Wearables and your health data

12 parts, in order. A new one goes up most weeks, so this list grows until the series is complete.

  1. What a Fitness Band Can and Cannot MeasureThe tiny sensors under the strap, and the honest line between what a band measures and what it is quietly estimating.
  2. Band or Smartwatch? How to Decide Before You BuyJudge a wrist device by how you will actually wear it, not by the feature list printed on the box.
  3. The First Hour With a New Fitness Band or WatchPairing, profile details, wrist choice and strap tightness decide whether every number you see for the next year makes sense.
  4. Why Your Step Count Never Matches Your Friend'sOne walk, two devices, two different numbers, and why chasing a round daily target misses the point entirely.
  5. What Your Watch Is Doing When It Reads Your PulseA green light on your skin reads a pulse well when you are still and badly when you are working hard.
  6. Reading a Sleep Score Without Losing Sleep Over ItYour watch infers sleep from movement and pulse, so treat the score as a rough diary rather than a verdict.
  7. SpO2 and ECG on a Watch: What They Are NotTwo wrist features that borrow medical names, what each one actually checks, and why an odd reading is a prompt to ask a doctor.
  8. Your Watch Buzzes Twice: Fixing Wrist NotificationsA watch either halves your phone checking or doubles it, and the difference is deciding which alerts earn your wrist.
  9. Charging Habits That Keep a Watch Alive All WeekThe settings that quietly drain a small battery, and a charging routine that means your watch is never flat at bedtime.
  10. Setting Up a Smartwatch for an Older ParentFall detection, emergency contacts and a stripped-down face turn a gadget into something a parent will keep wearing.
  11. Where Your Health Data Lives and How to Move ItYour steps and sleep sit in two places at once, and knowing which is which decides how easily you switch brands.
  12. When a Watch Reading Is Worth a Doctor's TimeA wearable never diagnoses anything, but it can spot a pattern worth mentioning, and telling the two apart is the whole skill.

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