Apple Watch Series 4 ECG may be activated outside the U.S.

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In addition to the larger displays, another difference between the Apple Watch Series 4 and its predecessors are, as we have already commented, the new sensors of the gadget, capable of performing an electrocardiogram (ECG) and detecting when someone falls.

Once the gadget was released, however, Apple said that the ECG will initially be made available only in the United States – since the feature must go through the release of the regulatory agencies in each country before it is made available. In the USA, FDA (Food and Drug Administration) released the use of the Apple Watch Series 4 to perform the ECG.

Despite this bucket of cold water on the heads of many owners of the new Apple Watch, the Brazilian developer Guilherme Rambo found data in the iOS code related to the resource which shows that its limitation will be based on the location of the iPhone and Apple Watch (from the system’s “Language and Region” setting).

If the restriction is made exclusively by software, it will be much easier for users to “circumvent” the limitation and access the resource regardless of the region; that is, it will be enough to change the region of the Apple Watch and the synchronized iPhone to perform the ECG outside the USA.

To change the iPhone region, you need to access Settings »General» Language and Region »Region. When changing this setting, the “Region Format” will also be modified for the information of the selected country, such as time, date, currency, etc.

Rambo emphasized that this represents only one possibility based on the analysis of an internal iOS code. It is possible that Apple will change the method of availability of the feature before it is released to the public – which should happen later this year. We’ll see…

via 9to5Mac