Apple Watch blood oxygen tracker back in US with workaround

(Bloomberg/Mark Gurman) — Apple Inc. is restoring the blood oxygen tracking feature on its smartwatch in the US following a years-long legal fight.

The feature — which was removed at the end of 2023 due to a patent infringement lawsuit filed by Masimo Corp. and a US Customs injunction — will return for Apple Watch owners who bought models with the feature disabled, the company said Thursday, citing a ruling by US Customs.

The restoration comes as part of iOS 18.6.1 and watchOS 11.6.1 software updates — and includes a workaround that shows the data on an iPhone rather than the Apple Watch blood oxygen app itself.

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“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,” Apple said in a statement.

The development is hitting at a key time for Apple. The company is expected to unveil new Apple Watch models next month, alongside its iPhone 17 line. Now it will once again be able to market that health feature alongside other tools like heart rate monitoring.

Shares of Masimo were down as much as 5.2% on the news. The Irvine, California-based company had spent millions of dollars on the legal fight, hoping for either a settlement or licensing deal with the iPhone maker.

Apple’s Watch Ultra 2 and Series 10 in the US became the first new ones sold without the functionality. Those customers will get the feature back — at least in the workaround form — after a lengthy wait. Customers who bought an Apple Watch in the US before the feature was banned weren’t affected.

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