The best 3rd party apps to use with the Microsoft Band

I really like my Microsoft Band, I like having notification and activity tracking but the Microsoft Health app that you use with the Band doesn’t take advantage of all the features available however there are some cleaver developers out there and they have created interesting apps for the Microsoft Band. Microsoft have just released an SDK for the Band so I expect to see new apps soon so here is my list of favorite apps for the Microsoft Band so far:

[UPDATED 05/03/2015 with new apps]

Pimp My Band

With this app you can have a new background image on the Band so you are not restricted to the 12 standard image from the Microsoft app. You can pick any image from your Windows Phone and then it automatically picks a suitable colour palette to go with the picture. You can select your own choice of background and accent colour so you can customize the look and feel of your Band.

The app costs $0.99 in the Windows Phone Store (US only).

UnBand

unBand is a program for Windows that enables you to customise and export data from the Microsoft Band. You connect your Microsoft Band via the USB cable and then the app enables you can extract the Workout, Sleep and Run activity data and output it as a CSV file which you can then import to you choice of app or service. All sorts of data is available, duration, heart rate, recovery time and start and end time. You can also export GPX data from the app.

Not only does the program enable you to export your data it also enables you to reorder the titles using drag and drop, change the background image and change all the colour settings. The developers say they are adding more functionality to the program including live sensor output. It’s a free download from http://unband.nachmore.com/ and its open source so you can take a look at the code if you want

Band Sensor Monitor

This is a great 3^rd party app for Windows Phone that shows real time data from the Microsoft Band.

The app has a UI that looks very much like the Microsoft Band app and gives you real time access to the sensors of the Microsoft Band:

• Heart Rate frequency (Bpm)
• Skin temperature (F°)
• Galvanic Skin Response (KOhm)
• Ultra Violet index (UV)
• Ambient Light Sensor (Lux)
• Movement sensor
• Step sensor
• Battery sensor

As well as the real time information it also displays historical information in the form of a line graph from the sensors. You can also remotely monitor a Band with the app are share out your sensor data with another Windows Phone user.

If you have a Microsoft Band you should check out the app. The app costs £1.29 from the Windows Phone Store and there is a limited trial version available if you want to give it a try.

Find my Band

This one is by the developer of my favorite Microsoft Band app Band Sensor Monitor and the new app helps you find your Microsoft Band if you have misplaced it.

The Find my Band app for Windows Phone works by vibrating the band and flashing the green light on the back to help you locate your errant device. The Band needs a Bluetooth connection to your phone so you are going to have to be fairly nearby for it to work but I can see it being very handy if you have misplaced it.

The app is free from the Window Phone Store.

iBand

The iBand app for Windows Phone calculates the amount of Watts you are burning during your workout, you tell it the weight you are moving while training and then it gives you a real time graph showing the power output. You can also use the app to monitor your skin temperature, galvanic skin response, heart rate and personalise your start screen.

It’s another great 3^rd party app for the Microsoft Band which costs £0.79 from the Windows Phone Store.

Send2Band

Send2Band is a Windows Phone than then enables you to send messages to the Microsoft Band. Using the share feature in Windows Phone you can send notes from apps including OneNote, Twitter and then they show up on the Band via a new Notes tile. You also create new notes on the app and send them to the Band. Useful if you an address that you want to keep handy and not have to open up your phone to check, or it could be a shopping list or link you want reminding of.

The app costs £0.79 from the Windows Phone Store.

Clear My Band

This is a nice little app for clearing all you Microsoft Band notifications with one click.

The app clears all your Tiles of notifications on the Band. Which saves you clearing each Tile by hand, especially if you already checked the notification on your phone.

The app is free from the Windows Phone Store.

Band Social

If you like customising the look and feel of your Microsoft Band you are going to like a app called Band Social. With the app you can change all the colours associated with the Band such as the base colour, the lowlight colour and the highlight colour which are tiles with notifications on then. You can then send the theme down to you Band and share them with other Microsoft Band users with the app. Currently you can only share the viewing part is coming soon but it’s a great little free app for changing the colours on the Band.

The app is free from the Windows Phone Store.

More coming soon

I will keep updating this page as new apps are released for the Microsoft Band. I can’t wait to see what developers do with the new Microsoft Band SDK.