I’ve been using Zwift for a month or two. They made my indoor cycling experience better with all the virtual tracks and online community.

There’s just one thing that frustates me, pairing Apple Watch with Zwift for heart rate monitor. Once in a blue moon, it just worked. But most of the time, it is just pure frustration.

As someone who just want to pedal for distraction from work stress and workout, fiddling and restarting things for 30 minutes before pedaling is just painful.

Turns out it’s not just me that had this issue, and it’s been happening since forever. Some threads I found in the Zwift support forum with people trying to figure out some magic algorithm to pair it:

And after going all those threads, I finally found something more official in this December 2021 changes

Additionally, for Apple Watch owners: we are aware that this experience needs upgrades and we are working on a longer term vision for support. In the meantime, the Zwift Game and Companion apps will be removed from the Watch App Store.This means:

  • New users will not be able to install the Zwift Game or Companion apps
  • Legacy users will be able to use the watch apps, but will receive no updates to either app

Okay, cool. At least at this point I know I can give up peacefully. Apple Watch has never been the perfect device for workout partner. The GPS acquisition time could take over 30 minutes. The battery life isn’t that great either with the sensors on workout mode. And that’s fine, because at the end of the day, Apple Watch is just a general purpose device and it worked really well for that purpose.

Now I’m feeling conflicted, I’m happy that I got my answers. At the same time, I feel sad that I can’t use what I already own and need to spent more money on dedicated device.

I guess I’ll just browse for cheap and good HR monitor, and feel excited about my upcoming device instead.

Post 5 of #100DaysToOffload.