iOS 18.6.1 and watchOS 11.6.1 Released: Blood Oxygen Monitoring Returns to U.S. Apple Watches

[Apple_Robert]

I'm running the latest iOS 26 Beta and the latest watch OS and the health App still doesn't have any readings after the day I upgraded to Apple Watch 10.

The option to turn on blood oxygen recording in the Watch App is still greyed out and the link for more information takes me to a page dated 8/14/25 that tells you that it's in the Health App, so it's contradicting what the Health App says. Perhaps they're rolling this out in phases?

The new pulse ox update is not currently supported with the beta build.

 

[CouponPages]

The new pulse ox update is not currently supported with the beta build.

Thanks for letting me know. Hopefully it will be in the next Beta instead of waiting for the official release.

You'd think the Beta would be the first place they'd roll it out. That's what a Beta is for.

 

[vroom2]

Still not showing up in vitals, and I no longer suspect it will. Hopefully a software update will fix that.

 

[Silverbird0000]

They knew how, but the "recent court ruling" allowed them to do it.

And there is a workaround to getting a US version with fully working O2 sensors since the ITC covers trade between the US states and foreign countries. If the Ultra 3 is enough of an upgrade (for me) from the 2, I'm going to use it.

What is this workaround?

 

[sdwaltz]

Not working for me unfortunately.

WatchOS 11.6.1, iOS 26 Public Beta. Both devices restarted multiple times.

Is it because I’m on the iOS 26 beta?

 

[btrach144]

Not working for me unfortunately.

WatchOS 11.6.1, iOS 26 Public Beta. Both devices restarted multiple times.

Is it because I’m on the iOS 26 beta?

Watch also needs to be on public beta.

Public betas were updated earlier this week to support it.

 

[Rigby]

Did some tests in the last few hours with my Watch 10 simultaneously with my pulse oximeter. The blood oxygen value from the watch was consistently 3-5% lower (93-95%). I tested the oximeter against one used by a doctor during the pandemic and it was consistently within 1%. So the watch doesn't seem very accurate. Should probably not be trusted for anything other than detecting severe hypoxia.

Played some more with it over the last few days and I get better results when the wrist band is really tight (to the point where I find it uncomfortable for exercising). But it's still inconsistent. I would be curious to hear whether it can help with the watch's sleep apnea detection function (I don't have sleep apnea so I can't test it on myself).