Apple has just publicly released its latest Apple Watch operating system iteration, watchOS 6.1.3, which features some important bug fixes.
The update remedies a problem that blocked the watch’s irregular heart rhythm notification for owners based in Iceland.
This turns out to be no small matter: news broke this week that Oklahoma teen athlete Skylar Joslin was literally spared death by the Apple Watch abnormal heart rhythm notification.
While seated in class, he received an alert stating that his heart rate had hit 190 beats per minute (bpm).
Upon being rushed to hospital, his heartrate climbed to an alarming 280 bpm.
He was diagnosed with a life-threatening condition called supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) and later underwent an eight-hour surgical operation to fix the problem.
His mother, Liz, reported that had it not been for the Apple Watch, she wouldn’t have known about the condition.
She added: “I mean it’s unknown how long it would’ve been going on or how long it would’ve really taken.”
This is one of several such stories over the last few years.
Some insurance firms have even started to subsidise the cost of an Apple Watch for their members.
Back to the watchOS update: for owners who possess compatible Apple Watch models but continue to use an iPhone running iOS 12, Apple has additionally released a watchOS 5.3.5 update so that they can update their watches via the Watch app on their iPhones.
The announcement of the update contained no further news of any new features, but it did mention the issues that have now been fixed.
The full changelog for the update reads:
“This update includes improvements and bug fixes, including a fix for an issue that prevented the irregular heart rhythm notification from working as expected for Apple Watch owners in Iceland.
“Some features may not be available for all countries or all areas, for more information visit:
https://www.apple.com/watchos/feature-availability/
“For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website: