14 DAY TRIAL // The ECG feature on the Apple Watch Series 4 is finally available for users in the United States, and Apple promised to work together with the authorities in other countries in order to expand its availability.
Because it’s considered a medical feature, ECG requires the clearance of the relevant agencies in each country, as it happened in the United States where the FDA offered its go-ahead to the Apple Watch Series 4 only a few hours before the September 12 launch event.
And while it makes sense for Apple to request the approval of other watchdogs in various markets, it looks like the company isn’t actually in a rush to make ECG available elsewhere.
And living proof is none other than Canada, as the government agency Health Canada explained in a recent tweet that it hasn’t even received an application in this regard from Apple.
No word from Apple
In other words, Canada hasn’t yet received Apple’s request to allow the ECG feature to be offered to local users, and given the process doesn’t happen overnight, do not expect it to become available in the country too soon.
“To date, Health Canada has not received an application for the Apple Watch Series 4 with the EKG feature. The decision to submit a medical device licence application rests with the manufacturer,” the regulator said in its tweet.
Apple hasn’t offered a statement on this and the company previously refused to share any ETA as to when the ECG could go live elsewhere.
More recently, it was also discovered that a trick that allowed Apple Watch Series 4 users living in other countries to enable ECG no longer worked, as Apple blocked the feature when changing region without actually living the US. For now, the debut of ECG in other markets remains something that we can only hope it would happen at some point next year.