A purportedly new sleep apnea detection feature has started to appear on users’ devices, only one day before Samsung is anticipated to unveil the Galaxy Watch 7 and 7 Ultra with additional capabilities.
It’s highly possible that the Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch 7 Ultra will include additional functions. Samsung declared in February that the US FDA has approved a new sleep apnea detecting tool. Since then, no Galaxy Watch has made use of it, therefore it hasn’t received much attention.
It appears that the Galaxy Watch series is starting to get that function now. A Reddit user shared a few screenshots of the Sleep Apnea feature that was made available following a Samsung Health Monitor app upgrade. The user mentioned that the Galaxy Watch 4, 5, and 6 may be used with the One UI Watch 6 beta program, of which they are a part.
The Samsung Health Monitor app states that the Watch 4 is the bare minimum watch required to utilize the new function. Additionally, Wear OS 5 and One UI Watch 6 are the minimum operating systems.
For the Galaxy Watch app to identify any indications of sleep apnea, two nights are required. The watch then counts the number of “relative decreases in blood oxygen” that the wearer experiences each night. If the user has moderate to destructive sleep apnea, such measurement can detect that. Two nights later the feature is turned off.
Beyond FDA certification, Samsung hasn’t spoken much about the feature thus far. When the Galaxy Watch 7 goes on sale, perhaps tomorrow, it’s reasonable to anticipate that it will launch with it if it’s available to users of the One UI Watch 6. It can take a few months for the One UI Watch 6 full release to reach previous watches in addition to the new Watch 7.