The Apple Watch gains a compelling fitness feature with watchOS 7.2

It has only been a few months since Apple released watchOS 7.0, but the company is continuing to add features to its smartwatches. watchOS 7.0 dropped support for the Watch Series 1 and Watch Series 2, but the Watch Series 3 through 6 and the Watch SE continue to receive updates. The latest update brings a few new enticing features to those smartwatches too. Apple has called the latest update watchOS 7.2, and it is being distributed globally.

After the update, the Apple Watch will be capable of alerting people of low cardio fitness levels, which can be viewed on your smartwatch or iPhone. Essentially, this feature allows the Apple Watch to determine your VO2 max without undertaking intensive workouts. Apple claims that low cardio fitness levels can lead to elevated blood pressure and even heart disease, evidence for which it provides with a 2016 scientific statement by the American Heart Association.

The Health app reports cardio fitness levels at intervals of high, above average, below average or low. However, these intervals depend on how one's age and gender. watchOS 7.2 also includes a few other new features, namely:

• Optional notifications at low cardio fitness level.
• Option to check cardio fitness levels in the Health app on iPhone based on your age and gender.
• Display the classification of atrial fibrillation at heart rates above 100 BPM in the ECG app in most regions where the app is available.
• Support for the ECG app on Apple Watch Series 4 or later in Taiwan.
• Support for Braille displays with VoiceOver.
• Family configuration support in Bahrain, Canada, Norway and Spain (Cellular models of Apple Watch Series 4 or later and Apple Watch SE).

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