Tutorial Devices and Other Straps

Devices — Multiple Bands & Other Heart-Rate Straps

NOOP isn't limited to a single WHOOP. The Devices screen lets you pair more than one band, switch which one provides your live data, and even connect a generic Bluetooth heart-rate strap (Polar, Wahoo, Coospo, a Garmin HRM, an Amazfit Helio in broadcast mode) — all locally, no cloud, no other app required.

This guide covers what each device type gives you, how to add one, how to run several, and what to do when a strap won't connect.

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Opening Devices

Open Devices from the main navigation (it sits alongside Live / Today). Every band you've paired shows as a card with its name, model, a capabilities line, a status pill (connected / last seen), and a button to make it your active device. Your active device is the one that provides your live stream; everything else stays paired but idle until you switch to it.

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What each kind of device can do

NOOP is honest about this, because the devices genuinely differ:

Device	What you get
WHOOP 4.0 (primary, fully supported)	Heart rate · HRV · Sleep · Strain · Resp rate · Skin-temp deviation · estimated Steps · Battery
WHOOP 5.0 / MG (experimental)	Live heart rate today; deeper metrics (recovery, strain, sleep) for 5/MG are still being figured out
Other heart-rate strap (early, in development)	Live heart rate + R-R (HRV) + Strain only. No sleep, recovery, skin temp, SpO₂, steps or battery — those are WHOOP-only, because they depend on WHOOP's own sensors and offload format

That last row is the key expectation to set: a Polar H10 (or any standard strap) is a brilliant live HR + HRV source, and NOOP will compute Strain from it — but it physically can't give you the overnight recovery/sleep picture a WHOOP does. If you want the full NOOP experience, WHOOP 4.0 remains the band to use.

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Adding a device

1. On Devices, tap Add a device.
2. Pick the type:
   • WHOOP 4.0 — NOOP's primary, fully-supported band.
   • WHOOP 5.0 / MG — newer WHOOP band, experimental in NOOP.
   • Heart-rate strap — any standard Bluetooth HR strap (Polar, Wahoo, Coospo, Garmin HRM, an Amazfit Helio broadcasting HR).
3. Follow the wizard to scan, select your strap, give it a name, and (optionally) make it your active device. You can change the active device any time.

WHOOP pairing tip: a WHOOP 4.0 just needs to be on your wrist and nearby. A WHOOP 5.0/MG sometimes needs to be put into pairing mode first — tap the band firmly and repeatedly until the LEDs flash. See Strap Support and Pairing.

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Connecting a generic heart-rate strap (Polar, Wahoo, Coospo, …)

Standard HR straps broadcast over the Bluetooth Heart Rate Service — the same open standard a gym treadmill or a cycling computer reads. NOOP connects to that directly. Two things matter:

1. Only one device can hold the strap at a time. A Polar H10 (and most chest straps) allow exactly one active Bluetooth connection. If your phone's Polar Beat/Flow app, a Garmin head unit, Zwift, or a gym machine is already connected, NOOP will see the strap but can't take it over. Close/disconnect those apps first (or toggle the strap off and on to drop the stale link), then connect in NOOP.
2. Wake the strap. Most chest straps only advertise when they detect skin contact — moisten the electrodes and put it on before scanning. A bare, dry strap on a desk often won't show up.

Then: Add a device → Heart-rate strap → select it → make it active, and live HR + R-R should appear on Live straightaway.

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Running more than one band

Paired several? You choose which one is active:

• Tap a device card and Make active. From that moment it provides your live data — and crucially, the band you switched away from keeps all of its history exactly as it was. Only new days come from the newly-active band. Nothing is merged or overwritten.
• This is handy if you wear a WHOOP day-to-day but want to drop in a chest strap for a specific workout (more accurate HR under heavy movement), then switch back.

Remove a device from its card; if you remove the active one, NOOP asks which remaining band should take over (or you can leave none active and pair one later).

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Coming soon

The Add-a-device screen lists what's on the way, so you know it's planned rather than missing:

• Garmin watch (local connection)
• Amazfit / Zepp
• Import from Oura or Fitbit

These aren't live yet — the screen marks them clearly as upcoming.

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Troubleshooting

• Strap shows in the scan but never connects / live data stays blank → almost always another app is holding the strap (point 1 above), or the strap is asleep (point 2). Disconnect the other app, re-wet the electrodes, and re-scan. If it still won't attach, grab a strap log (Settings → Diagnostics) and open an issue — the log shows exactly where the connect stops.
• Connected but no recovery/sleep on a non-WHOOP strap → that's expected, not a bug: standard straps provide live HR + HRV + Strain only (see the table above).

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See also: Strap Support and Pairing · Troubleshooting · Getting Started

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