Apple finds a way to return blood oxygen tracking to Apple Watch

Apple was forced to remove blood oxygen tracking from Apple Watch when it lost a patent lawsuit last year, now the feature is back said the company.

What Apple said

The company will introduce a redesigned Blood Oxygen feature for some Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 users through an iPhone and Apple Watch software update.

Users with these models in the U.S. who currently do not have the Blood Oxygen feature will have access to the redesigned Blood Oxygen feature by updating their paired iPhone to iOS 18.6.1 and their Apple Watch to watchOS 11.6.1.

Following this update, 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. This update was enabled by a recent U.S. Customs ruling.

“There will be no impact to Apple Watch units previously purchased that include the original Blood Oxygen feature, nor to Apple Watch units purchased outside of the U.S.,” Apple said.

Watch the blood pressure

The move follows an extensive legal feud with a company called Masimo, which culminated in the International Trade Commission finding Apple to have violated the other company’s patents. Apple was no longer able to include the marquee feature in Apple Watch as a result.

Now the feature has returned.

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