Hacker News Reader

Comment by herbst | Hacker News Reader

Does that work on linux or does it depend on the windows polar driver? (The reason i don't have such a watch yet is exactly that)

View on HN

This works on both Windows and Linux (tested).

Awesome! Thanks for creating this.

Thank you for asking, i can see more and more Linux compatibility questions like this, thanks to which i don't have to feel like an outcast anymore after more then 15 years of Linux usage.

It is also great that the answer is yes.

I know that feel. I am asking this question for years on random places and, maybe it is just me, but i get more and more (often even unexpected) yes.

What a great time to be a linux user ;)

Edit:// Also my sister has such a watch and is forced to boot into Windows each fucking time the watch decides it needs to be authentificated. Not sure if this library would solve this perse tho.

This project aims to be low level API to Polar devices. It allows to access device, download raw files and deserialize it. It is a good point to start more sophisticated applications.

That is nice to hear. Is there a model that measures heart rate from the wrist? The chest bands are cumbersome.

OT but there was no other way to contact you. Try a Scosche Rhythm + for workout heartbeat measurement. Works without flaw on Polar devices without the use of a cheststrap.

I have yet to see a device that is accurate on the wrist above about 130-150 beats per minute. The chest strap, although somewhat uncomfortable, has far better accuracy.

Does the library export data from the web service or from the device itself? Also, do you know if the device can be prevented from syncing with the cloud?

PS: Thank you for your contributions. I've looked into 3rd party open source sync libraries for activity trackers before, and the state was dire.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com