Apple Watch Series 6 blood oxygen monitoring: how does it work and how to use it?
What is blood oxygen measurement? Do I need it on my Apple Watch Series 6?
Generally, blood oxygen levels represent your general wellness, meaning how healthy you are and more precisely, the percentage of oxygen your red blood cells carry from your lungs to the rest of your body. Apple says that the blood oxygen measurement on the Apple Watch 6 is not suited for medical use, it is made for general fitness and wellbeing uses.
How does blood oxygen measurement work on the Apple Watch 6?
On the Apple Watch Series 6, blood oxygen measurements are done via the optical heart sensor. It has been redesigned with the new blood oxygen measurement capabilities. The black crystal on the back of the watch case shines red and green LED lights, along with infrared light, onto your wrist. The reflected light by your blood vessels in your wrist is then measured by photodiodes.
How to use the Apple Watch 6 Blood Oxygen app?
The Blood Oxygen app is the app that will make your blood oxygen measurement and it is installed during initial Health setup on your Apple Watch 6. If you don’t find it, you can download it from the App Store on your Apple Watch.
- Position the Apple Watch to be snug but comfortable on your wrist
- Open the Blood Oxygen app
- Position your wrist so the Apple Watch is facing up and your wrist is flat
- Tap “Start”
- You will receive your result after 15 seconds.
Apple Watch 6 blood oxygen: background measurements
Keep in mind that the red light that the Apple Watch 6 emits upon making a measurement can be distracting if you’re sleeping or in a dark room, so you might want to turn it off for some time.
Here’s how to turn the background measurement feature off on Apple Watch 6:
- Open the Settings app on your Apple Watch
- Tap Blood Oxygen, then toggle off “In Sleep Mode” and “In Theater Mode”.
Blood oxygen reading on Apple Watch Series 6: is it reliable?
Apple specifically points out that the Apple Watch Series 6 blood oxygen measurements are not to be used for medical purposes. This means that you shouldn’t be relying on your Apple Watch to find symptoms of diseases, at least not yet. Apple states that sometimes, for some people, the Apple Watch might not get a reliable blood oxygen reading, but Cupertino does not make any general claim about the reliability of the results.
Generally, the blood oxygen measurements can be impacted by factors such as skin perfusion, which indicates how much blood flows through your skin, some tattoos, motion, certain positions of your wrist or fingers, and a high resting heart rate (above 150 bpm).
Source: Phonearena
Comments