The much-awaited Apple Watch 4‘s ECG feature, is finally here, available to users in Europe and the UK. Since the launch of the Apple Watch Series 4’s ECG feature in December, the functionality has been limited to the United States and its respective territories.
The ECG app on Apple Watch Series 4, a direct-to-consumer product allows customers to take an electrocardiogram starting right from their wrist. It is currently available in Hong Kong and 19 European countries, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. Those features arrived in the US in December, but users abroad have had to wait.
Part of the free watchOS 5.2 software update, the ECG app is capable of capturing heart rhythm on demand in a moment when users experience symptoms such as a rapid or skipped a heartbeat and can also help provide clinically important data to physicians. The irregular rhythm notification feature on Apple Watch occasionally checks heart rhythm in the background and sends a notification if an irregular heart rhythm that appears to be Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) is identified.
Lastly, if you are one of the few to be identified by your Apple Watch as having AFib of some kind, the wearable is unable to learn this fact and adapt the functions of the device to disregard readings it has already issued notifications for. So, once the app has sent you a notification and your doctor has confirmed you have a condition, Apple suggests turning off the function on the Watch to prevent you from getting repeated notifications thereafter.