The Apple Watch ECG feature is likely coming to Brazil and Japan next

By Oliver Haslam
published

ECG results on Apple Watch Series 4
ECG results on Apple Watch Series 4 (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • Japan and Brazil look set to receive the Apple Watch's ECG functionality.
  • New regulatory filings suggest a launch could be imminent.
  • Saudi Arabia was the last country to receive support for the ECG app last month.

Apple Watch's ECG feature and irregular heart rhythm notifications have saved lives already and now it looks like users in Brazil and Japan will be getting the benefit of them both soon. Regulatory filings in both countries are already in place with Apple likely to enable the features via a software update.

In terms of Japan, outlet MacOtakara noted that Japan's Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) recently added Apple to its list of "certified entities" that are allowed to offer functions such as ECG monitoring. The feature isn't specified, but it's very likely it's what the agency had in mind when adding Apple to the list.

This comes after the Brazilian government also announced official support for Apple's ECG feature, although it too is waiting for an Apple Watch software update to enable it for users.

Saudi Arabia received support for ECG and irregular heart rhythm notifications just last month with the list of countries where the features are enabled continuing to grow.

The ECG functionality is available on Apple Watch Series 4 and newer models and you can find out how to use it in our guide. It's something worth checking out if you own a compatible Apple Watch and live in one of the countries where it's available.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.