Smart Notifications (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 M400.
- To use the Smart Notifications feature you need to have the Polar Flow mobile app for Android, and your Polar M400 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. For more information on pairing M400 with a phone, see Pairing.
Notifications are off by default. They can be set on/off on your M400 or the Polar Flow app. When making changes to the settings, we recommend you always make them on your M400.
M400
To be able to receive notifications and alerts from your phone to your M400 you need to set smart notifications on in Menu > Settings > General settings > Smart notifications.
In Smart notifications settings, you'll find:
- Notifications: Set the notifications On, On (no preview) or Off.
On: the contents of the notification is shown on the M400 display. On (no preview): the contents of the notification is not shown on the M400 display. Off (default): you will not get any notifications on your M400.
- Sounds: Set the notification sound On or Off.
- Notif. do not disturb: If you want to disable notifications and call alerts for a certain period of time, choose Do not disturb on. Then set the time period when Do not disturb is on. When Do not disturb is on, you will not receive any notifications or call alerts during the time period you have set.By default, Do not disturb is on between 10 pm - 7 am.
Flow App
On the Polar Flow mobile app, the Smart Notifications feature is set off by default.
Set the Smart Notifications feature on/off in the Polar Flow mobile app as follows.
- Open the Polar Flow mobile app.
- Sync your Polar M400 with the mobile app by pressing and holding the BACK button of your Polar M400.
- Go to Devices.
- Under Smart notifications choose On, On (no preview) or Off.
When you turn Smart 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.
- Sync your Polar M400 with the mobile app by pressing and holding the BACK button of your Polar M400.
- Smart notifications on or Smart notifications off is shown on your M400 display.
Whenever you change the notification settings on the Polar Flow mobile app, remember to sync your M400 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.
Use
When getting an alert, your Polar device will notify you with a sound. 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.
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 notifications and call alerts for a certain period of time, set do not disturb on. When it is on, you will not receive any notifications or call alerts during the time period you have set.
Do not disturb is set on by default, and the time period is 10 pm – 7 am. You can change the time period from the General Settings on your Polar device. When do not disturb is on, you’ll see an icon (a crescent moon) in the upper left corner of the Polar device display to indicate that you cannot receive notifications.
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 in Settings > Notifications > Block apps and you can block it if you wish.
This icon in the upper left corner of the display indicates that your Polar device has lost the connection to your phone and cannot receive notifications. Check that your phone is within the range of 10 m/33 ft from your Polar device and has Bluetooth turned on.