Blood oxygen measurement returns to the Apple Watch, sort of
What does it mean for users?
In order to use the blood oxygen feature again on the Apple Watch Series 9, 10, and the Ultra 2, users will have to update their smartwatch to watchOS 11.6.1. The update is now rolling out to users in the United States. In addition to it, the feature will only work when users also update their iPhone to iOS 18.6.1, which has also been released simultaneously.
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There's a crucial difference this time around. Instead of seeing the blood oxygen measurement on the Apple Watch screen, users will now have to open the Health app on their iPhone. That's because Apple is now doing the computation on the iPhone, instead of accomplishing it on the wearable and showing the results natively on the Apple Watch due to the patent dispute over alleged theft of the underlying pulse oximetry tech.
'Sensor data from the Blood Oxygen app on Apple Watch will be measured and calculated on the paired iPhone, and results can be viewed in the Respiratory section of the Health app,' instructs Apple. For all other Apple Watch models not affected by the patent dispute, they will continue to measure and show the measurements in the Blood Oxygen app on the smartwatch's screen.
Why the hassle?
So far, Apple Watch users have been able to track their blood oxygen saturation levels on their Apple Watch and see the readings on their wrists. But owing to a patent dispute with a company named Masimo and an import ban on models that offer this feature, the Cupertino-based company had to pull this capability after lengthy legal battles and an import ban handed down by the International Trade Commission
The ban came into effect back in December of 2023, and despite a brief respite, Apple had to disable the blood oxygen features on the watches it sold following the trade restriction in the US. Apple has expressed disagreement with the charges leveled against it by Masimo, after the company filed two seprate lawsuits against the Apple Watch maker. Interestingly, Apple began working on a software-based workaround soon after the ITC ruling. It appears that the company was ready with an alternative route, but it's surprising that Apple took over a year and a half to enable it.
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