Features

Built for streamers and athletes.

Every feature is intentional. Nothing bloated, nothing missing.

Live BPM Overlay

A floating, always-on-top widget showing your real-time heart rate from HypeRate. Stays above any app — games, OBS, browser, anything.

Heart Rate Zones

Define custom BPM zones with individual colors. The overlay color transitions automatically as you move between zones during your session.

BPM History Graph

A live chart tracks your heart rate over time in the settings panel. See your effort curve at a glance — no external tool needed.

Full Customization

Heart style, animation, color, glow, font (including all system fonts), layout, background, and border radius — all configurable in real time.

Menu Bar BPM

On macOS, your live BPM appears right next to the tray icon — always visible without the overlay consuming any game screen space.

Global Hotkey

Press ⌃⇧H from anywhere to instantly show or hide the overlay — no window switching required.

Auto Update Check

On launch, the app silently checks for new releases and shows a badge when an update is available. Always stay on the latest build.

English & German

Full UI localization in English and German. Switch instantly from the title bar — labels, status messages, and the tray menu all update live.

Launch at Startup

Enable once and forget. HypeRate Desktop registers with your OS login items so it's running before you even open a game or start a stream.

Setup

Running in under a minute.

No account creation, no configuration files, no complexity.

Install the app

Download the installer for your platform and run it. The app lives quietly in your system tray — no Dock clutter, no taskbar entry.

Enter Session ID

Open settings, paste your HypeRate Session ID from the HypeRate app, and hit Connect. The connection is instant.

Show Overlay

Click Show Overlay. A floating widget appears — drag it anywhere on your screen. It stays above every other window.

Stream & Play

Your heart rate is live. Your viewers see it. Customize the look to match your stream layout, then go.

Customization

Make it yours.

Every aspect of the overlay is tunable. Match it to your stream design, game HUD, or personal style.

Heart Styles & Animations

Filled, outlined, or emoji heart — with pulse, beat, bounce, shake, or glow animation.

Colors & Glow

Individual color pickers for heart, BPM text, label, background, and glow effects. Full hex input supported.

Fonts — Including System Fonts

Choose from presets (mono, serif, rounded, display) or use any font currently installed on your machine.

Layout & Background

Horizontal or vertical layout. Transparent, blurred, or solid background. Adjustable corner radius and optional border.

Preview — overlay variants

Download

Free for everyone, forever.

No subscription, no login required, no telemetry. Just download and run.

macOS

Apple Silicon & Intel · macOS 12+

Apple Silicon (arm64) Intel (x64)

Windows

64-bit installer · Windows 10 / 11

Download Installer

Linux

AppImage & .deb · x64

Download AppImage Download .deb

Free and open source — view source on GitHub · Requires a HypeRate account to stream heart rate data.

FAQ

Common questions.

No account is needed. You only need your personal HypeRate Session ID, which you can find in the HypeRate app. Simply paste it into HypeRate Desktop and connect — that's it.

HypeRate supports a wide range of devices, including Apple Watch, Wear OS, Garmin, Fitbit, Amazfit, Polar, and other compatible heart rate sources. View all supported devices →

Yes, completely free. No subscription, no in-app purchases, no hidden fees. HypeRate Desktop is open source and will remain free.

Yes. HypeRate Desktop is a native always-on-top window, so it works alongside any streaming software. In OBS, simply add a Window Capture or Game Capture source, or use a Display Capture to include the overlay in your stream.

This usually happens when a game runs in exclusive fullscreen mode. Switch your game to Borderless Windowed mode and the overlay will appear correctly on top.

No. HypeRate Desktop connects to the HypeRate service via WebSocket to receive live heart rate data, so an active internet connection is required.

No. HypeRate Desktop stores only your preferences (appearance settings, overlay position) locally on your device. No telemetry, no analytics, no data collection.

HypeRate Desktop checks for new releases automatically on launch. When an update is available, a badge appears in the title bar. Click it to go to the download page and grab the latest version.

This warning comes from Windows Smart App Control or SmartScreen because HypeRate Desktop is not yet signed with a commercial code-signing certificate. It is completely safe to install.

SmartScreen (blue dialog): Click "More info" → "Run anyway".
Smart App Control (Windows 11): Right-click the installer → Properties → check "Unblock" → OK, then run it. Alternatively, go to Windows Security → App & Browser Control → Smart App Control and switch it to Off temporarily.

macOS Gatekeeper blocks apps that are not notarized with an Apple Developer certificate. HypeRate Desktop is safe to run — here's how to allow it:

Option 1: Right-click (or Control-click) the app in Finder → Open → click "Open" in the dialog. You only need to do this once.
Option 2: Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down and click "Open Anyway" next to the HypeRate Desktop entry.

Two packages are available for Linux:

AppImage (recommended — works on any distro, no install needed):
chmod +x "HypeRate Desktop-1.0.0.AppImage" && ./"HypeRate Desktop-1.0.0.AppImage"

.deb (Debian, Ubuntu, Mint and derivatives):
sudo dpkg -i hyperate-overlay_1.0.0_amd64.deb

On Wayland, if the overlay doesn't appear on top, try launching with GDK_BACKEND=x11 as a prefix.

Your heartbeat,always visible.