Technologies

Apple Watch: 5 ways to check your blood pressure

Do it yourself, at home.

You already know how important it is to monitor your blood pressure on a daily basis if you’re worried about high blood pressure or have hypertension. If you own an Apple Watch ($560 at Best Buy), you already have a good starting point for tracking your blood pressure at home.

Daily tracking can help you establish a baseline for your version of «normal,» and chart any changes to your levels over time. Work and life stress can cause a spike in your readings, and so can some of the foods you eat. Tracking your blood pressure can also help with early diagnosis and false readings (like if you only have high BP at the doctor’s office), and help you keep an eye on the effects of any new blood pressure medication.

While at-home monitoring won’t replace a visit to the doctor’s office, it can give you the data you need to know when it’s time to go in.

The Health app on your Apple Watch is a convenient way to sync your blood pressure data in one place on a device that’s always with you.

The smartwatch isn’t equipped to measure your blood pressure alone, but there are tools and devices you can pair it with it that can — usually wireless monitors that connect to your iPhone ($752 at Amazon) or Apple Watch and come with an arm cuff and their own app. These devices will automatically sync the data with your Apple Watch’s health app.

Here are some ways your Apple Watch can help keep your blood pressure and health in check.

Blood pressure devices that work with Apple Watch

These five wireless blood pressure monitors sync to your Apple Watch’s Health app.

Omron Evolv Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor ($90): This portable monitor takes clinically accurate readings, and has a built-in screen that shows your readings so you don’t have to consult your phone screen each time. The Omron BPM syncs to your Apple watch via the Omron Connect mobile app using Bluetooth.

$90 at Omron

Withings Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor ($100): Provides instant color-coded feedback and creates a chart of all your past measurements for easy tracking in its Health Mate app. You can sync your Withings BPM to your Apple Watch via Bluetooth.

$100 at Withings

QardioArm Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor ($99) — Geotracks your readings across locations. Measures your systolic and diastolic blood pressure and can detect an irregular heartbeat. You can set up reminders to notify you when it’s time to check your blood pressure. Connect your QardioArm BPM to your Apple Watch via Bluetooth.

$99 at Qardio

iHealth Feel Wireless Arm Blood Pressure Monitor ($100) — Offers up to 200 offline readings. Shows your systolic and diastolic blood pressure on the iHealth App and lets you know if your reading is normal or above average. The iHealth blood pressure monitor syncs to your Apple Watch using Bluetooth.

$100 at Amazon

A&D Medical Ultraconnect Wireless Wrist Blood Pressure Monitor ($100) — Has fit and movement sensors designed to ensure your readings are accurate. It can store up to 100 readings in the device and unlimited readings in the A&D Connect app. Connect the blood pressure monitor to your Apple Watch via Bluetooth to monitor your health.

$100 at Amazon

Control your blood pressure through exercise

It’s well known that regular exercise can help your heart stay strong and healthy.

You can use your Apple Watch to count your steps so you know if you’re hitting your goal.
Your watch can track your heart rate with the sensor on the back to help you get fit — you’ll know you’re reaching your goals when your resting heart rate is getting lower.
You can track your workouts — the watch offers 12 workouts you can choose from, or you can begin any workout and the watch will automatically detect it.

While working out, you can easily monitor your heart rate and set up heart-rate thresholds that notify you in case your heart rate is too high or low.

Keep an eye on your heart rate

If you monitor your blood pressure regularly, you’ll likely also want to keep tabs on your heart’s health. The Apple Watch 4 has FDA clearance for its an ECG feature that records your heart rate rhythm to detect if you have atrial fibrillation (AFib) or another abnormal heart rhythm.

You can use the new ECG app (this is the same as EKG, an electrocardiogram) on your watch if you have WatchOS 5.1.2, after setting up the ECG feature in the Health app. We also recommend importing your health records so you can stay on top of any changes.

Johnson & Johnson is using the Apple Watch in its stroke prevention research to test if an app can quickly diagnose AFib. The watch has already been able to detect irregular heartbeats on some users — it’ll be interesting to see how Apple turns future iterations of the Apple Watch into even more of a medical device.

Monitor fitness goals without breaking the bank.

We’ll help you find the best deal on your next smartwatch or fitness tracker.

Technologies

Facebook Brings Back Local Job Listings: How to Apply

One of Facebook’s most practical features from 2022 is being revived by Meta.

On the hunt for work? A Local Jobs search is being rolled out by Meta to make it easier for people in the US to discover and apply for nearby work directly on Facebook. The feature is inside Facebook Marketplace, Groups and Pages, Meta said last week, letting employers post openings and job seekers filter roles by distance, category or employment type.

You can apply or message employers directly through Facebook Messenger, while employers can publish job listings with just a few taps — similar to how you would post items for sale on Marketplace.

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Facebook offered a Jobs feature before discontinuing it in 2022, pushing business hiring toward its other platforms. Its return suggests Meta is attempting to expand Facebook’s usefulness beyond social networking and to position it once again as a hub for community-driven opportunities.

«We’ve always been about connecting with people, whether through shared interests or key life events,» the press release states. «Now, if you’re looking for entry-level, trade and service industry employment in your community, Facebook can help you connect with local people and small businesses who are hiring.»

How to get started with Local Jobs on Facebook

According to Meta, Local Jobs will appear as a dedicated section in Facebook Marketplace starting this week. If you’re 18 or older, you can:

Tap the Marketplace tab on the Facebook app or website.
Select Jobs to browse available positions nearby.
Use filters for job type, category and distance.
Tap Apply or message the employer directly via Messenger.

Businesses and page admins can post jobs by creating a new listing in Marketplace or from their Facebook Page. Listings can include job details, pay range, and scheduling information and will appear in local searches automatically.

The Local Jobs feature is rolling out across the US now, with Meta saying it plans to expand it in the months ahead.

Technologies

Tesla Has a New Range of Affordable Electric Cars: How Much They Cost

The new, stripped-back versions of the Model Y and Model 3 have a more affordable starting price.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Oct. 22 #598

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Oct. 22, No. 598.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is a fun one — I definitely have at least two of these in my house. Some of the answers are a bit tough to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Catch all.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: A mess of items.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

BATE, LICE, SLUM, CAPE, HOLE, CARE, BARE, THEN, SLAM, SAMBA, BACK

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

TAPE, COIN, PENCIL, BATTERY, SHOELACE, THUMBTACK

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is JUNKDRAWER. To find it, look for the J that’s five letters down on the far-left row, and wind down, over and then up.

Quick tips for Strands

#1: To get more clue words, see if you can tweak the words you’ve already found, by adding an «S» or other variants. And if you find a word like WILL, see if other letters are close enough to help you make SILL, or BILL.

#2: Once you get one theme word, look at the puzzle to see if you can spot other related words.

#3: If you’ve been given the letters for a theme word, but can’t figure it out, guess three more clue words, and the puzzle will light up each letter in order, revealing the word.