Family Setup turns off blood oxygen monitoring for family members

Getting an Apple Watch Series 6 for someone through Family Setup now makes even less sense.

What you need to know

• The Blood Oxygen app does not work for an unpaired Apple Watch Series 6 set up using Family Setup.
• The app is also disabled for anyone under 18 years of age.
• It is currently unclear why it does not work for those over the age limit, such as a grandparent who does not have an iPhone.

Reported by MacRumors, in addition to the Blood Oxygen app not be accessible to those under eighteen years of age, it will also not work for an Apple Watch Series 6 that has been set up using Family Setup. Family Setup is a new feature that allows you to give someone an Apple Watch who may not have an iPhone, but it appears that one major feature is missing when the watch is set up this way. According to Apple, the watch must be paired to an iPhone in order for the Blood Oxygen app to be used, and the app will be disabled otherwise, regardless of the user's age.

Apple states that the Blood Oxygen app is not available for use by people under 18 years old, and in fact the app will refuse to launch if it detects that the user's birth date in the Health app is less than 18 years ago. But the Blood Oxygen app will also be automatically disabled if you set up an unpaired Apple Watch Series 6 using Family Setup, regardless of the intended user's age.

Apple has not explained exactly why they turn off the Blood Oxygen app for all users, regardless of age, if the watch is set up using Family Setup. Perhaps an update it due for the Health app to allow for collecting that data separately to the main user's iPhone?

Besides being a Health-related feature, Apple has not explained why the Blood Oxygen app is not available on an Apple Watch configured using Family Setup, but the company has been eager to stress that the blood oxygen monitoring on Apple Watch is not intended for medical use, including self-diagnosis or consultation with a doctor. Indeed, Apple states that it is only designed for "general fitness and wellness purposes," which leaves its usefulness quite open to interpretation.

The Blood Oxygen app allows an Apple Watch Series 6 owner to check the oxygen saturation in their blood. While the technology has not yet been approved by the FDA, Apple says that the feature is another to help someone monitor their overall health. The feature has been questioned by some users who report conflicting results when measuring their oxygen saturation.

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