If you live in Canada and want to know when you can start enjoying the ECG feature of the Apple Watch Series 4, find out that you may have to wait a little bit longer.
The ECG feature will not arrive in Canada anytime soon
In a Twitter message, which seems to be a response to someone’s query, government agency Health Canada is stating that they have not “received an application for the Apple Watch Series 4 with the ECG feature” yet. This means that the approval process for the ECG app has not started. Also, judging by the regulator’s answer, “The decision to submit a medical device license application rests with the manufacturer”, it seems that they blame this lack of progress on Apple.
The ECG app first needs to receive regulatory approval
When it comes to ECG monitoring, it is normally performed only by hardware that can be used by medical professionals or healthcare providers. So this technology is not really provided to the general public. In order for it to become available to consumers, Apple needs to get regulatory approval for the Apple Watch Series 4 in each country where the company wants to make the ECG app accessible to the public.
At the present time, the ECG feature is available only in the United States, where it was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Apple Watch Series 4 is actually the first device for consumers that allows them to have access to such medical service without the smartwatch requiring medical review.
Users from other countries will have to wait a little bit longer
We know that Apple has plans to bring the ECG app to users from other regions as well, but getting the regulatory approval needed for each country can clearly take quite a huge amount of time. Hopefully, more people from various parts of the world will have access to this extremely useful app, which just recently saved the life of an Apple Watch user.
Frances might be just at the beginning of her career, but after attending a technical school, she has a fresh perspective on today’s technology. She contributes to the site with tech news.
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