Bipolar

Important

After 10 years, Polar has begun sunsetting the FlowSync (desktop) application, and requires the Flow (Android and iOS) app instead for full data sync. From the Polar FLowSync support FAQs:

WHICH PRODUCTS ARE COMPATIBLE WITH POLAR FLOWSYNC SOFTWARE?

The following data cannot be synced using the Polar FlowSync software on your computer: skin temperature, wrist ECG and SpO2 (blood oxygen saturation). We recommend syncing with Flow app as we're gradually sunsetting FlowSync. FlowSync doesn't support all the features on your watch, which means that some of the data won't be synced. If you continue with FlowSync anyways, you can sync the missing data with Flow app later. For full support, we recommend syncing with Polar Flow app.

As such, I no longer intend to continue any development on this Bipolar project. Thanks for all the support, and interest while the project was active. I personall found it very fulfilling 😊

Introduction

Bipolar a simple GUI application for exporting training sessions from Polar sync software, such as Polar FlowSync. Currently, the following applications and devices are supported:

• Polar FlowSync, on both Mac and Windows.
• Polar V800
• Polar Loop

Installing Bipolar

Mac OS X

1. Install Polar FlowSync, if you haven't already.
2. Close FlowSync, if it's already running.
3. Download the latest Bipolar release - you'll want the Bipolar-<version>.dmg file for OS X.
4. Open the downloaded Bipolar-<version>.dmg file.
5. Read the included README.txt file.
6. Enter the Hook folder.
7. Run the install.command script.

See the How it Works for more information about the Hook that gets installed in that last step.

Windows

1. Install Polar FlowSync, if you haven't already.
2. Close FlowSync, if it's already running.
3. Download the latest Bipolar release - you'll want the Bipolar-<version>.exe file for Windows.
4. Run the downloaded Bipolar-<version>.exe installer.
5. Follow the usual install wizard prompts.

See the How it Works for more information about the Hook that gets installed in that last step.

Using Bipolar

Once installed (see above), the usage pattern is pretty simple:

1. Record some activities on a supported Polar device.
2. Use FlowSync to upload your activities to [flow.polar.com] as usual.
3. Run the Bipolar application, and follow the GUI prompts. Depending on the options selected, this will generate GPX, HRM, and/or TCX versions of all activities seen.
4. Open/upload the generated GPX, HRM, and/or TCX files to your favorite website or application.

How it Works

Windows

When Bipolar is installed, it places a custom DLL into the Polar FlowSync application directory. This custom DLL then writes all training session data it sees to binary files (in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Polar\PolarFlowSync\export).

The installer also installs a separate Bipolar application, which, when exectued looks through all training session data exported above, and, for any that don't already have corresponding *.gpx and/or *.tcx files, converts those sessions to GPX and/or TCX accordingly.

OSX

For OSX, Bipolar is provided as a standard disk image (*.dmg) file. This file contains both the Bipolar application (which can run completely standalone), and the hook library. However, the hook library is not automatically installed for OSX. Instead, the disk image includes a simple hook install script to run to install the hook (which you will want to do, unless using the direct USB option mentioned below).

Direct USB Interface

The separate v800_downloader project provides a way of extracting training session data from the V800 directly, without the need for the hook mentioned above. That project extracts data in a format that is compatible with this project's Bipolar application, so can be used as a hook alternative if desired.

Of course, that is particularly exciting for Linux users, who otherwise could not make any significant use of this project, nor the Polar V800 in general.

Contact

The issue tracker is the preferred place for reporting issues, while the GitHub Discussions area is best for questions, comments etc.

There's also an old Gitter chat room, and even older Bipolar Google Group with some historical content. And finally there's a Bipolar open-source project topic on the Polar forums (and Internet Archive), which contains quite a lot of historical information.