The idea: you, compared with your usual
A recovery score doesn't measure recovery directly. It reads a few signals your body gives off overnight and asks whether they look better or worse than normal for you. The most useful ones are heart rate variability (HRV), resting heart rate and sleep. When HRV is down, resting heart rate is up and sleep was short, your body is usually still busy recovering from something.
Because people differ so much, Auralo never uses population averages. Every signal is compared with your own baseline.
Your baseline
For each signal, Auralo keeps a trailing 30-day baseline that leaves out today. It uses the median as your usual and a robust measure of spread (the median absolute deviation) for your normal range, so one odd night doesn't drag it around. HRV is handled in log space because it's skewed. A baseline needs at least 5 values and counts as established from 14.
Days you tag as travel, illness or injury are left out of the baselines. The day itself is still scored against earlier days, with a note that baselines are paused.
What goes into Auralo's recovery score
Each signal becomes a z-score: how far today is from your usual, in units of your normal spread. They're blended with these weights:
| Signal | Weight | What's compared |
|---|---|---|
| HRV | 45% | Last night's HRV (SDNN) against your baseline. Falls back to the day's HRV if there's no night reading. |
| Resting heart rate | 20% | Against your baseline. Lower than usual counts in your favour. |
| Sleep | 25% | Time asleep divided by your sleep need. Sleeping 90% of your need counts as neutral. |
| Yesterday's strain | 10% | Yesterday's training load against your 28-day load. |
- Missing data: if a signal is missing, its weight is dropped and the others are scaled up to fill the gap.
- Two penalties: a breathing rate well above your usual (z above 2), and a wrist temperature more than 0.5 °C above your baseline.
- The 0–100 scale: the blend passes through a smooth S-curve, so a day exactly at your baseline scores about 60. Scores near 0 or 100 need a big, clear change.
- Why it's that number: for each signal, Auralo shows its impact, meaning how many points the score would move if that signal were exactly normal.
- Personal weights (optional): if you answer a short morning check-in ("How do you feel?"), after 21 check-ins Auralo can adjust the weights to match how you feel. Each weight stays within half of its default either way.
Sleep need and time asleep come from your Watch or any sleep app that writes to Apple Health. See how to track sleep with Apple Watch.
Confidence: how sure the score is
Every score comes with a confidence level and the reasons for it. It depends on how mature your HRV baseline is, whether there's a resting heart rate baseline, and whether last night's sleep was recorded. In the first one to two weeks, or after a night without your Watch, expect lower confidence and read the score as a rough guide.
What to do with your score
Auralo's daily plan starts from these bands, then adjusts for things like a big jump in training load, sleep debt or two hard days in a row:
- 75 and above: a good day to push. Hard training is fine.
- 60 to 74: a normal day. Moderate training.
- 45 to 59: a bit below your usual. Keep it easy.
- 30 to 44: recovery work: walking, mobility, an early night.
- Below 30: rest.
Tag a day as illness and the plan becomes rest, whatever the score. A low score is a nudge, not an order. If you feel great, a normal day is fine; if you feel unwell, rest even when the score is high.
Limits worth knowing
- It's an estimate from consumer sensors, not a lab test. Wrist readings can be off, especially if the band was loose.
- It can't tell why a signal moved. Alcohol, a late meal, heat, stress and a cold can all look similar.
- Without a Watch overnight there's no HRV or resting heart rate from the night, so recovery is a rough estimate from your iPhone.
- Scores from different apps and devices aren't comparable. Each uses its own inputs and scale.
All of this runs on your iPhone. Nothing is uploaded, and there's no account; see the privacy policy. For how Auralo compares with dedicated wearables, see Auralo vs WHOOP, Oura and Bevel.
FAQ
What is a good recovery score?
In Auralo, a day exactly at your usual sits at about 60. Higher means your body looks more rested than usual; lower means less. The score compares you with yourself, so a 60 is a normal day, not a bad one.
Why is my recovery low when I feel fine?
The score reads a few overnight signals, and they can dip after alcohol, a late meal, heat or a short night before you notice anything. It can also simply be off. Check the reasons and the confidence note, and trust how you feel as well.
How long until my recovery score is reliable?
Auralo starts a baseline after 5 nights and treats it as established from 14. Scores become more confident over the first one to two weeks, and the app tells you while it's still learning.
Do I need an Apple Watch for a recovery score?
No, but it helps a lot. Without a Watch overnight there's no HRV or resting heart rate from the night, so recovery is a rough estimate from your iPhone, and the app says so.
Is a recovery score a medical measurement?
No. It's a wellness estimate from consumer sensors. It can't tell you whether you're ill. If something feels wrong, talk to a doctor.
Get your score at launch
Auralo's recovery score, daily plan and Watch app are free. Join the waitlist and we'll email you once, on launch day.
Auralo gives wellness information, not medical advice. For medical concerns, contact a health professional.