- // Update 1 (18/06/2020 5:23 pm) Samsung Health Monitor app is now live
—– originally published on April 21 / 11:18 AM IST —–
Samsung launched the Galaxy Watch Active 2 last August with a variety of features but blood pressure monitoring is not one of them. To bridge this gap, Samsung is working on a new app named Samsung Health Monitor, which recently got approved by South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) as a Software as a Medical Device (SaMD).
To use the feature, the Galaxy Watch Active 2 has to be first calibrated with a traditional cuff. Once that’s done, you can tap on “Measure” to check your blood pressure. Samsung says the smartwatch measures blood pressure through pulse wave analysis. According to Samsung, the relationship between the calibration value and blood pressure change is being used to calculate blood pressure.
“The Samsung Health Monitor app has the potential to help millions of people around the world who are affected by high blood pressure,” said Taejong Jay Yang, Corporate SVP and Head of Health Team, Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics. “This is one of many examples of how Samsung is integrating its best-in-class hardware with the latest software innovations to innovate mobile experiences.”
The addition of blood pressure monitoring adds yet another useful feature to the Galaxy Watch Active 2’s existing list of features including but not limited to heart rate monitoring, stress monitoring, and sleep tracking.
Samsung recommends Galaxy Watch Active 2 owners to calibrate their smartwatch at least once in every four weeks. The app will be available in the third quarter of this year for the Galaxy Watch Active 2 and will be expanded to more Galaxy Watch devices in the future.
Update 1 (18/06/2020 5:23 pm)
In an official blog post, Samsung today announced that the Samsung Health Monitor is now being rolled out for the Galaxy Watch Active2 in its hometown – South Korea. The company should bring this useful feature to more markets very soon.
As for how you can use the app, Samsung says that it will be installed on your Galaxy Watch Active2 when you update the watch’s software to the latest version. Now, when you access this app on the watch, it will open a link to download the Health Monitor app on your mobile.
Once both the watch and your phone have the Health Monitor app installed, you can go ahead and regularly measure your blood pressure.
