Breathe easy: Apple Watch can read your oxygen levels again

Apple will deliver a software update for recent US Apple Watch models to reimplement the ability to measure blood oxygen levels, a process known as pulse oximetry.

Pulse oximetry can be helpful when assessing the health of a people who experience conditions that affect the level of oxygen in the blood, according to Johns Hopkins, including various heart and lung conditions like heart attacks and asthma. Sales of the devices boomed during the COVID pandemic.

But unlike the Apple Watch's EKG feature, the device's pulse oximetry functions have not been approved by the US Food and Drug Association (FDA). Consequently, it is not intended to assess medical conditions. It's intended for "wellness" – data entertainment – rather than medical diagnostics.

The iBiz had to remove the feature in January 2024 after the International Trade Commission determined that Apple's blood oxygen measurement technology violated patents held by California-based medical ...