Sleep apnea feature coming before Galaxy Watch 7 launch

Just one day before the Galaxy Watch 7 and 7 Ultra were due to launch with new features, a new sleep apnea detection feature has begun appearing on user devices.

The Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch 7 Ultra will likely come with new features. We’re not sure what yet, but there have been some hints over the past few months. In February, Samsung announced that a new sleep apnea detection feature had been approved by the FDA in the US. It hasn’t seen much use since then, as no Galaxy Watch has made use of it.

Now, it looks like the Galaxy Watch series is starting to see the feature. A user on Reddit posted some screenshots showing the Sleep Apnea feature becoming available via an update to the Samsung Health Monitor app. The user noted that it’s in the One UI Watch 6 beta program, which is available for the Galaxy Watch 4, 5, and 6.

According to the Samsung Health Monitor app, the least watch model that can use the new feature is the Watch 4. It is also stated that the minimum operating system is Wear OS 5 and One UI Watch 6.

The app needs at least two nights to detect any symptoms of sleep apnea on the Galaxy Watch. The watch then tracks how many “relative drops in blood oxygen” the user has per night. This measurement can determine whether the user has moderate or disruptive sleep apnea. The feature turns off after two nights.

At the moment, Samsung hasn’t mentioned the feature beyond FDA approval. If it does make it to One UI Watch 6 users, it’s a good bet it’ll launch alongside the Galaxy Watch 7 when it goes public, likely tomorrow. Eventually, the full version of One UI Watch 6 will make its way to older watches after the new Watch 7, though that could take a few months.

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