Apple Keynote (screenshot)

Apple Watch ECG App may be coming to European countries soon

It looks like those living in Europe will soon have one more reason to purchase the Series 4 Apple Watch. There’s new documentation in the Health app that hints ECG support will finally come to the UK and other European countries.

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The ECG functionality has so far only been available to those in the US. This is to do with regulation. At launch, Apple obtained the nod of approval from the FDA for the feature, but not from regulatory bodies in other countries.

Everything you need to know about Apple’s new ECG sensorAs the limitation is software based, some had hoped a simple changing of the region on the phone would make the the ECG work internationally. But if you try out this trick for yourself, you’ll find that it doesn’t work.

This, however, may all change soon. As spotted by MacRumours, a hint in the iOS 12.2 update suggests the company may be ready to release the ECG functionality outside the US.

Apparently, some Series 4 owners in the UK have seen ECG setup screens in the iPhone Health app after updating to the latest version of the operating system. However, in order to install the app you need the yet-to-be released version 5.2 of watchOS.

Documentation in the About menu of the Health app further confirms this. For non-US regions it says “The ECG app is available on Apple Watch Series 4 with watchOS 5.2 paired with iPhone 5s or iOS 12.2 or later”.

Finally, there’s also a new CE certification mark for the ECG feature in iOS 12.2. CE marking indicates conformity with health, safety, and environmental protection standards for products sold within the European Economic Area.

Apple has not revealed when it will make watchOS 5.2 available. But with iOS 12.2 already in the wild, the release can’t be too far off.

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Marko Maslakovic

Marko founded Gadgets & Wearables in 2014, having worked for more than 15 years in the City of London’s financial district. Since then, he has led the company’s charge to become a leading information source on health and fitness gadgets and wearables.

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