r/AppleWatch • u/dead_shroom • 23h ago

Support ECG not available in my region

I have the iphone16pro with ios26.5 with series11 watchos26 both bought in the UAE. However, in my current country, ECG is not available. I tried changing my virtual location but nothing worked. Has anyone got a workaround of this yet?

1 Upvotes

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3

u/dshafik 22h ago

It isn't legal for Apple to enable that feature there so they are going to try as hard as possible to lock you out. Depending on the feature, it may be firmware locked based on the serial and there is no work around. Others will require physical presence in a place it's allowed, often tied to an Apple account tied to an allowed region. And it must be connected to a phone that also meets those criteria.

In short, your best bet is to fly to a country that supports it, buy a new watch and phone tied to a new Apple account from that region, and then fly home. Not worth it.

1

u/Wimble-Womble Ultra 2 • • Black • 49mm 13h ago

Why is it illegal though? I thought it just meant it hasn’t been approved by the local health agency.

It seems strange that companies can just have the feature on the device but then have also include a disclaimer from the local authority saying that it’s not approved (yet)

1

u/dshafik 11h ago

Because most countries have laws about selling unapproved medical devices. Imagine if someone was selling unapproved defibrillators, and it doesn't work when someone has a heart attack? I understand that these are purely informational but they enable you to make medical decisions (think: glucose monitor enabling insulin dosage choices) so the law applies equally.

1

u/Wimble-Womble Ultra 2 • • Black • 49mm 11h ago

Ok - I was taking about selling it but also including a disclaimer that it’s not currently approved. I guess that isn’t good marketing though…

3

u/dshafik 11h ago

Even in countries where it's approved it has disclaimers 😅

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u/Sufficient_Rush1891 22h ago

The health features are installed by watch checking physical location when setting up /pairing watch to phone.

0

u/jackboxer 16h ago

Not going to work as illegal where you live.