. 

 

AI health coach Flow provides recommendations for specific exercises to users based on their data in Apple Health.

 

How do I experience an immediate benefit from using BreathNow? 

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You may consider starting from taking your heart rate and stress reading with your phone’s camera. If your heart rate or stress are elevated, you may try one of the calming breathing exercises or a meditation. Measure stress and heart rate again and see how this activity worked for you. 

 

Does BreathNow replace my medical provider? 

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Absolutely not! BreathNow is not a medical tool.  It does not provide medical advice or suggests a medical treatment. BreathNow can complement a treatment process as directed by a medical professional and we strongly recommend BreathNow users to discuss with their doctors how to use BreathNow in a better way for their specific situations. 

 

The BreathNow team doesn’t accept any responsibility for any potential medical issues which may arise from using this app. BreathNow users should not change consumption of medicines prescribed by their doctors if they start feeling better while using Breathnow without talking to their doctors first. 

 

How did you choose heart health risks in BreathNow (iPhone only)? 

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We chose these parameters because they are highlighted by most heart health organisations, for example The American Heart Association,  AND because they can be measured with the help of Apple technology. 

 

Users can set different alert levels for heart health risk areas. Please talk to your doctor about heart health factors specific for your situation and discuss how BreathNow could help you to address them better. 

 

We also included a low heart rate dip during sleep as one of the heart health risks based on this research. The value of this dip is displayed on one of the BreathNow app screens on Apple Watch. 

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Our heart health monitor for Apple Watch also indicates your performance to a daily step goal. Walking is an aerobic exercise and to keep your heart healthy the American Heart Association recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise per week. 

 

What is a BreathNow Stress Monitor? 

 

Our stress monitor for Apple Watch measures your current stress level during the day. The stress monitor alerts you if your stress is up. You can then immediately perform a calming breathing exercise right on your Apple Watch. You can do it in a discrete way without attracting anyone’s attention. 

 

BreathNow Stress Monitor uses Heart Rate Variability (HRV) collected by your Apple Watch to measure stress. Higher HRV means lower stress and vice versa. BreathNow shows both HRV and stress (inverted HRV) graphs. 

 

Who is the team behind BreathNow?

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Our team consists of a PhD in cardiology, talented engineers and user interface designers. Our founder Dmitri, a retired hi-tech executive, used to suffer from work related anxiety and hypertension. He fixed these conditions within a year using techniques offered in BreathNow. We also collaborate closely with the scientists from the University of Cambridge (UK) whose cardio fitness test is implemented in BreathNow. 

 

What is the science behind BreatheNow calming activities? 

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Breathing exercises for wellbeing have an ancient history and are closely connected to yoga practice. Modern science has provided an explanation how breathing exercises help to control our autonomous nervous system. Generally speaking, slower deeper breathing with longer exhales stimulates our parasympathetic nervous system, responsible for ‘rest and digest’ behaviour. 

 

These exercises calm us. Faster and shallower breathing with shorter exhales stimulate a sympathetic nervous system, responsible for ‘fight or flight” behavior. These exercises make us more alert. To learn more about the science behind breathing exercises watch this expert interview or read our blog at www.breathnow.app/blog . Here is the link to the scientific publication on breathing exercises helping to lower blood pressure. Here is the link to the scientific publication on breathing exercises helping to lower anxiety. Here is a link to the scientific publication which explains why meditation helps to lower blood pressure. 

 

What is HRV and why is it used for the BreathNow stress monitor (iPhone only)? 

HRV shows how the time between consecutive heartbeats (R-R intervals) changes within a period of time. If a user is stressed out, the time between heartbeats stays fairly constant. If a user is relaxed, the time between heartbeats has more variation. These variations are quite small and can be detected by ECG devices or by sensors of your smartphone’s camera or smartwatches like Apple Watch. 

 

HRV is a practical, cost effective, and non-invasive way to measure the activity of the autonomic nervous system as relates to stress. Human’s heart rate, hormones, blood pressure, glucose etc, react to life stresses and our autonomic nervous system tries to keep our internal systems in balance.

 

Heart rate and HRV are regulated by the parasympathetic  part of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Parasympathetic system (PNS) controls the so-called ‘rest and digest’ state of the body.  This is  the reason why  measuring HRV is an effective way to understand how our body is doing while trying to maintain a state of balance in response to different life stresses. 

 

Please note that HRV is different from heart rate. Two people may have the same heart rate when measured over a period of time, for example 60 BPMs. Yet one of them may be very relaxed with high HRV and the other one totally stressed out with low HRV. BreathNow inverts HRV data to make readings more intuitive: lower stress (which corresponds to higher HRV) is linked to a higher state of relaxation. And vice versa: higher stress translates into lower HRV values.  

 

HRV is a proxy for measuring Total Life Stress (TLS). That is all of the stress a user experiences in life: exercise, relationships, diet, sleep quality, lifestyle, environment, blood pressure, etc.  

 

IMPORTANT: HRV is a proxy for Total Life Stress.  Some sophisticated medical grade equipment (usually a variation of an ECG machine) can provide deep interpretation of HRV data and split it into different indicators: i.e. different types of stress, energy level, illness risk etc. However a consumer device like a smartwatch or phone camera produces HRV data which is sufficient only for basic analysis and this data cannot be used for deep analysis of stress factors. Don’t be misled by consumer apps which offer a great level of detail of HRV analysis! 

 

The other thing to be aware of is that different people have different absolute HRV values. Two people may have similar absolute HRV values with one being stressed out and the other one fully relaxed. 

 

Hence while using mobile apps and HRV to study someone’s stress it makes sense to focus primarily on two things: daily or weekly trends and stress difference between two closely spaced events, i.e. before a relaxation exercise and immediately after.  

 

 

How do I use the BreathNow HRV/stress monitor graph (iPhone only)? 

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BreathNow HRV/Stress graph on iPhone shows a trend in HRV stress changes. It shows how user stress changes from one day to another. You can make  the  following conclusions based on the trend of this graph:

1. Small variations in stress from day to day, no obvious trend observed. Most likely you properly control your stress. Congratulations! 

 

1. The graph is trending up. Most likely your stress is building day to day. Try to increase quality sleep time, spend more time walking in nature, do more breathing exercises and meditations. 

 

1. The graph is trending down. This is a great opportunity to increase your energy level to be more productive. Go for a moderate intensity exercise like brisk walking, jogging, cycling or swimming. Alternatively do more Energise breathing exercises in the BreathNow app. 

 

1. The graph shows a sudden spike in stress level after a morning measurement while you exercise as usual and do not experience any other obvious stressors (i.e. too much alcohol the night before). This may be an indication that your body is fighting some sort of acute illness, i.e. stomach or viral infection. 

 

IMPORTANT: Please note that for consistent stress measurement results you need to take stress readings first thing in the morning: right after waking up, while seated on your bed.

 

Please note that based on user requests BreathNow app on Apple Watch presents both HRV graph and stress graph (inverted HRV graph). Both of these graphs show daily levels. The graph on the iPhone shows how user stress has changed over the last 30 days based (1st HRV measurement during the day). 

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Why is HRV used in the Enhanced Lower BP & Pulse Breathing (originally called HRV Biofeedback for Blood Pressure)? 

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In recent years, biofeedback techniques have emerged as a promising approach to help individuals regulate physiological functions. One such technique is HRV biofeedback, which involves monitoring HRV and using this information to influence the autonomic nervous system. A user observes a real time HRV indicator and adjusts their breathing to maximize the HRV output. 

BreathNow includes the Enhanced Lower BP & Pulse Breathing which provides enhanced calming results and helps to lower anxiety and  blood pressure even further. Apply your finger to the phone's camera, perform the breathing exercise and try to maximize the length of the green HRV bar. A longer HRV bar corresponds to a more relaxed state. 

 

Why do you recommend using Reminders in BreathNow? 

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Like any lifestyle changing actions,  BreathNow activities produce positive effects if repeated regularly. We recommend performing most of the activities several times per day and make them a habit. Reminders are one of the most efficient ways to make it happen. Judging by the feedback of our users, they highly value this feature of the  app. 

 

Why have you introduced breathing exercises on Apple Watch?

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Sometimes you would like to relax, reduce stress and anxiety or lower your blood pressure with slow breathing without attracting too much attention. For example during an important meeting or a heated family discussion. That is where breathing exercises from BreathNow on Apple Watch help. BreathNow on Apple Watch will guide your breathing with a gentle vibration so you do not even need to look at the screen.  

 

How can  BreathNow help me with better sleep?  

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Deep Sleep breathing exercise is available for iPhone and Apple Watch. It helps you to fall asleep faster. No need to look at the iPhone  screen while performing it.  Your iPhone will guide your breathing with a pleasant sound or gentle  vibration.  The Apple Watch  guides your breathing with gentle vibration. No need to switch off the watch after you fall asleep. Your Apple Watch will go to  sleep after you do. 

 

What is the BreathNow/Cambridge cardio test and its link to bio age (iPhone only)? 

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This test involves a user stepping up one step and then stepping down, repeated for 5 minutes. As the test progresses, the guiding voice accelerates step up  and step   down  instructions.  A user measures his or her  heart rate at the beginning and at the end of the test with the phone's camera and BreathNow calculates an approximate value of the user's so-called VO2Max. VO2Max shows the maximum consumption of oxygen per kilogram of body weight and is a generally accepted indicator of cardio fitness. 

 

The higher VO2Max - the healthier your cardiovascular system. VO2Max has been shown also to be the best single predictor of all-cause mortality. Estimate your biological (bio) age by comparing your VO2Max to other people’s VO2Max in this paper. The BreathNow team has co-developed this test in the app together with the scientists from the University of Cambridge. You can learn more about the details of this test here. 

 

How does BreathNow alert me to an Irregular Heart Rhythm (Afib)? 

Atrial fibrillation (Afib) occurs when the heart beats in an irregular pattern. If untreated, Afib can cause blood  to clot in the heart. This  can lead to stroke, heart failure or  other complications. Your Apple Watch can notify you if it sees your heart beating with an irregular rhythm that may be atrial fibrillation. This means that this alert works only if  you  wear an Apple Watch and this function is  enabled in the Apple Watch settings on your iPhone. Please use Apple instructions on how to enable this function on your Apple Watch. If you get an alert about Irregular Heart Rhythm please let your medical provider know about this as soon as possible. 

 

Can BreathNow take my blood pressure readings?

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Currently (January 2026) NONE of the mobile apps available on the market, BreathNow included, allow to take blood pressure readings without an external blood pressure monitor. The Apple Watch doesn’t take blood pressure readings at this time either. You need to use either a Bluetooth enabled blood pressure monitor to download your readings into Apple Health automatically, or enter readings into the BreathNow Tracker manually. 

 

How to connect Bluetooth Blood Pressure Monitor to Apple Health. 

 

Please follow these Apple instructions on how to connect Bluetooth enabled blood pressure monitors to Apple Health https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/iphone/iphbb8259c61/ios

 

Here is the list of Bluetooth enabled blood pressure monitors which can be connected to Apple Health and Android Health Connect. This list includes the products which were widely available in January 2026. 

 

Please note that BreathNow cannot be responsible for the accuracy of information presented on 3rd party services and resources. 

 

Is BreathNow free? 

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Many of the features of BreathNow are free, i.e. measuring heart rate, tracking blood pressure, some of the activities, heart health alerts, cardio fitness test. Please subscribe to our Pro version to enjoy the full  functionality of the app and  all activities. You can  also sign-up for  a free limited time Trial subscription and explore premium features at no cost. 

 

If you are not happy with the premium version of the app, you can unsubscribe at any time. BreathNow subscriptions  are managed by Apple and Google so if you are not fully happy with BreathNow please launch the Apple AppStore app on your iPhone or Play Store on your Android phone and unsubscribe from BreathNow in your profile. 

 

How is my data used? 

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Your health data are stored securely in either your Apple Health or Android Health Connect accounts.  We are not  sharing this data with anyone. If you are taking the cardio fitness test, you  may choose to share your data anonymously with the University of Cambridge to contribute to heart health research. 

 

We are collecting anonymous data on how users use our app and use this data to fine tune the features of the app to make it better. 

 

What is the BreathNow 3in1 Program to lower BP, stress, bio age? 

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Scientific research by Princeton University shows that excessive stress is linked to high blood pressure. This research also shows that as we get older, the correlation between stress and high blood pressure becomes stronger. There is also strong research data which demonstrate that lower VO2max is linked to high probability of high blood pressure. The American Heart Association recommends at least 150 minutes/week  of moderate aerobic activity, like brisk walking,  as a scientifically proven way to lower blood pressure long term. 

 

Another scientific study shows that walking in nature for 2 hours/week has additional health benefits.  This means that reducing stress, walking in nature and increasing VO2max leads to lower blood pressure. BreathNow 3in1 Program is designed to lower blood pressure, stress and increase VO2max. As we explained above higher VO2max translates also in lower biological age. The 3in1 Program combines relaxation exercises (breathing, meditation, etc), walking (moderate aerobic exercise) and short High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) exercises (like Nitric Oxide dump) which increase VO2max. 

 

We deployed state of the art technology in BreathNow to measure your relaxation progress (biofeedback breathing, stress monitor) and VO2max progress with the Cambridge University step test so you know exactly where you are in your progress to lower blood pressure, stress and bio age. 

 

What are isometric exercises and why do they help to lower blood pressure?

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Isometric exercises are designed to build strength without moving muscles or joints. Experts believe that isometric exercises increase the tension in the muscles when held for several minutes, then cause a sudden rush of blood when a person relaxes. This increases the blood flow, which helps to manage blood pressure in the long run. According to the research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine they are among the best exercises to lower blood pressure. 

 

What is the significance of the 1Min BP Workout Plan?

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1Min BP Workout Plan offers users to perform just five 1Min workouts per day and observe improvements in health in general and in blood pressure in particular. This plan is inspired by the research by Martin Gibala, Professor of Kinesiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. These research results are summarised in his book “The One Minute Workout”.   In this book Professor Gibala shows that short HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workouts are very effective in health improvement when performed daily. 

 

These short HIIT workouts also improve VO2Max. As explained above VO2Max is the leading proxy indicator of all cause mortality (higher VO2Max leads to lower mortality). A study by Tulane University suggests that taking at least 50 steps up the stairs each day can significantly reduce the risk of heart disease, with climbing more than five flights of stairs daily reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease by 20%. The study, based on data from over 450,000 UK Biobank participants, assessed their susceptibility to cardiovascular disease considering various factors. Daily stair climbing was found to notably reduce the risk. Those who stopped climbing stairs during the study had a 32% higher risk of cardiovascular disease compared to consistent climbers.  

 

Based on this and also on the scientifically proven benefits of isometric workouts (see the reference above) we combined short HIIT and isometric exercises into the 1 Min BP Workout Plan which can be done anywhere without any equipment. These exercises take effort but you can start from performing them for less than a minute at the beginning and then expand to 1 minute and more for additional benefits. You can edit the starting time and order of workouts once you start following the plan. 

 

If you are just starting to exercise please consult your medical provider on how to integrate these workouts in your overall treatment plan. 

 

What is an Easy Brain Test (iPhone only)? 

 

This test is developed by the company Vivid Mind (Poland) in cooperation with the Medical Universities in Wroclaw and Szczecin (Poland). 

 

How does this Easy Brain Test work?

Scientists have discovered that one of the earliest life changes observed in the initial stages of dementia involves voice. Dementia can affect the brain’s ability to process and produce speech.

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Our team at BreathNow has integrated this free test from Vivid Mind into the iPhone version of our BreathNow blood pressure app. This makes total sense because high blood pressure is one of the main risk factors for developing Alzheimers and dementia.

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How to perform this cognitive test?

Users need just to pronounce the sound AAAA for 6 seconds and in less than 1 minute they will see a suggestion from the app if it makes sense for them to discuss the results with their doctor. Please note that this test does not produce a medical diagnosis and you should discuss any health issues with your doctor.

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What is BP Coach Flow (iPhone only)? 

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Users may choose to allow Flow, our AI system, to access their data in Apple Health. Then users can ask Flow either predefined or open questions and get customized recommendations about improvements in their blood pressure, heart rate, stress and sleep.

 

Flow acts as a lifestyle coach who helps identify best non-medical actions for a user based on their up to date data in Apple Health. 

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Please note that for privacy reasons user registration data are not available to Flow. This means that the BreathNow solution provides better privacy protection as compared to on-line AI chatbots. When users discuss health topics with on-line AI chatbots, these chatbots can link health information to a specific user. 

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Where can I ask questions about the app? 

Please use the Contact Us option in the app. 

 

How do I  get more help from BreathNow team

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1. Please join our private Anxiety and High Blood Pressure Support Group on Facebook. The group is  closely moderated to provide a safe environment for discussing sensitive topics, so users can learn from other  members who have similar health challenges or share their advice. Swipe up to Insights & community, swipe left to Anxiety & high BP support community. 

2. Subscribe to our YouTube channel , Instagram or TikTok for 3 new heart health and blood pressure tips every week 

3. Read our blog with updates about latest  scientific developments in managing anxiety, blood pressure, heart rate and  stress without meds on http://www.breathnow.app/blog

4. Try for free our Udemy courses on lowering blood pressure and heart rate naturally