The Apple Watch Series 4 was introduced in a new design and boasted a lot of new features. In addition to all the features, one in particular caused a lot of discussion - namely the ECG function.
The electrocardiogram (ECG) is the recording of the sum of the electrical activities of all heart muscle fibers using an electrocardiograph. The 4th generation of the Apple Watch can do just that. In order to measure the current flow, the user must hold their finger to the digital crown for 30 seconds. A cardiogram is then created. In order to be able to offer such a feature, approval from the health authorities in the respective country is required. Apple has already received this in the USA - other countries are still pending.
iOS 12.2 documentation gives hope
Now it looks like this will change with the introduction of watchOS 5.2. The documentation for iOS 12.2 There are at least indications that the ECG function will be introduced with watchOS 5.2 in some European countries. Previously, a watchOS 5.2 Beta a reference to it was found. The description of the iOS 12.2 documentation mentions the ECG app for non-US regions. Another addition to the iOS 12.2 update is the CE marking, which stands specifically for the ECG function. This indicates that the new region will consist of countries in the European Economic Area. All EU countries as well as Liechtenstein, Iceland and Norway have this specific certification. The watchOS 5.2 update is expected this week - whether we will actually get the ECG function remains open until the release - the corresponding section on Apple's website has not yet been updated.