watchOS 7 brings the ECG feature to Colombia, Israel, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the U.A.E.

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

What you need to know

watchOS 7 is now available for download.
The update brings the ECG feature to several new countries.
Colombia, Israel, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the U.A.E. are all included.

With the arrival of watchOS 7 yesterday Apple has brought an important feature to a few new countries for the first time. With the update installed, users in Colombia, Israel, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the U.A.E. can now take advantage of the potentially lifesaving ECG feature.

Spied by MacRumors, the feature is now available for a ton of users who couldn't previously take advantage of it. With watchOS 7 installed on an Apple Watch Series 4, Series 5, and the new Apple Watch Series 6 users will be able to conduct a 30-second ECG. That data will then be saved to the Health app and can be provided to health professionals in the form of a PDF.

The feature is particularly suitable for those concerned about atrial fibrillation, or AFib. We've already seen plenty of instances where an Apple Watch has warned someone of a potential AFib situation, only to have the diagnosis confirmed by a doctor.

Apple will surely continue to bring the ECG features to more countries as and when it receives the required approval by local authorities.

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.