One of the best things about modern smartwatches is that they come with a ton of useful features, serving as a convenient extension of our smartphones, and can even help users keep an eye on their physical well-being. With that said, if you own a Samsung Galaxy Watch, then you’ve probably used a lot of the fitness tracking software and hardware on the device, such as heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking, and more.
As such, it looks like Samsung will be pushing out a newer update which will bring a particularly useful feature to Galaxy Watch users in more regions worldwide. The company recently announced that it will be rolling out the Galaxy Watch’s Irregular Heart Rhythm Notification (IHRN) function to several regions in the coming months, which should prove to be an important addition to the device’s already robust set of features, including tech like Blood Pressure and Electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring. Hon Pak, Vice President and Head of Digital Health Team, MX Business at Samsung Electronics states:
“Cardiovascular disease remains one of the main causes of death around the world, and we’re committed to empowering our users to stay informed about their heart health by providing monitoring tools, including blood pressure measurement and irregular heart rhythm notification. We’re constantly exploring new ways to help Galaxy Watch users obtain deeper insights on their health and wellness effortlessly, day and night.”
For those not in the know, the IHRN feature will keep an eye on irregular heart rhythms while on a user’s wrist, and will enable the watch to warn users of potential AFib activity should it detect something irregular. Samsung also says that the IHRN feature will first come to upcoming Galaxy Watch devices this year, and adds that it will run as part of the new One UI 5 Watch platform. Older (and compatible) devices will get the update at a later time.
The IHRN feature will soon be available for Galaxy Watch owners in Argentina, Azerbaijan, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Georgia, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Panama, UAE, as well as Korea and the United States. Users can then access the IHRN through Samsung’s Health Monitor app, which is downloadable in 74 countries globally.
