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Smart notifications (Polar Flow app Android)

The smart notifications feature allows you to get alerts about incoming calls, messages and notifications from apps onto your Polar device. You’ll get the same notifications on your Polar device that you get on your phone screen. Please note that you can’t receive any notifications during training sessions.

  • Make sure you have Android version 5.0 or newer on your phone.
  • Make sure you have the latest firmware on your Polar device.
  • To use the Smart Notifications feature you need to have the Polar Flow mobile app for Android, and your Polar device needs to be paired with the app. For the Smart Notifications feature to work, Polar Flow app must be running on your phone.
  • Please note that when the Smart Notifications feature is on, the battery of your Polar device and phone will run out faster because Bluetooth is continuously on.

We have verified the functionality with some of the most common phone models, like Samsung Galaxy S5, Samsung Galaxy S6, Nexus 5, LG G4, Sony Xperia Z3. There might be differences in the functionality with other phone models which support Android 5.0.

Settings

Your Polar device needs to be paired with Flow app to receive alerts and notifications, and you also need to have the correct settings on your Polar device and phone.

Notifications are off by default. They can be set on/off on your Polar device or the Polar Flow app. When making changes to the settings, we recommend you always make them on your Polar device.

A300

Please note that the Smart notifications feature doesn’t support Chinese and Japanese languages.

Notifications are off by default. Set them on in Menu > Settings > General settings > Smart notif. Choose On to receive notifications, and have the contents of the notifications shown the display. Choose On (no preview) if you don’t want to see the contents of the notifications on the display. You’ll just be informed that you’ve received a notification.

Sync your A300 with the mobile app by pressing and holding the BACK button in the time view.

Polar Flow app

Set the Phone notifications feature on/off in the Polar Flow mobile app as follows.

  1. Open the Polar Flow mobile app.
  2. Sync your Polar device with the mobile app by pressing and holding the BACK button of your Polar device.
  3. Open the menu from the top left corner and choose Devices.
  4. Under Phone notifications choose On, On (no preview) or Off.

    When you turn Phone notifications on, you will be guided to enable the notifications on your phone (i.e. give Polar Flow app an access to your phone notifications), if you haven’t enabled them. Enable notifications? is shown. Tap Enable. Then choose Polar Flow and tap OK.
  5. Sync your Polar device with the mobile app by pressing and holding the BACK button of your Polar device.

Whenever you change the notification settings on the Polar Flow mobile app, remember to sync your Polar device with the mobile app.

Phone

To be able to receive notifications from your phone on your Polar device, you first need to enable notifications on the mobile applications from which you want to receive them. You can do this either via the mobile application’s settings or via your Android phone’s App notifications settings. See the user manual of your phone for further information on App notifications settings.

Then Polar Flow app has to have permission to read the notifications from your phone. You have to give Polar Flow app access to your phone notifications (i.e. enable notifications in the Polar Flow app). Polar Flow app guides you to give access when needed. For more information, see Smart notifications (Android).

Use

When getting an alert, your Polar device will discreetly notify you by vibrating. A calendar event or message alert once, while incoming calls alert until you press the BACK button on your Polar device, answer the phone, or after alerting for 30 seconds.

The caller’s name is shown on the display if you have the caller on your mobile phonebook and the name only includes basic Latin characters and special characters of the following languages: French, Finnish, Swedish, German, Norwegian or Spanish.

In some cases when receiving a call, the answer option is missing from the display. This is because some Android phones do not have a notification action for answering a call. Please be aware that in cases like this you may not be notified about an incoming call at all.

Dismiss notifications

Notifications can be dismissed manually or by timeout. Manually dismissing the notification also dismisses it from your phone screen, but timeout just removes it from your Polar device, and it will still be visible on your phone.

To dismiss notifications from the display:

  • Manually: Press the BACK button
  • Timeout: The notification will disappear after 30 seconds if you do not dismiss it manually

Do Not Disturb

If you want to disable notification alerts for certain hours of the day, set Do not disturb on in the Polar Flow mobile app. When it's on, you won't receive any notification alerts during the time period you've set. Do not disturb is set on by default, and the time period is 10 pm – 7 am. Change the Do not disturb setting as follows:

  1. Open the Polar Flow mobile app.
  2. Open the menu from the top left corner and choose Devices.
  3. UnderPhone notifications you can set Do not disturb on or off, and set the start and end time for Do not disturb.

Sync your A300 with the mobile app by pressing and holding the BACK button of your A300.

Block apps

In Polar Flow app you can block notifications from certain apps. As soon as you’ve received the first notification from an app to your Polar device, the app will be listed under Block apps. To block an app, open the menu on the top left corner and choose Devices > Block apps.