Questions and answers

Each answer stands on its own. If one of them is wrong, or the question you have is not here, write to support.

Which rowing machines does Row Smarter work with?

Row Smarter works with any rowing machine that speaks the Bluetooth FTMS standard, with a Concept2 indoor rower fitted with a PM5 monitor, and with a WaterRower fitted with a SmartRow sensor. It scans for all three and connects to whichever it finds, so there is nothing to configure.

Which heart rate straps work with Row Smarter?

Any strap or armband that speaks the standard Bluetooth Heart Rate Service, which is almost all of them. Row Smarter connects to it directly, so no vendor app and no proprietary pairing is involved. A heart rate strap is optional and the app records a full session without one.

Does Row Smarter run on iPhone as well as iPad?

Yes. Row Smarter is one universal app that runs on iPad with iPadOS 18 or later and on iPhone with iOS 18 or later. The layout adapts to the screen it is on.

Do I need an account to use Row Smarter?

No. Row Smarter has no account, no email address and no password. It works the first time you open it, and nothing is registered anywhere.

What syncs between my iPad and my iPhone, and how?

Rowing sessions, saved workouts and training plans are built to sync through your private iCloud CloudKit database, and your settings through your private iCloud key-value store. Both use your own iCloud account; there is no Row Smarter server involved. Sync is on. Rowing on the iPad and picking up on the iPhone works, and a session rowed on one appears in History on the other.

Does my rowing data leave my device?

Only if you choose to send it. Rowing sessions are stored on your device, and the only feature that transmits anything is live racing, which is optional. Row Smarter has no analytics, no advertising and no tracking of any kind.

What does Row Smarter Pro cost?

Row Smarter Pro is sold as a monthly subscription, a yearly subscription, or a one-time lifetime purchase. The price is shown in the App Store in your local currency, and the app shows what each option costs before you confirm anything. Purchases go through Apple.

What does Row Smarter Pro unlock, and what is free?

Pro unlocks structured workouts and training plans, the workout builder, session analysis with its charts and technique reading, trends and records, recovery and capacity, racing against your own recorded sessions, creating races, export, and spoken live coaching. Free forever: every live metric while you row, the force curve, your whole session history and each session's summary, Apple Health, importing your old sessions, and joining a race someone else created.

What file formats can I export a session to?

Row Smarter exports a session as CSV and as TCX. The CSVs carry the summary, the samples, the strokes and a rowingdata-style file; the TCX is the one other training sites read. Export is a Row Smarter Pro feature.

Can I import my rowing history from another app?

Yes, from a SmartRow CSV session-history file. You pick the file, Row Smarter tells you how many sessions it holds and what it cannot carry, and nothing is written until you confirm. No other import format is supported yet.

Does Row Smarter upload to Strava or the Concept2 Logbook?

No. Row Smarter has no connection to Strava, the Concept2 Logbook or any other service, and it never uploads a session on your behalf. What it does is export the session as a TCX file, which both of those sites accept, and you upload it yourself.

What hardware do I need to see the force curve?

A Concept2 PM5 or a WaterRower with a SmartRow sensor. Both transmit the force of each stroke, and Row Smarter draws it on a fixed 0 to 600 newton scale so strokes stay comparable. A plain FTMS rowing machine does not send a force curve, so on one of those the app cannot show it.

Where do the heart rate zones come from?

From your maximum heart rate, which Row Smarter takes from the highest figure measured across your own recorded sessions, ignoring isolated spikes, or from a value you type in yourself under Body measurements. An age-based formula is only the fallback when there is neither. Zones can be straight percentages of your maximum or the Karvonen model, which also uses your resting heart rate.

What does live racing send to the race server?

The display name you chose for that race, an identifier the app generated that is not linked to your Apple ID, your elapsed time, distance, split, power and stroke rate while you row, the join code if the race is private, and App Attest data proving the request came from a real copy of the app. Heart rate and every other health value are deliberately excluded and are never transmitted. A finished race is deleted automatically thirty days after it ends.

Which training plans are included in Row Smarter?

Five: the Pete Plan, a beginner Pete Plan, the Wolverine Plan, a beginner base plan and a marathon build. Each one sets your next session from how the last comparable one went, so the numbers move with you rather than sitting in a fixed table. The Pete Plan follows the published plan by Pete Marston and the Wolverine Plan the one by Mike Caviston. Neither is an official version and neither coach is involved with Row Smarter.

How many workouts are in the library?

45 workouts across seven training categories: endurance, threshold, VO2max, race pieces, anaerobic, power, and pyramids and ladders. You can browse them all for free. Rowing one as a structured session with targets and countdowns is a Row Smarter Pro feature.

Does Row Smarter work offline?

Yes. Rowing, recording, the force curve, history and Apple Health all work with no network at all, because the rowing machine talks to the app over Bluetooth and everything is stored on the device. Live racing is the one part that needs a connection.

Is Row Smarter on the App Store?

Not yet. Row Smarter is in TestFlight beta and has not been released on the App Store.

How do I get help with Row Smarter?

Email the address on the Row Smarter support page at https://rowsmarter.app/support and a person reads it. Saying which rowing machine you use, which heart rate strap if any, your device model and its iOS or iPadOS version, and what you expected instead of what happened, makes almost any problem quicker to fix.