watchOS 5.3 restores Walkie-Talkie, expands ECG

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The Apple Watch Walkie Talkie app is a great way to chat with family and friends.
Apple restored the Walkie-Talkie function with a watchOS update.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Apple brought the Walkie-Talkie app back online today with a watchOS update after disabling it earlier this month with an undisclosed vulnerability that might have allowed eavesdropping.

The release of watchOS 5.3 also brings the ECG app for users in Canada and Singapore.

Apple on July 11 announced it would shut down the Walkie-Talkie app because of a security concern that was discovered by a user. In a statement to TechCrunch, Apple said it believed the glitch was discovered before bad actors could exploit the issue.

The Walkie-Talkie fix is also mentioned by Apple in today’s update of iOS 12.4, according to the news site 9to5Mac.

Last year, Apple introduced the Walkie-Talkie app to give watch wearers an easy way to talk back and forth from any distance. Users will have to launch the update to restore Walkie Talkie function.

Release of watchOS 5.3 brings the total number of countries and regions with the ECG app to 29. The ECG regularly makes headlines as users credit the app and their Apple Watch with alerting them to irregular heartbeats.

The app and watch can measure the electrical pulses of the heart and notify users signs of atrial fibrillation. Even when the ECG is not taking a reading, it can alert users to an irregular heart rate.

Source: 9to5Mac

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