Northpace Support

Northpace is a HIIT, breathwork, and rucking app for iPhone and Apple Watch. Everything runs on-device — there is no Northpace account and no server.

Getting started

First-time setup

• Open the app on iPhone and approve the Apple Health prompt.
• If you use an Apple Watch, open the Watch app once and approve its Health prompt too — workouts won’t track on the Watch without it.
• In Settings, set your age (for your max-heart-rate estimate), body weight (for rucking calories), your units, and your heart-rate source.

Which heart-rate source should I use?

• Apple Watch — the Watch runs the workout and streams heart rate to the iPhone.
• AirPods Pro 3 (or Powerbeats Pro 2) — your AirPods sense heart rate from your ear, no Apple Watch needed; the iPhone runs the session. In-ear readings are less validated than a chest strap and can drop out during intense motion.
• Bluetooth strap — pair any standard heart-rate device (Polar H10, Wahoo Tickr, Garmin HRM, and similar). Most straps wake on motion — bend the strap or tap the puck if you see no reading.

Breathwork

Can I practice with my eyes closed?

Yes. Northpace taps at each breath phase boundary — a lighter tap for inhale/exhale transitions and a firmer one for holds. Settings → Breathwork has two independent toggles, one for iPhone haptics and one for Apple Watch haptics. During a breath session the Apple Watch keeps tapping even when its screen dims, so the cues reach your wrist with your eyes closed.

What are the safety notices before some patterns?

Buteyko, Bhastrika, and Kapalabhati involve forceful or restricted breathing and show a one-time safety notice on first use. Please read it. Never do breathwork in or near water, while driving, or while standing — you can faint without warning.

Rucking

How are my rucking calories calculated, and what is the Terrain setting?

Rucking uses an energy model built for walking under load, so it counts the effort a weighted pack adds rather than treating a ruck like an ordinary walk. Your estimate combines your pack weight, the Terrain you choose on the Rucking screen, the real-time uphill and downhill grade from GPS, and your heart rate (calibrated to your VO₂ max when your Apple Watch has measured it). Pick the terrain that matches your route — Pavement, Trail, Grass / Brush, Sand, or Snow — because soft or loose ground burns far more energy than pavement. During the ruck, your live calorie total also shows on your Apple Watch.

How do I see my route?

After a ruck, the summary shows a map colored by heart-rate zone. Tap the map to open a full-screen, zoomable version. Routes also appear in History.

My ruck got interrupted — did I lose it?

Rucking saves its progress continuously. If your phone locks, you switch apps, or the app is closed, reopen Northpace within about four hours and the ruck picks up where it left off. Past that window, or if GPS was unavailable for the whole walk, there may be nothing useful to recover.

Apple Watch

The Watch app didn’t respond when I started from iPhone.

If a banner appears, open the Watch app on your iPhone, find Northpace, and toggle “Show App on Apple Watch” off and back on, or reinstall it. Make sure both apps are up to date.

Troubleshooting

• No heart rate showing up. For the Watch source, open the Watch app once on your wrist and confirm Apple Health is authorized there. For Bluetooth, select your strap in Settings → Heart Rate Source and make sure it’s powered on.
• Music keeps playing when I open the app. That’s intended — Northpace only takes over audio once you start a workout with an ambient sound selected, and even then it plays alongside your music.
• Calories look low in Apple Health. Set Settings → Health Metadata → Body Weight — without it, the estimate falls back to a default weight that under-counts for many adults. For rucks, also pick the Terrain that matches your route; softer ground (grass, sand, snow) burns more than the default trail.
• Workouts not appearing in History. Pull down to refresh (it re-queries Apple Health), and confirm Health access is granted in iOS Settings → Health → Data Access & Devices → Northpace.

Contact

Email: stormsunity@gmail.com

We are a small team and reply within a few business days. Please include your iOS / watchOS version and a short description of what you saw — it helps us reproduce.