Apple Watch ECG Feature Gets Approved in Australia
The Australian government has approved ECG functionality on the Apple Watch, giving Apple the all-clear to launch the feature for Apple Watch users in the country, according to a regulatory document first spotted by The 8-Bit.
Earlier last month, the Apple Watch's irregular heart rhythm notification received approval in Australia, although ECG did not. Irregular heart rhythm is a feature that periodically reads your heart rhythm in the background and alerts you if it detects signs of atrial fibrillation (AFib). Both parts work in tandem as users who receive an irregular heart rhythm notification are advised to take an ECG for a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of their heart condition.
With regulator hurdles now out of the way, it's unclear when Apple will roll the feature out for users in Australia. Apple is currently testing watchOS 7.5, and although there's been no indication thus far, the update could include support for ECG in Australia. watchOS 7.4 is expected to debut in the early spring alongside iOS 14.5, which will introduce the ability to unlock an iPhone with an Apple Watch, amongst other features.
Popular Stories
All of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models feature a new battery health setting that prevents the devices from charging beyond 80% at all times when enabled, as confirmed by The Verge's Allison Johnson during a Q&A session today. The new setting is separate from the pre-existing Optimized Battery Charging feature on iPhones, which intelligently delays charging past 80% until a more...
In June, Apple announced iOS 17 with a wide range of new features and changes for the iPhone. Following over three months of beta testing, the free software update will be released this Monday, September 18 for the iPhone XS and newer. Below, we have recapped 10 key features coming to the iPhone with iOS 17, with additional features coming later this year. The update should be released to...
Thursday September 21, 2023 10:28 am PDT by
Juli CloverApple today released iOS 17.0.1 and iPadOS 17.0.1 updates for the iPhone and the iPad, adding bug fixes to the new software. The iOS 17.0.1 and iPadOS 17.0.1 updates come just a few days after Apple launched iOS 17 and iPadOS 17. The software, which is build 21A340, can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. There is a...
As Apple was announcing new iPhone models last week, the Unicode Consortium was officially approving new emoji characters that are set to be added to smartphones starting in 2024. Mockup of new emoji from Emojipedia Approved Unicode 15.1 emoji include phoenix, lime, an edible mushroom, shaking head vertically (as in a "yes" nod), shaking head horizontally (a "no" head shake), and broken...
Top Rated Comments
I am going to miss commenting on ECG announcements for other countries with 'Australia?'
?
TGA finally modified their policies last week (on February 25th) to allow devices like the AW to get approved, we're not even a week later and Apple has already submitted their paperwork and got it approved which means they literally had their paperwork ready on day 1. These TGA policy changes were supposed to be made last summer but due to COVID it got delayed.
Get informed:
https://www.tga.gov.au/regulation-software-based-medical-devices
Also, they never advertised ECG in Australia.