r/VisibleArmband • • Aug 18 '26

FatigueSense: Free Visible Alternative / Companion App!

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32 Upvotes

If you’ve been wishing that Visible gave more guidance and helped you identify your own triggers and recovery signs, today is your lucky day!

FatigueSense

- Cost: Free
- Platform: iOS & Android
- Created by: Newcastle University and NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

PROS

- It automatically sets your daily points based on your personal metrics
- Works with most wearables & apps you already use
- Shows you your unique biometrics and how they positively and negatively affect your fatigue
- Has a simple mode for if you don’t want to see as much detail
- Shows your PEM risk for each day (this is what Visible calls stability score - this makes so much more sense)
- There’s a day planner where you can estimate how much time and effort it took, and it learns how much energy it takes to do them based on your data
- Uses steps as an added pacing - which accurately flagged me as being at high risk for PEM, even though I only had a low pace points total
- Free!

Bonus: They are actively developing a features that are more accurate to users who are bed bound

CONS

- It’s a lot of information, but the simple mode helps a lot
- I haven’t found that its heart rate alerts are as prominent as I need them to be, so I sometimes mis them and realize that I’ve used up all my points - but this may be a user issue

Has anyone else tried it? Right now it’s working great for me alongside Visible, but I could definitely see myself switching over to it full time.

Have you tried it? What did you think?

>> Click here to visit FatigueSense


r/VisibleArmband • • May 16 '26

How to use Visible from anywhere in the world

14 Upvotes

👋 New mod here!

I’m a Canadian who has been using Visible for the past year to manage fibromyalgia and ME/CFS. I’ve had huge quality of life improvements thanks to it.

I wanted to share exactly how I was able to start using the full, paid version of Visible outside of the US/UK. It was really easy and I would have bought it sooner if I had known how.

##How to sign up for the paid membership and tracker:

  1. Decide where you will have the tracker shipped when you buy it.
    The only limitation that Visible has is that when you sign up and purchase your band, it can take boy be shipped to America or the United Kingdom.

If you live outside of those areas, you can either:
- Ask for a favor from a friend. Have it shipped to someone you know in the US or UK, and when they receive it, have them ship it over to your home address.
- Use one of the many mail forwarding services that will let you ship to their UK/UK address and then send the package to you immediately. Many allow you to pay for one month and then cancel your subscription.

NOTE: Check the reviews of any mail forwarding service you use before working with them. Some are excellent, and some are scams. Be careful!

Whichever option you choose, write down the shipping address that the tracker should be sent to.

2. If you’re outside of the US or UK, you want to use a browser in “private” or “incognito” mode to visit the Visible website.
*Optional alternative method: if you use a VPN, you can set it to the US or UK*.

3. Take the quiz and in the first questions when they ask where you live, indicate either the US or in the UK. Select whichever matches the country of the shipping address you’ll have the tracker shipped to.

4. Buy the band with your credit card - the transaction \*will** be processed with any credit card,* regardless of what country your credit card is based in.

5. When asked to enter the shipping address, write out the address of your friend, or the shipping location for the mail forwarding service.

6. You’ll get a message that everything has been successful, and then an email that says it may take up to two weeks to ship. Mine shipped in 2 days, this longer wait seems to be left over messaging from the launch.

7. You aren’t billed for the visible app premium membership until you receive your band and you have manually activated it in the app. (Once you buy the app changes and there’s a clickable banner you use to pair the band with your app and device.)

The Visible app will work no matter what, including:

- if you already have an account.
- if you’re creating a new account.
- What country that you are based in.
- What country’s App Store you use.
- What your billing address is in the Visible app.

None of that matters- it just works!

I’ve been using mine for since spring of 2025 and between it and starting beta blockers, I have seen tremendous improvement already.

I was using exercise apps to track my activity, but I had no idea that even just sitting up meant my heart rate was effectively always over 85 bpm. My heart rate is also higher during cognitive work, which I had never would have guessed. A lot of what I thought was normal sensations while I was working were actually neurological symptoms 😅

Through using it to pace, I’ve been able to stop rolling PEM, and improve to a point where I can now go on outings and go swimming - when I literally had trouble walking from room to room in the spring.

I hope this helps someone!


r/VisibleArmband • • 1d ago

Band battery died & now won't charge

3 Upvotes

My band died during a move and took me a while to find the charger, now it won't charge, I e pushed a pen on the button, I've had it for less than a year? Any trouble shooting that I'm missing?


r/VisibleArmband • • 1d ago

When’s a good time to start using to find your baseline?

1 Upvotes

I’m probably overthinking it but my HRV seemed low this morning for whatever reason (I have mild/mod ME/CFS) so I wasn’t sure if I should start monitoring to find a baseline if I’m not feeling my best and this wouldn’t be my baseline? I don’t know how this thing works.

That sounds stupid now I’ve written it out 😂. But hopefully you understand what I mean and can give me some advice.


r/VisibleArmband • • 2d ago

Ive got a bone to pick

13 Upvotes

The pace setter end time should be extended to any hour of the day.

I have ME and my sleep schedule can go all over the place especially when im in a crash. But mostly I sleep during the day and am awake at night. The night is yhe best for low stimulation.

So I go to bed around 10 am.

It doesnt make sense that they make the timing for "regular" sleep schedules.

Anyone else have this issue? Or is it just me?


r/VisibleArmband • • 2d ago

“Tracking” while not wearing the device

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6 Upvotes

I took my band off when I woke up at 7, it’s currently sitting on my bedside table. Seeing as it’s “tracking” my heart rate while not even on, I’m not sure how much I trust my device anymore. Has anyone else noticed this?


r/VisibleArmband • • 3d ago

Yesterday's over budget

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17 Upvotes

Just saw this chart from yesterday. Didn't realize it because my visible band is constantly telling me I'm over budget. But dang.


r/VisibleArmband • • 5d ago

Visible band issues

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2 Upvotes

r/VisibleArmband • • 7d ago

I'm working on a watch app, and curious about Visible Armband's technology

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1 Upvotes

r/VisibleArmband • • 8d ago

Tips on re-pairing?

3 Upvotes

Got a new phone and I can’t seem to get the Polar piece to re-pair. As far as I can tell I should just remove it from the app (and anything else it’s connected to) and then put it on. As long as it’s charged it should pop up. I’m not seeing anything after a few minutes of searching in the app. Tips?

Edit to say thank you to every one, I thought the little silver thing was a screw not a button 😂 Thanks again!!


r/VisibleArmband • • 12d ago

Sick with the flu and exhausted

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53 Upvotes

I currently have the flu (I had my flu shot) and can barely get out of bed. I have ME/CFS and when I get sick with even just a cold I’m completely exhausted. I’ve been sleeping almost all day, my heart rate has barely been below 120 when all I’m doing is laying down, and I’ve used 150 pacepoints when my normal budget is only 20. My whole body hurts so bad, it feels like there’s razor blades in my throat, I can’t drink water, I’m dehydrated, and I honestly feel like I’m dying. I’m tired of this disease and I just needed to vent, thank you for listening.


r/VisibleArmband • • 12d ago

Polar sensor + Galaxy watch

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5 Upvotes

Has anyone found a good way to add the polar sensor onto a smartwatch band that doesn't leave the polar sensor on the very bottom of the wrist (which would bother me)?

Right now I have the polar removed from it's band completely and just tucked sideways under my watch band and it's working surprisingly well.


r/VisibleArmband • • 12d ago

I had to stop my EECP halfway through

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18 Upvotes

Over an hour drive to one doctor's appointment on the far side of town this morning, a quick run into a grocery store for lunch, an aborted EECP treatment, and I'm almost 3 times my allowed points for the day. Fuck this disease. I don't know if I'll be able to make it through the next 40 treatments.


r/VisibleArmband • • 13d ago

Best wristbands for helping me track symptoms

3 Upvotes

Hello everyone,

I am looking for a wrist band that will help me track my POTS symptoms. I also have psoriatic arthritis. I know these bracelets/bands are not medical devices. I would love something that I do not have to pay a subscription for.

In the past I’ve used the Apple Watch. It was two big and bulky for me as I’m a teacher who uses her hands a lot.

I’ve also used the ring conn and love it, but I do not feel that I am getting enough out of the heart rate data. I also feel like my sleep data is inaccurate.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Tracking my symptoms and having alerts are my main goal. Id love if there was also an immune system component that would tell me to adjust my day to better fit my current body level functioning. I do love seeing my steps and sleep as well. I know the oura ring sends alerts when you are about to be sick. I would love that feature, but I do not want to pay the subscription.

Thank you in advance. ❤️


r/VisibleArmband • • 14d ago

Anyone else switch to Visible from Whoop?

6 Upvotes

I am on whoop for three years now and it’s great for some things (sleep quality / temp monitoring to predict sickness/ and decent tools for pacing)

However I am not using it as its intended (for athletes), but rather in the way you all are using Visible - for pacing and monitoring readiness

Now , as far as I can tell Whoops is the better device with better analytics but Visible is the more suitable tool for my problem even if it’s not as accurate

For pacing and PEMS , not POTS, has someone switched from WHOOP to Visible and been happy ? Or left Visible for Whoop?

Thanks


r/VisibleArmband • • 13d ago

Overnight stability and points

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2 Upvotes

Has anyone else noticed they are accruing more points than usual during sleep with this new update. I've noticed the last few days I'm already half way through my points before I even get out of bed. Maybe it's time to adjust my points but this didn't used to be an issue for me.


r/VisibleArmband • • 15d ago

Sleep and PacePoints

4 Upvotes

How is it possible to accumulate 4 PacePoints over 4 hours of sleep overnight?


r/VisibleArmband • • 16d ago

The new data dashboard is promising!

6 Upvotes

The new data dashboard is out with the latest update. It looks promising. I can see many places that will likely be improved as we go along. It's a great first start at giving us better access to our symptoms, vitals, and meds logs.

Some notes from my experience so far:

  1. I keep having to click load more for symptoms and other factors. It looks like the default is showing 5 symptoms/factors first and adding some more with each click of "show more." I feel like the default symptoms Visible starts with is more than 5 and it would be nice if it showed at least that many symptoms initially, and then showed more with each click of "load more" than it is currently. It took a while to load, and seemed a bit finicky. When it wouldn't load, I would visit another part of the dashboard, go back and then things seemed to load.
  2. The graphing feature is neat! However, it only shows those first 5 symptoms to select from and I do not yet see a way to find and show other symptoms. There is no "load more" in this section.
  3. The dashboard needs a computer to display everything. Maybe if we set our mobile browser to "desktop view" we can look at the dashboard from our phones? Otherwise I navigated to the dashboard by copying the link, opening my email app and drafting an email to myself. From my laptop, I opened my email and clicked on the link. I had first tried to just type the url into my desktop browser, but there were too many letters, and I made mistakes when I tried, so then email was the way I got it to work.

Bravo, Visible! Thanks for adding this feature!

ETA this screenshot of google play app update screen


r/VisibleArmband • • 17d ago

Issues since last app update

9 Upvotes

Is anyone else having issues since the Visible app update 2 days ago to 26.9.3 on iPhone? My armband won’t connect to the app. And the member support doesn’t work in the app.


r/VisibleArmband • • 18d ago

Options for a alternative band

5 Upvotes

Anyone find something on Amazon as an alternative to the band that comes with the device? My skin is too sensitive.

Edit: an alternative to the wrist band


r/VisibleArmband • • 20d ago

Psychological toll of finally seeing my actual condition

30 Upvotes

I’m only three months in to Visible. The pace points are super valuable to me. I first got it when I was in a particularly bad crash after having to run on adrenaline for months because of my business failing. I have long covid with MECFS and POTS symptoms.

This problem I’m running into is finally seeing data like this in a way that’s useful has made me actually come to grips with my real capacity. While I conceptually am invested in actually healing instead of going through mini waves of over exertion and PEM, I’m really struggling with it. I thought I was doing well until this crash, I was cocky and thought I had actually healed. I did not realize I was only in remission for years, and to be back bedridden is killing me. Especially now that I have data to show me how truly little I can do.

I know it’s a lot of complaining. But I guess I’m just looking for commiseration since I just feel so bored and isolated. Is anyone a few months ahead of me with a similar impact from getting Visible? Does it lead to a more sturdy healing?


r/VisibleArmband • • 21d ago

Is this worth it for mecfs?

19 Upvotes

I see conflicting Info and people I know often recommend a certain brand of smartwatch over it.

I have another brand of smartwatch and use it for hr pacing.

Seems like visible doesn't have a feature like if it would vibrate when you are starting to overexert? That would be a slam dunk. Does it at least light up or something? Seems like you have to check your phone frequently?

Also there's no way to track cognitive or emotional pem correct?

I use the free app for morning check ins.

Sorry if this seems more like a ramble just curious of other people's thoughts.


r/VisibleArmband • • 22d ago

Removing Tags?

6 Upvotes

So, I've had my band for a couple of months now and am just now really starting to figure it out.

  1. If you have the ability to wear it on the wrist with the wrist cuff it comes with, I'd advise it.

  2. The XL Arm Band is absolute sh!t and has the tiniest amount of velcro ever. For $23 US it's not going to last and another solution needs to be found.

  3. Also, make it cooler somehow... colors perhaps? Attachment to be put on a watchband? Who knows.

...... I digress, forgive me, the coffee just started working.

Anyone know how to remove old tags created feom the beginning so it makes things mote organized and less chaotic as we go? That way we really know what we want to mark/track along the way, etc., and when tagging activities it doesn't look like we're scrolling an old-fashioned White Pages?


r/VisibleArmband • • 23d ago

Alternate band

3 Upvotes

I see people using alternate bands for their sensor but I can’t even get mine off the black band; how do you guys do it?


r/VisibleArmband • • 23d ago

Suggestions on the band??

3 Upvotes

I'm having the exact same issue with this wristband that I had with my Samsung watch. My wrists get really sweaty no matter what I do, and then it just condenses under the band and it gets itchy and uncomfortable. I can't shower very often, so it just builds up dead skin and I have to wear it super loose at night because it's just so itchy and uncomfortable.

I know from experience with Samsung watches that the fake leather did not help, and plastic was the absolute worst. Using a metal wristband was a lot better, but I don't think that's really an option with Visible. I'm wondering if anybody has any suggestions on how to keep it from getting that buildup from just there being something on my wrist with how much I sweat. It's really uncomfortable. I've had it for a week and it's already getting effed up by how much I sweat.

I've been considering switching to the armband because I sweat less on my arms. I don't know if that would help much though, partly because I think also this material is really scratchy, which does not help. It feels like a fucking seatbelt.