But he can still get the A-Fib detection since that only requires the HR sensors to work.
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Changing Your Apple Watch or iPhone's Region Won't Enable ECG App Outside of United States
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But he can still get the A-Fib detection since that only requires the HR sensors to work.
UPDATE: I just got my apple watch series 4 from the US and do have the ECG app, like everyone else who bought their series 4 over there. Now I have no doubt that the feature does work outside the US so long as the watch was purchased there regardless of region settings used (although I actually have the US region, other people reported here that it still worked when using other region settings) and GPS location (I am physically located in central Mexico).
No. It have to be purchased in the US. You can change the language and region later I assume, as long as it was purchased in the US.
Gutting was going to try that way but it wanted me to cancel Apple Music first. Thanks for heads up. Hopefully we won’t wait years here in uk. I didn’t get the watch just for that feature so happy to wait.
No, that's exactly what Apple prevented from working this time (it did work for other features such as Apple Pay, tv or news). As StaceyMJ86 already said, the watch MUST be purchased in the US or its other territories such as Guam or Puerto Rico.
Considering the length of time it takes for a medical device approval, Apple may not land the adequate approvals in many major Western jurisdictions before the AW4 gets superseded by newer models. So, is Apple discounting the watch overseas to account for the lack of functionality, or are they happy to take their money and not deliver??
They are delivering exactly what they promised: the ECG feature will launch for the US later in 2018 (it did), and even later than that for other countries. There's nothing to discount, especially as you will almost certainly get it in a free software update anyway.
Did you tried to change your Apple Watch and iPhone location to the US?
Did you tried a US iTunes account?
None of those things will work. Apple is restricting ECG availability to units sold in the US and its territories by checking the serial/model number. Changing the device and/or appleid region to the US does NOT enable ECG. It’s not like News or Apple Pay.
FYI I have a US Apple Watch Series 4 and an unlocked UK iPhone. I have just returned to the UK from the US having activated ECG and it still works on my return to the UK.
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Yes, as I have said many times before, availability of the ECG app is not tied to where you are located or your apple id and region settings, but just to where you bought your apple watch: you got your watch in the US and therefore you were going to get the ECG app on your watch for sure because apple only verifies the serial/model number and your apple watch is a US unit. Even if the watch were taken out of the US before setting it up, like I did by having mine brought over to Mexico from the US, you’d have got the ECG app just as I did. Had you bought the apple watch in the UK or anywhere else, however, you wouldn’t have got the ECG app and would not be able to turn it on at all by changing the region settings, getting a US apple id or using a VPN.
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[doublepost=1546387087][/doublepost]Did you try this? Before heading down to the US I want to know it is worth the trip.
I should have added before I travelled to the US whilst I did have the app on my Watch the set up did not complete on my iPhone until I travelled to the US so you do have to be located in the US to set it up.
Also you dont have to change the region of your iPhone, I didn't.
No you don’t have to be in the US at all to set it up. I unboxed and set up my apple watch series 4 here in Mexico and I still got ECG and it works fine. And I haven’t even been to the US yet since the day I did it. It’s just that the ECG app doesn’t actually work until you complete the setup through the health app on the paired iphone, but I can assure you that setup can certainly be completed outside the US because I did it. The functionality and availability of the ECG app are not at all restricted by physical GPS location, just by where you bought the watch.
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Yes you can. I had my series 4 brought over to Mexico from the US. I unboxed it and set it up here in Mexico and the ECG app works just fine.
Well in addition to having bought my apple watch series 4 and the paired iPhone in the US, I always keep all my devices set up to the US region, and my Apple ID is also a US account; the ECG setup worked just fine for me even though I was physically located in central Mexico near Mexico City when I did it (and the app still works fine anytime I wish to take another ECG). Nonetheless, several other people who purchased their watches in the US have reported to be able to set up and use ECG outside the US without ever needing to be in the US throughout the process, with their devices set to their own region outside the US, and even with a paired iPhone that was purchased outside the US. Some of those reports were posted in this very forum and you can search for those posts if you're curious.
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Hi I am not doubting you. It didn't work for me. Were any of those users in the UK?
Great! Does that procedure also get around the carrier check that apple performs to verify the physical location of the user before allowing to do the initial set up and activate ECG? because if it doesn’t, this is useless: people would have the ECG app on their watch, but wouldn’t be able to complete the initial set up in the health app on the paired iphone (required in order to activate ECG) , and thus still wouldn’t be able to use ECG so long as they are physically located in an unsupported territory.