Apple Watch 4 ECG App Now Available In Europe And Hong Kong

The Apple Watch saves lives, as numerous anecdotes have repeatedly proven. And that was back when the smartwatch just had the basic set of sensors like a heart rate monitor. The Apple Watch 4 significantly stepped up Apple's efforts to corner a niche market but its limited availability meant it couldn't really do much for users outside the US. Now that the Apple Watch 4 has been certified, it's now possible to make use of its ECG sensor in 19 countries across Europe as well as in Hong Kong.

The Apple Watch 4's ECG capability is meant to help detect atrial fibrillation, one of these times' silent killers. Symptoms can go undetected or, worse, ignored, which can lead to stroke and even death. A recent study that involved around 600 users across all 50 US states proved that the Apple Watch 4 was quite effective and accurate in detecting signs of AFib which, in turn, could help save more lives.

Good thing, then, that the Apple Watch 4's ECG app is now available across Europe, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK. Once the free update has been installed, users simply need to run the app and touch the watch's digital crown to complete the circuit that will let the app measure electrical signals just like any other ECG machine.

But what if you don't have an Apple Watch 4 or forget to manually run the ECG app. Apple still has a potentially life-saving update for you in the form of the Irregular Rhythm Notification. This will check the user's heart rhythm in the background and when it measures five irregular rhythms in less than 65 minutes, it will alert you of potential danger.

This Irregular Rhythm Notification is available on the Apple Watch 1 or later. The sensitive medical data, Apple promises, is stored securely on the iPhone Health app. These new features require the latest watchOS 5.2 version as well as iOS 12.2 on the iPhone.