Compass 55. Bluetooth sensors on video: heart rate, cadence and wheel speed overlays

Public beta

Requires iOS 17 or higher.

Film the ride and show what it took: your heart rate, your cadence and the wheel speed, live on the camera screen, beside speed, the map and the motion gauges. The readings are recorded with the video. You can stamp them into an exported copy, see them in replay, or export them alone as transparent overlay videos for your editor.

The values come from your own Bluetooth sensors. Connect them once, in the Bluetooth panel or right here in the camera settings ( Bluetooth sensors ).

Turn the overlays on

Open MENU → VIDEO, tap Settings, then Video settings → Video overlays. The layout editor has a Bluetooth sensors section at the bottom of its list, with three tiles:

Heart rate, from the heart-rate strap;
Cadence, from the cadence sensor;
Wheel speed, from the speed sensor, in the app’s speed unit. It is separate from the GPS Speed tile, and useful where GPS speed fails: in tunnels, under trees, on a trainer, riding slowly.

Switch a tile on in its row. In the preview it shows your real value while the sensor is connected, otherwise a sample. Place it, resize it and stack it like any other overlay ( Video recording ).

The Bluetooth sensors section of the Video overlays editor: Heart rate and Cadence switched on, each with placement Bottom-Right, size Medium and colors, and a status line naming its sensor in green, HR Strap 3560 at 82 % and Cadence 7735 at 71 %

Under each tile’s row, a status line shows which sensor feeds it: its name, colored as in the Bluetooth panel (green when connected), its battery, and a hint when it isn’t connected. The row’s gear opens the sensor’s menu:

Search for sensors, to connect one;
Disconnect & Forget, or Forget;
Set wheel diameter, for Wheel speed.

Video settings → Bluetooth sensors gives the same overview for all three tiles in one place.

Video settings, Overlays: Video overlays with Speed, Heart rate, Cadence, Wheel speed, Pitch & Roll, G-Cross and Map enabled, and the Bluetooth sensors overview: Heart rate HR Strap 3560 at 82 %, Cadence 7735 at 71 %, Wheel speed Speed 4211 at 64 %, all connected in green

On the camera

Each tile shows the sensor’s name on top, then the value with its unit, then MAX, the highest value since the tile appeared, with the sensor’s icon.

Sensor not connected yet: the tile shows the reason in orange in place of the value, for example “Seeking. Ensure sensor is in range & active.”. It never hides, so your layout doesn’t jump when a strap connects mid-take.
No reading for 3 seconds: “–” instead of a stale number.
Tap a tile when you are not recording to open its sensor’s menu. Video overlays in that menu takes you straight to the editor. While you record, taps go to the camera as usual.

Recorded with the video

When a sensor overlay is on and its sensor is connected, the video records the readings alongside the picture. The original video stays clean; the readings are used:

in replay, where the tiles show the values of the moment and MAX the highest so far;
in stamped exports, burned into the copy you share;
as overlay videos: More → Full video → Overlay videos offers Heart rate, Cadence and Wheel speed, each as its own transparent video file, like Speed or Map ( Overlay videos for footage from another camera ).

A tile is offered for export only when the video actually recorded that sensor. In the videos list, a recording’s “Recorded overlays” line names Heart rate, Cadence or Wheel speed only when there are readings.

Loop recording keeps the readings with each loop.

No video? Use a track

Record a track with your sensors and export the same Heart rate, Cadence and Wheel speed overlay videos from the track afterwards, to lay over footage from a GoPro, a DJI or any other camera ( Overlay videos from a track ).