Ahead of watchOS 26 being released today, Apple has enabled the new Hypertension Notifications feature on compatible Apple Watch models in the U.S. and many other countries.
The feature received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week, and it is now functional on the watchOS 26 and iOS 26 Release Candidate versions, just hours before the software updates are set to be released to the general public.
Apple said the feature will be available in more than 150 countries and regions this month, pending regulatory clearance. Today, it confirmed that it has received marketing authorization from "other global health authorities," including in the EU. MacRumors forum members said the feature has gone live in places such as the UK, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Poland, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, and others.
The feature is not yet available in Canada.
The feature can alert users if signs of chronic high blood pressure/hypertension are detected, according to Apple. Based on data from the Apple Watch's optical heart sensor, the feature can analyze how a user's blood vessels respond to the beats of the heart. The algorithm works passively in the background, reviewing data over 30-day periods, and it will notify users if it detects consistent signs of hypertension.
Apple said the feature underwent "rigorous scientific validation." According to the company, it was developed with advanced machine learning and training data from multiple studies totaling more than 100,000 participants, and its performance was then validated in a clinical study of more than 2,000 participants.
Apple says the feature is "not intended for use by people under 22 years old, those who have been previously diagnosed with hypertension, or during pregnancy."
