Apple today told The Canadian Press that it is aiming to bring ECG functionality to Apple Watch Series 4 devices in Canada "as quickly as possible."
The news comes after Health Canada this month approved the ECG app and irregular heart rhythm notifications on the Apple Watch Series 4, clearing the way for the features to be released in the country.
Health Canada classified the Apple Watch Series 4 as a Class II medical device, which places it in the "low-to-medium risk" category alongside other products like contact lenses.
The ECG app is designed to allow Apple Watch Series 4 readers to place a finger on the Digital Crown to get a single-lead ECG reading, which can detect atrial fibrillation, a condition that can be indicative of major health problems. Irregular heart rhythm notifications are a separate feature, meant to let users know if an unusual heart rhythm is detected so medical attention can be sought.
Apple did not provide specific timing on when we can expect ECG and irregular heart rate notifications to be available in Canada, but it could perhaps come in the watchOS 5.3 update, which is being beta tested right now, or it could be incorporated into watchOS 6, which will be announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference on June 3.
Saturday April 11, 2026 9:14 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly a year later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon.
In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis.
CarPlay Ultra...
As we wait for WWDC to kick off next Monday, Apple today announced the winners of its annual Apple Design Awards, recognizing apps and games for their innovation, ingenuity, and technical achievement.
The 2025 Apple Design Award winners are listed below, with one app and one game selected per category:
Delight and Fun - CapWords (App) and Balatro (Game)
Innovation - Play (App) and PBJ -...
Saturday April 11, 2026 9:07 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
While the AirPods Max 2 received more attention, Apple also released a second pair of headphones last month: Nike Powerbeats Pro 2.
Nike Powerbeats Pro 2 are the same as the regular Powerbeats Pro 2, except they have a two-tone design consisting of black and Nike's signature Volt neon green-yellow color. The headphones were released on March 20 in the U.S., Canada, Australia, the U.K., and a ...
Thursday March 26, 2026 11:12 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
In addition to indicating that a new full-sized HomePod is in the works, and that the foldable iPhone will likely ship later than the iPhone 18 Pro models this year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said he does not expect any major design changes for the next-generation Apple Watch models coming later this year.
Gurman revealed all of this information in a live Q&A call today on the Bloomberg...
Tuesday March 24, 2026 10:02 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today released watchOS 26.4, the fourth major update to the watchOS 26 operating system that came out in September. watchOS 26.4 comes a month and a half after Apple released watchOS 26.3.
watchOS 26.4 can be downloaded for free on an iPhone running iOS 26.4 by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update, or initiating an update in the Settings app on the...
Thursday March 19, 2026 3:10 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple's current blood oxygen sensing implementation in the U.S. does not infringe on patents owned by Masimo and Apple will not face a revived import ban, a U.S. International Trade Commission judge said this week (via Reuters).
After Apple was found to have violated Masimo's patents related to blood oxygen sensing, the Apple Watch faced a U.S. import ban that caused Apple to briefly pause...
I just wish they'd hurry up and approve it in Australia... now that it has CE certification it should be automatically accepted and not require additional TGA approval. The cynic in me thinks that the TGA will insist on special approval so they can take a chunk of Apple's cash, when it's absolutely unnecessary.
I don’t know why Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand should get special treatment. They aren’t even Apple’s largest market. Besides, it looks like they were tweaking the software right until the launch.i would much rather have a staggered release than no release for another year for a feature like this.
Because our regulatory, political and institutional systems are most similar. You know, the Anglosphere.
I get Apple has to be certified by different countries' health regulators... but with their money and influence you'd have thought they would at least have Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand approved before launch.
I pre-ordered series 4 Watch at launch due to the ECG features announced during the keynote. I rushed to the hospital last year twice due to chest pain. Both times the hospital didn't find anything but I was expecting that if there is anything the Watch will be able to detect. However, the ECG feature wasn't released at launch but it was expected that it will be with a software update soon so I didn't return the watch in 30 day period. Now after 9 months, ECG is still not available in Australia. This is false marketing by Apple and if Apple didn't work on regulatory approvals for launching this feature, they shouldn't have used this as a marketing point in the keynote for series-4.
I'm not sure what the marketing message was in Australia, but to be fair Apple did say at the keynote, ECG was available to US customers only. They didn't specify a time frame, but that other countries would follow.
Because the UK has a National Health service it won't approve any nonsense a watch says with out a Doctors approval. The watch is a dumb toy
And Australia, NZ and CA don't have a national health service? Sorry, I must've been paying thousands of dollars f[SIZE=3]or my GP + hospital visits without realising.[/SIZE]
