Apple Watch series 4 gets ECG app, detects irregular heart beats

Apple on Thursday released its ECG app for the Apple Watch Series 4 via a software update. The ECG app uses the watch’s digital crown and sensors along the bottom of the watch to monitor the electrical patterns of your heartbeat and analyzes it for potential issues.

The feature, which comes as a part of its ECG app, is available as a part of a free update to watchOS 5.1.2. Apple says that all ECG recordings, their associated classifications and any noted symptoms would be stored securely in the Health app on the connected iPhone and the users will be able to share a PDF of the readings and the observations with their physicians.

The app has received clarification from the US Food and Drug Administration and it is currently available to the Apple Watch Series 4 owners residing in the US only.

The other feature that will be available on Apple's new smartwatch is the irregular heart rhythm notification. This feature would help users identify the signs of atrial fibrillation, which is the most common form of irregular heart rhythm and if left untreated can even lead to death.

Apple said that the optical heart sensors in the Apple Watch Series would occasionally check the user’s heart rhythm in the background for sign of an irregular heart rhythm that appears to be atrial fibrillation. It would alert the user with a notification if it detects an irregular rhythm on five rhythm checks over a minimum of 65 minutes.

While the ECG app is available only for the Apple Watch Series 4, the irregular rhythm notification feature is available for older models starting the Apple Watch Series 1, which was launched two years back on September 16, 2016.

Apple Watch Series 4 features two biggest updates over its predecessor. Besides the ECG feature, the watch also comes with the fall detection feature which detects the difference between a trip and a fall. If calls 911 it detects a fall.