Troubleshooting

Connecting your wearable to riina

riina does not pair with wearables directly. Instead, it reads workout and heart rate data from Apple HealthKit on iOS and Android Health Connect on Android. If your watch or strap can sync to one of these platforms, it can score in riina. This page walks you through the most common connection issues per device family and how to fix them.

Start here: first checks for any device

More than 80% of "missing workout" tickets we see are fixed by one of the items below. Run through this list before diving into the brand-specific sections.

iOS · Apple HealthKit

  1. Open Settings → Privacy & Security → Health → riina and enable Turn On All (specifically Heart Rate, Workouts, Active Energy, Resting Heart Rate).
  2. In the Health app, open Browse → Heart → Heart Rate and confirm recent samples exist. If Health is empty, riina has nothing to import.
  3. Force-quit and reopen riina. We poll for new workouts on launch and on background refresh.
  4. Make sure Background App Refresh is on for riina (Settings → General → Background App Refresh).

Android · Health Connect

  1. Install Health Connect from the Play Store if it is not already on your device. On Android 14+ it is built in.
  2. Open Health Connect → App permissions → riina and grant Heart Rate, Exercise, and Total Energy Burned (Read).
  3. In Health Connect → Data and access → Heart rate, confirm samples exist from your wearable's companion app.
  4. Disable battery optimization for riina so background syncs are not killed (Settings → Apps → riina → Battery → Unrestricted).

Apple Watch iOS only

Workouts started from the native Workout app on Apple Watch produce the cleanest data for riina. Third-party workout apps (Strava, Nike Run Club, etc.) also work as long as they save to Health.

Symptom

Workout shows in Apple Health but not in riina.

Fix: riina only imports workouts longer than 5 minutes with continuous HR samples. Open the workout in Health, tap Heart Rate, and confirm a sample-rich curve exists. If the curve is sparse, the watch lost wrist contact mid-workout — tighten the band one notch and re-record.

Symptom

Permissions screen says "No data" even after granting access.

Fix: iOS sometimes silently revokes permissions after an OS update. Toggle riina's Health permissions off and back on in Settings → Health → Data Access & Devices → riina.

Symptom

Score drops mid-workout (low HR readings during HIIT).

Fix: Wrist flexion confuses the optical sensor. Wear the watch 1–2 finger-widths above the wrist bone, tighten the band, and consider pairing a chest strap for HIIT — see our gear page.

Garmin iOS & Android

Garmin syncs through the Garmin Connect app, which then writes to HealthKit (iOS) or Health Connect (Android). The most common failure mode is the bridge between Connect and the platform health store, not the watch itself.

  • In Garmin Connect → More → Settings → Connected Apps, confirm Apple Health or Health Connect is listed and enabled.
  • For iOS: open Health → Sources → Garmin Connect and turn on every category (Heart Rate, Workouts, Active Energy minimum).
  • For Android: open Health Connect → App permissions → Garmin Connect → Allow all (Write).
  • Open Garmin Connect after each ride/run to trigger the sync. Garmin does not push to Health stores in real time — the Connect app must be opened or running.
  • If the watch shows the activity but Connect does not, swipe down on the activity list inside Connect to force a Bluetooth re-sync from the watch.

Polar iOS & Android

Polar Flow is the bridge. The integration is slightly hidden in the app.

  • In Polar Flow app → Settings → General → Apple Health / Health Connect, toggle the integration on.
  • Polar pushes a workout to Health stores only after sync from the watch completes. Make sure the watch syncs to Flow first (open the watch, hold back button to force sync).
  • For chest straps (H10, H9): pair directly to a workout app on the phone (e.g. Polar Beat) so the strap's data is captured as a Workout entry, not just an HR sample.

Fitbit Android (limited iOS)

Fitbit historically did not expose workout data to Apple HealthKit. Since the Google acquisition, Fitbit on Android can write to Health Connect, but iOS support is still missing.

  • Android: in the Fitbit app → Profile picture → Health Connect, enable the integration and grant write permission for Heart Rate and Exercise.
  • iOS: Fitbit does not natively bridge to HealthKit. Use a third-party bridge (e.g. HealthFit or SyncSolver) at your own risk — we cannot guarantee data fidelity. We recommend switching to a HealthKit-native device for clean scoring.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Android

Samsung Health is the source. The Galaxy Watch line writes to Health Connect via the Samsung Health app.

  • Open Samsung Health → Settings → Health Connect and toggle the integration on.
  • Grant write permission for Heart Rate, Exercise, and Active Energy.
  • Samsung Health on iOS does not integrate with HealthKit. If you switch to an iPhone, your Galaxy Watch data will not flow to riina.

Oura Ring iOS & Android

Oura is built primarily for sleep and recovery, not workouts. Its HR data flows to riina, but you usually need to tag a workout manually in the Oura app for it to be picked up as a scorable session.

  • In the Oura app → Settings → Apple Health / Health Connect, enable the integration.
  • For each workout, open the Oura app and confirm the auto-detected activity is correctly tagged. Otherwise it logs only as an "active period" without a workout boundary.
  • Oura's wrist-equivalent PPG samples are less dense during high-intensity work. For HIIT or CrossFit, pair with a chest strap and let riina score that session instead.

Whoop indirect only

Whoop does not natively write to Apple HealthKit or Android Health Connect. It is a closed ecosystem.

  • Use the Whoop app's Strava integration as a relay: enable Strava in Whoop, then enable Strava → Health Connect or HealthKit on your phone. Heart rate fidelity through this chain is reduced.
  • For best results in riina, run a parallel workout on a HealthKit/Health-Connect-native device (Apple Watch, Garmin, Polar) and let Whoop continue tracking recovery in the background.

Xiaomi & Amazfit Android & iOS

Xiaomi (Mi Band, Mi Watch) syncs through the Mi Fitness or Zepp Life app. Amazfit uses the Zepp app. All three can bridge to Health stores, but the integrations are off by default.

  • Mi Fitness / Zepp Life: Profile → Settings → Apple Health / Health Connect → turn on, then grant write permissions for Heart Rate and Exercise.
  • Zepp (Amazfit): Profile → Add Accounts → Apple Health or Health Connect → enable.
  • These apps push workouts only after the band syncs over Bluetooth. Open the companion app right after a workout to trigger the chain.

Chest straps and external HR sensors

A chest strap on its own is just a Bluetooth HR broadcaster — it does not create a workout record. You need to pair it to a watch or a phone workout app that writes to your platform's health store.

iOS recipes

  • Apple Watch + chest strap (Polar H10 etc.): in Watch → Settings → Bluetooth, pair the strap. The Workout app will prefer the strap signal automatically.
  • Phone-only: use the Polar Beat, HRV4Training, or Wahoo Fitness app to record a workout straight from the strap. All three save to HealthKit.

Android recipes

  • Pair the strap to your wearable (Garmin, Polar, Wear OS) so it overrides the wrist sensor during the workout.
  • Phone-only: use Wahoo Fitness or Polar Beat; both write to Health Connect.

Common symptoms across all devices

Symptom

"No workouts yet" on the riina home screen, even after a session.

Fix: the workout is shorter than 5 minutes, has no HR samples, or has not yet synced from the wearable to the companion app. Open your wearable's app first, confirm the workout is there, then open riina.

Symptom

Workouts import but score is suspiciously low or zero.

Fix: riina needs Resting HR and Max HR to compute zones. If your wearable does not write Resting HR (some fitness bands don't), set it manually in riina → Profile → Heart Rate.

Symptom

Duplicate workouts (same session, two scores).

Fix: two apps are writing the same workout (e.g. Strava + Apple Watch). In Health, pin a single source as the primary writer for Workouts in Health → Sources → Apps by reordering or disabling duplicate writers.

Symptom

HR samples are missing or flat for chunks of the workout.

Fix: almost always a wrist-fit problem on optical sensors. Tighten the band, move it higher on the wrist, and warm up for 2–3 minutes before any sprint. Tattoos on the underside of the wrist also kill PPG signal — switch to a chest strap.

Still stuck?

Send us your wearable model, phone OS version, and a screenshot of the workout in your wearable's app plus the Health/Health Connect entry. We can usually pinpoint where the chain breaks within a day.

Email support@riina.io — or, if you are in the beta, drop a note in the in-app feedback form.