Frequently Asked Questions
GENERAL
How can I see my VIIVIO score history?
This feature is only available for VIIVIO PRO. If you want to see historical data, go to any of the four functions and then click on the calendar icon in the top right corner. You can then view your score trends, average values, and activity summary for a particular day, week, or month. If you want to learn more about this feature, check out our VIIVIO PRO page.
What is the difference between the Basic and PRO versions?
Both versions track all four pillars of health (sleep, activity, nutrition, and recovery) and give you a daily report and score. The PRO version allows you to see your historical data so you can more easily track your trends and progress. The PRO version also gives you daily recommendations and based on your own data. Learn more here!
If I upgrade to PRO, can I switch back to Basic?
Yes, you can upgrade to PRO or downgrade back to Basic at any time and your billing will be adjusted accordingly in the next billing cycle.
If I accidentally click on an activity but don’t want to track anything, how do I get back to the home screen?
If you accidentally click on any of the icons but don’t want to track anything at that time, simply tap on the ‘Sleep’, ‘Move’, ‘Eat’, or ‘Recharge’ arrow in the top left corner of your screen.
How do I see my daily focus on the watch, and then how do I return to the home screen afterwards?
Click on the button at the top of the screen that says ‘Daily Focus’ and you will be taken to the daily focus screen. To exit out of that window, click on ‘Activities’ and it will take you back to the home screen.
Why do I have to put my gender into My Profile?
Certain measurements such as calorie expenditure are more accurate if you do. It also helps the app send the most appropriate information and tips if you include all of your information (including age, height, weight, and gender). Of course, all genders are welcome to enjoy the app.
What if some of the recommendations conflict with what has been recommended to me by a doctor?
The VIIVIO app provides recommendations for healthy adults. The advice is not intended to be used in place of advice from a medical professional. If you have a certain condition that might prevent you from doing certain activities, or that requires you to modify your diet, for example, please consult a medical professional before taking advice from the app.
Is VIIVIO compatible with Garmin or other fitness/health trackers?
It works best with Apple Watch, however data that is tracked with Apple Health through third party apps (such as Strava, Garmin, Oura, etc.) can be communicated with the app. Check out this page for more detailed instructions on how to connect VIIVIO and other health apps with Apple Health.
SLEEP
If I don’t have an Apple Watch, will the app still track my sleep?
The VIIVIO sleep tracker on Apple Watch works by measuring your heart rate and accelerometry to give you the most accurate and thorough sleep analysis. If you don’t have a watch, it can still give you a score but it’s only based on time in bed.
What is Sleep Efficiency and how is this measured?
Sleep Efficiency is the amount of time that you spend in bed in relation to the time that you are asleep.
How is Sleep Quality determined?
Sleep quality is based on total sleep duration, time awake, and time spent in REM, light, and deep sleep.
MOVE
How are calories calculated?
Calories burned are estimated based on your weight and gender. Active calories are also based on type, intensity, and duration of the activity. This data is pulled from any activities recorded in VIIVIO and workouts recorded in Apple Health.
What’s the difference between Resting and Active Calories?
Active Calories are an estimate of calories burned during recorded exercise and day-to-day activities (walking around the house, chores, etc.). Resting Calories are an estimate of calories burned to maintain basic human function (heart beat, breathing, digestion, etc.).
Why is my Total Active Time 0 minutes when I’ve done 6000+ steps?
Total active time is the amount of time that you have recorded structured exercise in the app. If you recorded a 30-minute outdoor walk in the morning and a 45-minute yoga practice in the afternoon, your total active time for that day would be 75 minutes. Your day-to-day activities (e.g. chores, walking around the house, etc.) won’t count towards your total active time, but will count towards your steps (assuming you have a watch or have your phone with you) for the day.
Total Active Time and Distance Traveled are summed from activities recorded in VIIVIO. Steps Taken and Calories are summed from activities recorded in VIIVIO and anything recorded with Apple Health.
What if my activity isn’t included in the list of activities?
If you can’t find your activity in the list, you can either record it as ‘Other’ or choose an activity that is very similar to an activity listed. For example, if you’re doing some work around the house that is fairly labour-intensive, you could record it as ‘Other’ or as ‘Strength Training’ (if you’re doing a lot of heavy lifting). If there’s an activity you think we’re missing please let us know!
EAT
If I eat something that could be in two nutrient categories, do I enter it for both?
We’ve simplified the tracking so that foods that fit in two categories are automatically populated. For example, if you record a serving of ‘Fruit’, a serving of ‘Healthy Carbohydrates’ is automatically tracked as well. Similarly, if you record a serving of ‘Nuts & Seeds’, a serving of ‘Healthy Fats’ is automatically tracked.
One example of when you would have to manually input two categories is root vegetables as they fit into both the ‘Vegetables’ and ‘Healthy Carbohydrates’ categories. So if you have a sweet potato, make sure you’re giving yourself one serving of each!
Nutrition is the area that people struggle with the most, but you'll gradually learn what foods fit into which categories and the process for entering food will become much faster.
How do I know what a proper serving size is?
A description of a proper serving size is located in the icon to the left of the food category. For example, for more information on Fruit, click on the strawberry icon on the left. There you will also find a definition of the food, examples, and the number of servings that are recommended for optimal health.
What if I eat more than three meals per day?
If you usually have four or five meals per day, enter the food you ate for the smaller meals under the ‘Snacks’ category.
Are the recommended servings the same for everyone?
Our serving size recommendations are for healthy adults. There will be slight differences based on weight and gender. Also if you exercise during the day, additional servings of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and water are added to your daily requirement to make sure you’re replenishing your body properly.
I’m having trouble determining if certain foods are considered ‘Junk Food’. Is there a simple rule of thumb?
There is unfortunately not a simple rule of thumb. However, you can start by asking a few questions: Is it packaged? (Often packaged foods are packed with added sugar, salt, trans fats, and preservatives). Is it from a fast food restaurant? Is it high in processed sugars? Generally speaking, if it falls into these categories then it would be considered junk food. Of course there are exceptions and sometimes it’s not black or white. For example, if you made home-made pizza, it’s still junk food, but might not be as greasy and processed as if you ordered it from a fast food place. It also depends on what you put on it. If you put a lot of vegetables on it you might be able to count one serving of ‘Vegetables’ in addition to one serving of ‘Junk/Fast food’. However, if you load up on cheese and pepperoni, it will only count towards Fast food.
It might take a little bit of time to learn what is considered healthy vs. not healthy, and as with most things, there is a range. But as you use the app more and more, you’ll become better at determining which categories foods fall under and how strict you want to be with your tracking.
Do diet sodas still count as a sweet drink?
Unfortunately, yes. The artificial sweeteners in those drinks can be just as damaging to your health as regular sodas and other sugary drinks.
RECHARGE
How is the app measuring my stress levels?
VIIVIO measures your stress using heart rate variability, which is the variation in time between heart beats. For best results, try to track this at the same time every day, preferably when you wake up in the morning. Also avoid measuring it within two hours of exercise for most accurate results.
What exactly is heart rate variability?
Unlike heart rate, which is a measure of how many times your heart beats in one minute, heart rate variability (HRV) measures the time between heart beats. There are small fluctuations in time from beat to beat that you are probably unaware of. A higher variation in this time period is indicative of low stress, whereas a low variation is indicative of high stress. This is because it reflects how well your body can respond to changes in the environment and different situations. HRV values can range between 20 ms and 200 ms, however the variability is also individual. This means that the more you use the app, the better it is able to detect if your value is high or low for that day. Learn more about heart rate variability here!
I keep getting a High or Extreme stress score. Should I be worried?
HRV is very individual so it’s important not to worry too much about the absolute numbers. Instead, pay attention to how your values change depending on how much sleep you had the night before, your physical activity level that day, or even your psychological stress. Day-to-day fluctuations are normal, however if there is a downward trend over time, this might be an indication that you are under chronic stress, are run down, or are fighting a cold or illness. Pay attention to these trends and make sure you add in some Recharge Tactics if this is the case!
Learn more about how to track your heart rate variability over time here!
I haven’t measured my HRV yet today. Why do I have a Heart Rate Variability Day value in my Recharge Score?
Your Heart Rate Variability Day will be the average of any spot stress checks with VIIVIO or HRV measured with Apple Health throughout the day. Any automatic or manual HRV measurements will be listed under HRV & Recharge Tactics.
What is Exercise Stress?
We measure exercise stress using Training Impulse (TRIMPS). It’s a way of measuring your physical stress based on time spent exercising and the intensity of that exercise (based on heart rate).
I completed a mindfulness session in Calm. Why has nothing shown up in my Mindfulness Minutes?
First, make sure that both VIIVIO and Calm are syncing with Apple Health. Click here for detailed instructions.
Next, in order for mindfulness minutes to register with Apple Health, you need to make sure you complete the entire session. For example, if you do a 10-minute meditation session but exit with 10 seconds left it won’t automatically populate. Make sure you complete the full session for it to write to Apple Health. Then VIIVIO can read this data and populate the Recharge function.
Finally, remember that you can also manually input mindfulness minutes by clicking on Rest & Recharge > Meditation & Mindfulness. You can then enter how many minutes you spent doing mindfulness or meditation training that day.