When the Apple Watch Series 4 shipped, its electrocardiogram (ECG) features were still in development.
With the just-released watchOS 5.1.2 update, Apple has finally added its much-anticipated ECG app.
While users have already been able to get notifications about irregular heart rhythms, the ECG will take things a step further. To take an ECG, you can just open the ECG app on the Series 4 and hold a finger to the digital crown for 30 seconds.
This, in turn, functions as the point of contact/equivalent of a single lead LCD. Per Apple, each reading will be classified as either atrial fibrillation (AFib), sinus rhythm (normal), or inconclusive. Results will be saved in the Health app, and can also be exported to PDFs to share with doctors.
While this is cool, it’s best to take the results with a bit of healthy skepticism. ECGs with your doctor generally involves 12 leads as opposed to the Apple Watch Series 4’s single lead. While Apple did receive FDA clearance for the Series 4, it’s a novel device unlikely to cause harm, and not the equivalent of a hospital-grade medical device. Still, Apple says it conducted a trial with 600 participants with 98.3 percent sensitivity in classifying AFib and 99.6 percent with sinus rhythms.
Users can snag the watchOS 5.1.2 update by opening the Watch app on a paired iPhone, navigating over to General and tapping “Software Update.”
If you’ve had a chance to try the new ECG feature under watchOS 5.1.2 and the Apple Watch Series 4, please let us know what you make of it in the comments.
Via Gizmodo