Apple's ECG app and irregular heart rhythm notifications on the Apple Watch Series 4 and 5 have received domestic approval and certification from Japan's medical authorities, indicating that both features should go live in the country very soon.
The approval was confirmed by the Japanese Association for the Advancement of Medical Equipment (JAAME) on Friday, September 4, and subsequently reported by tech blog iPhone Mania today. An imminent update to Apple's watchOS will likely turn on the features for existing Apple Watch owners.
As a result of the approval, the Ochanomizu Department of Cardiology has begun moving forward with its Apple Watch Outpatient program, which will help registered patients use devices to help them record suspected arrhythmia attacks and submit them for further detailed examination.
Apple Watch Series 4 and 5 users can generate an ECG waveform in just 30 seconds by placing their finger on the Digital Crown. The idea is that you can take this information to your doctor, if the results are abnormal, and use it as a basis to discover if you have any larger issues at hand.
Apple routinely has to gain approval from government health agencies before marketing the Apple Watch's ECG feature in different countries. Apple won U.S. FDA clearance to promote the function when the Apple Watch Series 4 launched in 2018.
Japan's Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) updated its list of registered foreign manufacturers to include Apple as a "certified entity" in June.
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 live in Japan, have a series 5 I bought here and the ECG app has been live since at least around the new year. It might have just gained official approval but it's been turned on for months.
Either you have a really specific bug, or you activated your Apple Watch while overseas, because I don't know anyone that can use ECG with an Apple Watch they activated in Japan.
It wouldn't matter where a Japanese market model was activated. The ECG app will not work until the official firmware enabling it is released.
It is possible to buy overseas models here in Japan. I did for my previous Series 2. I purchased it while on a trip home in the USA. The downside of that was that I lost all ability to use Apple Pay locally here in Japan, no SUICA transit support, etc.
Thanks. I live in Japan, too. I got a Series 5 when I finally got fed up of my utterly inaccurate Fitbit.***
It's been great so far but there's no way the ECG has been active. My friend's a doctor who also happens to be an iOS developer on the side. He tried and couldn't get ECG to work on his Series 4. I'm pretty sure if it worked, he'd have been able to make it work. The previous comment you replied to had me confused and you clarified it nicely.
***Using Fitbit made me think I had a hormone imbalance and a sleep problem due to its inaccuracies. I was gaining weight even though I meticulously counted calories and keeping what I thought was a 600 calorie deficit. Then a friend loaned me his Apple Watch. My world changed. I wore both and realized I had a caloric surplus because Fitbit grossly overestimated my caloric burn. Among other things, Fitbit would show exaggerated caloric burn and several extra flights of stairs climbed when I road a train/subway to work, but failed to measure the stairs I climbed to get to my third floor office (when not taking the elevator). It showed me burning up to 8 calories a minute by shuffling my feet, but only 30 calories burned during an hour of weight lifting. The worst part was that Fitbit offers expensive fitness coaching and I wouldn't be surprised at all if it's planned. The more people trust Fitbit, the more they doubt themselves. Then to fix themselves they pay loads of money for Fitbit trainers, ultimately becoming dependent on them to help save themselves. It almost seems like narcissistic gaslighting.
