Availability of health features in small countries

[CyberGene]

I live in Bulgaria, a member of the EU. We still don't have ECG and irregular heartbeat notifications. I researched why that is and some people mentioned that Apple needs to get approval from the local regulatory body. So, I sent an official request to our Ministry of health why they haven't approved these features in Apple Watch and guess what: they answered me they've never received such a request for approval from Apple.

So, why do Apple not bother with small countries such as Bulgaria? I mean, how difficult it is to just enable a feature? But then, we still don't have a Bulgarian localization of iOS and macOS which is the reason why my mom can't use a iPhone and uses an Android phone. I realize we're a small user-base but still, how expensive it is to localize an interface or enable some feature that's enabled across all other EU countries? For the richest technology company in the world.

Sorry for the rant.

 

[akash.nu]

You do realise that things are always prioritised based on various factors right?! If you compare the user base between Bulgaria and say Germany/ France, where do you think Apple should invest their resources in?

It’s simple maths, cost vs benefit analysis.

A similar example, the U.K. never got Apple wallet feature within iMessage but this also comes down to some sort of restrictions/ priorities.

Another, Apple Card is only available in the USA. A lot of Siri related features are also available in the USA only.

 

[CyberGene]

I realize that but yet again, that's Apple, not some start-up. If they can't translate iOS to Bulgarian for 14 years now, that speaks bad. I am a software engineer for a big company and I can assure you the localization of a user interface or a OS is not such a big deal. All Android phones have localizations for every possible language and country, and every little Linux distro has all possible localizations. And we have Apple that can't translate 100 (or even 1000) strings because that's not their priority? Come on. And this thread in particular is about the heart-rate and ECG - features that only need enabling. Well, they require a certification. How difficult is that? One legal assigned to move the things with our health authorities.

 

[utzelu]

What's even more frustrating is that we pay the full price for the product (actually it is more expensive in Europe than in US), without getting the same product as in US (e.g. missing advertised features). As long as the whole Apple Watch 5/6 launches revolve around the new health features, which are then only available in US, then this should be considered as false advertisement. Maybe the EU authorities should look into it.

 

[limebook]

I believe it’s more about your regulatory bodies and their relationship with tech companies.
Australia don’t have ecg despite having Apple Pay and may other features that larger countries don’t have in relation to maps, payment systems and few other things.
Our healthcare is strictly regulated on what is and isnt available to the public.
The plus side is we get well researched free best practice healthcare
The down side is we often wait for smaller less impactful initiatives to filter into our system.
It’s also worth looking to see if other technologies are available for different devices in your country- eg is there any other consumer wearable ecg product. This will give you leverage.

 

[secretk]

You do realise that things are always prioritised based on various factors right?! If you compare the user base between Bulgaria and say Germany/ France, where do you think Apple should invest their resources in?

This is true and yet it is a bit of viscous cycle. I am also from Bulgaria. My mother (same as OP) would not use an Apple device because it is not localized. I do not even see the point of someone in Bulgaria buying Apple Watch 6 to be honest as most of the interesting features are not available here. As it is, SE makes much more sense.

What I am saying is that they would not get increased user base if they do not invest in simple things like localization and features parity to some extent. It puts their devices in a weird market where the price is not justified and does not make sense.

Not that I am expecting Apple to change its politics. It is clear that we are not priority. We should just always do our research when it comes to such features so that we do not end up paying a lot for a device that we cannot use to its maximum potential.

 

[Shanghaichica]

What's even more frustrating is that we pay the full price for the product (actually it is more expensive in Europe than in US), without getting the same product as in US (e.g. missing advertised features). As long as the whole Apple Watch 5/6 launches revolve around the new health features, which are then only available in US, then this should be considered as false advertisement. Maybe the EU authorities should look into it.

I’m not sure about the whole of the EU but ECG and Oxygen saturation are available in the UK. I remember when the series 4 first launched Apple were very clear that they only had approval for the ECG feature in the US. It came in an update for the EU in feb/March of 2019 which was less than 6 months after the series 4 launched

 

[secretk]

I’m not sure about the whole of the EU but ECG and Oxygen saturation are available in the UK. I remember when the series 4 first launched Apple were very clear that they only had approval for the ECG feature in the US. It came in an update for the EU in feb/March of 2019 which was less than 6 months after the series 4 launched

I think that the issue is that the visibility on whether a feature like that is available in specific region/country or not is not good enough. It is like with those small fonts on the footnote. Site materials (in our case the BG version of the site which hey at least is translated ) mentions the feature with no comment on it not being available in our country. You have to check the footnotes to see that it is actually not. Given that it is not supported here, it does not make sense IMO to even be mentioned as a feature.

Long story short - it is not just about being transparent during the Apple event where they introduce the device, it is also about follow up and how things are described on the product page in the site as well for subsequent models with the feature.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I think that the issue is that the visibility on whether a feature like that is available in specific region/country or not is not good enough. It is like with those small fonts on the footnote. Site materials (in our case the BG version of the site which hey at least is translated ) mentions the feature with no comment on it not being available in our country. You have to check the footnotes to see that it is actually not. Given that it is not supported here, it does not make sense IMO to even be mentioned as a feature.

Long story short - it is not just about being transparent during the Apple event where they introduce the device, it is also about follow up and how things are described on the product page in the site as well for subsequent models with the feature.

I purposely did not buy the series 4 until
I knew that the ECG feature would work in my country. Once the update was released for the EU I immediately bought one.

I think the problem as you quite rightly said is the follow up as it’s been many years since the ECG feature was announced and now it can become unclear where it’s actually supported without doing some digging. However the average consumer is unlikely to do any digging and will just go with what’s advertised.

 

[RuseBG]

I have started a thread on the Apple forums and have quoted CyberGene.

When ECG and Irregular Rhythm Notificatio… - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

Hopefully we will get somewhere with this issue. If there is no response from an Apple official support this week, I will call their support line.