Smart Notifications feature on Polar A370 (Polar Flow app iOS)
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. When heart rate training with your A370, you can only receive notifications about calls if you have the Polar Flow app running on your phone.
- Make sure you have the latest firmware version on your A370 and latest version of the Polar Flow app.
- To use the Smart Notifications feature you need to have the Polar Flow mobile app for iOS, and your A370 needs to be paired with the app.
- 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.
Polar Flow mobile 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 mobile app as follows.
- Open the Polar Flow mobile app.
- Go to Devices and if you have more than one, if necessary, choose your A370 by swiping to the left.
- Under Phone notifications choose On (no preview), On or Off.
- Sync your A370 with the mobile app by pressing and holding the side button on your A370.
- Smart notifications on or Smart notifications off is shown on your A370 display.
Whenever you change the notification settings on the Polar Flow mobile app, remember to sync your A370 with the mobile app.
Do not disturb setting disables the display from turning on from your wrist movement, and lets you rest better in dark conditions, like in the bedroom for example.
Do not disturb setting in Polar Flow app
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.
Do not disturb setting on your A370
You can disable the notification alerts on your A370 as follows:
- Tap Settings on the main menu.
- Tap the Do not disturb icon.
- Do not disturb is on is shown on the display and the display turns to time view. The crescent moon icon is shown in the time view while the feature is on.
To enable the notifications alerts, repeat the steps.
When getting an alert, your Polar device will discreetly notify you by vibrating. When receiving a call, you can choose to answer, silence or decline it (only with iOS 8). Silencing just silences your Polar device, it won’t silence your phone. If a notification arrives during a call alert, it will not be shown.
During a training session you can receive calls, and get navigation directions (only with Google maps) if you have Flow app running on your phone. You will not receive any notifications (email, calendar, apps etc.) during training sessions.
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 side button
- Timeout: The notification will disappear after 30 seconds if you do not dismiss it manually
The Smart Notifications feature works via Bluetooth connection
The Bluetooth connection and the Smart Notifications feature work between your A370 and your phone when they are within the range of 5 m/16 ft from each other. If your A370 is out of range for less than two hours, your phone restores the connection automatically within 15 minutes when your A370 returns to the range area.
If your A370 is out of range for more than two hours, restore the connection by pressing and holding the side button on your A370. The small Bluetooth icon on your phone display starts blinking and turns on when the connection has been established.
After enabling Smart notifications and syncing your Polar A370, all notifications on your iOS mobile device will appear on your A370 if the notifications are enabled and the Notification Center setting is enabled in the app-specific Notification settings (e.g. Settings > Notifications > WhatsApp).
If you are having trouble getting Smart notifications to work, try the steps below. Check that:
- On iOS 13 or newer make sure you have allowed your Polar A370 to display notifications:
- First time you open Flow app and sync your watch:
- First time you open Flow app and sync your watch:
- If you didn't allow the notifications the first time on iOS 13, go to Settings > Bluetooth > Your Polar A370 > Toggle Share System Notifications on:
- Smart notifications are enabled: Open the Polar Flow app, go to the Devices menu and make sure Phone notifications are ON.
- Bluetooth is enabled on your mobile device.
- Flight mode is not enabled on your A370.
- Your mobile device is within Bluetooth range from your A370. Go to Bluetooth settings on your mobile device and check that your A370 appears there as Connected.
- Syncing between the Polar Flow app and your A370 works as expected.
If you’re having trouble syncing with A370 see Having problems syncing your A370 with the Flow app?.
If your A370 does not show any notifications from your mobile device
Try the following steps one at a time to fix the problem with Smart notifications. See if new notifications appear on your A370 after every step:
- Set Flight mode ON and OFF from the A370: Go to Settings in the main menu. Tap the airplane icon to set FLIGHT MODE ON and then tap the icon again to set FLIGHT MODE OFF.
- Restart your A370.You can restart your A370 from the Settings menu. Touch the power icon to turn the A370 off. Press the side button to restart it.
- Restart your phone.
- Open the Polar Flow app and make sure Phone notifications are enabled in the Devices menu.
- Sync your A370 with the app to establish a connection with the phone.
- Make sure your A370 appears as Connected in the iOS Bluetooth settings.
If notifications still do not appear, unpair the devices and connect them again:
- Uninstall the Polar Flow app from your phone.
- Unpair your A370 with the phone, and pair it again:
- On your phone, remove your A370 from the list of paired Bluetooth devices as follows: Go to Settings > Bluetooth, tap the “i” icon to the right of your A370 and choose Forget this Device.
- On your A370 go to Settings in the main menu. Tap the Bluetooth icon to reset current Bluetooth connections.
- Pair your A370 again with the Flow app. For pairing instructions, see How do I pair my A370 with the Flow app? NOTE: Do NOT use your phone’s Bluetooth menu to pair the A370.
- Go to the Devices menu in the Polar Flow app and turn Phone notifications on. Sync the changes to your A370 and see if notifications appear on it.
The last option is to perform a factory reset on your A370. For factory reset instructions, see How do I reset my Polar A370?
On your phone, check the list of paired Bluetooth devices and remove your A370 from the list if it's there. Then, set up your A370 again. For instructions on setting up Polar A370 see How should I start using my A370?
If notifications only from some apps are shown on your A370
- On the mobile device, go to Settings > Notifications
- Choose the app that is not showing notifications, e.g. WhatsApp. Note! The Polar Flow app cannot be found from the Notifications settings since the Flow app does not show any notifications on the phone.
- Make sure Show Previews selection is either When Unlocked or Always. If it was set to Never and you changed it, you might need to restart your mobile device.
- Make sure the notifications for that app are on and Notification Center is enabled. On iOS 11, make sure Show in History is enabled.
