Apple Watch: Atrial fibrillation - how the measurement works

If you have an Apple Watch, it can notify you when your heart beats irregularly and atrial fibrillation is present. Read this article to find out what conditions must be met to use the feature and how to enable receiving notifications.

Apple Watch: Here's what atrial fibrillation means

The Apple Watch not only helps you document your workout progress, but also keeps an eye on your health. Thus, the Apple Watch, if you wear it, also regularly measures your heartbeat and can determine whether a heart rhythm disorder or atrial fibrillation is present. If the watch determines during a measurement that a disorder is present, you will receive a notification about this and can consult a doctor.

How to receive notifications on the Apple Watch for atrial fibrillation

To receive a notification when the Apple Watch determines that your heartbeat is irregular, some requirements must be met. For example, you need an Apple Watch Series 1 or newer and must have the latest version of the watchOS operating system installed on it. Also, make sure that your iPhone is running the latest iOS version and that you are in a country where the Apple Watch supports the feature. If the requirements are met, please enable receiving notifications for atrial fibrillation as follows:

1. On your iPhone, open the installed Health app and follow the instructions to set it up.
2. Then go to the "Discover" tab and navigate to "Heart" > "Irregular Heart Rhythm Notifications" to enable the feature.
3. After that, open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone and turn on the feature here as well under "My Watch" > "Heart" > "Irregular Rhythm".