ecg feature internationally

[TorontoSS]

Hello - my in laws are visiting London and Toronto over the next week from India. I live in the UK and have an Apple Watch purchases in the UK. I therefore have access to the ecg features of the watch.

I understand the Canadian Watch will also get this feature.

My father in law will be buying the series 4 and I’ve shown him the ecg features.

If he buys the series 4 in either Canada or the UK will he have access to this in India, where he lives? We can get a friend to purchase in the US as well. Will that make a difference?

Thanks

 

[MENDORAI]

Hi TorontoSS,
I live in Turkey where ECG function is not activated but i am using an APW4 purchased from USA and ECG is working so if your father purchase from UK or Canada then he can use ECG function in India. The ECG is activated by watch's serial not by the users' location so safe to purchase from USA CANADA or UK to use in other countries that ECG is not activated... Take care...

 

[iDento]

I’m not sure but I’m just speculating, if you set the region setting to USA it will work, just like News.

 

[johnyslats]

As of iOS 12.2 the watch needs to be activated in the country of purchase for continued use outside of the approved location. Assuming he's bringing his iPhone with him to the UK, that's probably the way to go. Might be worth doing before he leaves the Apple store just in case.

Prior to this update serial numbers of US purchased watches could be activated in any country.

 

[MENDORAI]

Hi again,

Region is always set to Turkey.

I was on IOS 12.3.1 and watch was 5.2.1 and both watch and ecg is activated without problems.

Now phone is updated to IOS 13 beta 2 and watch to watchos6 beta 2 and both watch and ecg are still activated without any problems.

One of my friends has APW4 purchased in Turkey but even region is set to USA , ecg is not activated...
Hope these helps.

Take care!

 

[lartola]

Hello - my in laws are visiting London and Toronto over the next week from India. I live in the UK and have an Apple Watch purchases in the UK. I therefore have access to the ecg features of the watch.

I understand the Canadian Watch will also get this feature.

My father in law will be buying the series 4 and I’ve shown him the ecg features.

If he buys the series 4 in either Canada or the UK will he have access to this in India, where he lives? We can get a friend to purchase in the US as well. Will that make a difference?

Thanks

As long as it is purchased in a supported country such as the US or UK (Canada isn’t yet supported as far as I know), yes he will get the ECG app. However, as of last march 25th when apple released iOS 12.2 and watchOS 5.2 it is now also necessary to be located in a supported country in order to complete the initial setup for ECG (i.e., if your father in law just takes the watch in its box back to India and tries to set it up after he gets there, he still won’t be able to use ECG).
[doublepost=1562376196][/doublepost]

As of iOS 12.2 the watch needs to be activated in the country of purchase for continued use outside of the approved location. Assuming he's bringing his iPhone with him to the UK, that's probably the way to go. Might be worth doing before he leaves the Apple store just in case.

Prior to this update serial numbers of US purchased watches could be activated in any country.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be the country of purchase, though, it could also be activated in one of the other countries where ECG is already approved. Just not anymore in countries where ECG isn’t approved, like it was possible to do before.
And just in case anyone was wondering, ECG did continue to work after updating to iOS 12.2 and watchOS 5.2 on US purchased watches that were activated outside the US prior to those software updates (i.e., the new restrictions only applied to users activating ECG AFTER updating the software).
[doublepost=1562376353][/doublepost]

I’m not sure but I’m just speculating, if you set the region setting to USA it will work, just like News.

Nope. Apple made sure ECG wouldn’t work that way. That’s why they check the part number to see where the apple watch was purchased, and that’s also why starting in iOS 12.2 and watchOS 5.2 Apple also checks the user’s location using carrier data before allowing the user to complete the initial ECG setup.

 

[lartola]

Hi TorontoSS,
I live in Turkey where ECG function is not activated but i am using an APW4 purchased from USA and ECG is working so if your father purchase from UK or Canada then he can use ECG function in India. The ECG is activated by watch's serial not by the users' location so safe to purchase from USA CANADA or UK to use in other countries that ECG is not activated... Take care...

Starting in iOS 12.2 and watchOS 5.2, the user’s location is also verified by Apple before activating ECG. This means anyone buying an AW series 4 in a country where ECG is approved will now also need to do the initial ECG setup in a country where ECG is approved, which could be the same country where the watch was purchased or any of the other countries where ECG has been approved.

 

[TorontoSS]

Thanks for your help everyone. As an update, my father in law purchased in the UK and set up in the UK as well. Didn’t think was worth risking from purchasing in Canada and not get ECG.

 

[TimJohn]

Thanks for your help everyone. As an update, my father in law purchased in the UK and set up in the UK as well. Didn’t think was worth risking from purchasing in Canada and not get ECG.

I have a series 4 and live in Canada. Apple has not enabled ECG in Canada yet so your father in laws was best not to purchase it in Canada.