Enable ECG feature of Apple Watch (oversea model) by yourself

This is an original research, please mention me or this post if you forward this post to any other medium. Before you start to do anything, please read the following descriptions, they are very important.

  1. This article is for research only, enable ECG feature might be illegal in your region and country. 
  2. Apple could change the rules in any time without any notification.
  3. This method is not like iCloud data merge method, if you try to pair Apple Watch to another iPhone with your iCloud account, you may need to do this tutorial again. 

Requirement:

  1. Apple Watch S4 or above (of course)
  2. Any iPhone which can pair that Apple Watch
  3. iOS and watchOS combination in the following table. I don't know whether this will be blocked in the future, so do it as soon as possible!
  4. iMazing App. It's available for both PC/Mac. But your operation system must be 64bit if you use PC.
  5. ECG activation file (v1, v2) , extract it and get a .plist file.
  6. You should open "Health" app on your iPhone at least once.

 

iOS and watchOS combinations:

iOS watchOS Can use this hack to activate
12.2 ~ 13.1.1 5.2 ~ 6.0 Unknown, maybe works
13.1.2 ~ 13.3.1 6.0.1 ~ 6.1.3 Yes, but requires EER
13.4 ~ 13.4.1 6.2 ~ 6.2.1 No
13.5 ~ 13.7 6.2.5 ~ 6.2.8 Yes, any region
14.0 ~ 6.2.5 ~ 6.2.8 Yes, any region
14.0 ~ 7.0 ~ 7.0.1 No
14.0 ~ 14.2 7.0.2 ~ 7.2 Yes, any region
14.3 7.2 See below

Warning: It's very possible that your device would get Apple logo boot loop after you restoring your backup on iOS 14. This is bug on iOS 14 which is not caused by iMazing. You may need to restore both your iOS firmware and backup multiple times if it failed.

PS: If you used iCloud method, or your country/region supports ECG v1 but not v2, then you can use v2 plist to upgrade your ECG version. However, if you used iMazing method or jailbreak method (ECG Enabler), or you never have ECG function before, please don't update to iOS 14.3 and watchOS 7.2 because they blocked this method. Maybe it's a bug like watchOS 7.0 ~ 7.0.1 and will be fixed later.

 

Testing Environment:

  1. iPhone XR iOS 13.1.2 Taiwan model
  2. Apple Watch Series 4 watchOS 6.0.1 Hong Kong model
  3. Japan iCloud account (Doesn't matter)

 

From the previous research with x43x61x69, we noticed that the iPhone with Apple Watch which enabled ECG, would write two "flags" to Health database. In terms of theory, we can write these two flags by ourself, then enable ECG directly. However, after more researches, I found that there's an easier way to do this without modifying database. Anyway, you should modify the backup file of your iPhone, so get iMazing app if you don't have, it's the best choice to edit iPhone backups.

 

First, please unpair your Apple Watch, then use iMazing to make an encrypted backup. Please enable "Backup Encryption" from "Options".

▼ You must enable Backup Encryption or the health database won't be backed up.

 

▼ After applying the options, click Backup to make a backup immediately.

 

▼ Then, click the button above, choose the backup file we just made, and then choose "Edit".

 

iMazing would ask you to make a "backup of your backup", confirm that.

▼ Now you can find "Editable Backups", choose the one we made, choose "File System" and go to the directory of HomeDomain/Library/Preferences

 

Unarchive the ECG activation file, you would get a file named com.apple.private.health.heart-rhythm.plist

▼ Click "Copy to Backup", make sure it's under HomeDomain/Library/Preferences directory.

 

▼ Choose the backup file we modified, click "Restore to Device", follow the instructions.

 

Do not check "Erase target devices" if you have eSIM installed, it may erase your eSIM too. If your storage is not enough for restoring a backup, try to delete some photos (because you will recover them after restoring), or do a DFU restoring to clean all contents. (DFU restoring doesn't remove your eSIM)

After restoring your iPhone, now you can pair your Apple Watch. Please don't restore Apple Watch backup file.

Now you can use ECG on your Apple Watch. If your ECG app on your Apple Watch get stuck in "installing", try to reboot your Apple Watch and see whether it would be solved. If not, you should unpair and pair again.

 

Special thanks: x43x61x69, @HuangIYang, Garynil and Francis, this research can't be done without their help.

 

 

 

 

35 則留言

  1. 「F」的個人頭像
    F

    I think this developer is weak. Keyboard App maybe is her major XD

  2. 「Tommy R.」的個人頭像
    Tommy R.

    Hi, this is amazing 😀
    At the beginning of the article, you said that this method is different from the iCloud data merge method. I'd like to ask you if you've tested how the iCloud's flags are stored when we try to connect to iCloud after performing this backup-editing method. I wonder if this process should be applied when I get a new Apple Watch or iPhone; In other words, does .plist modification only apply offline? Maybe we can test this method by pairing the Apple Watch with the same iCloud account on another iPhone.
    Thank you for any advance!

    1. 「皮樂」的個人頭像
      皮樂

      Yes it’s offline only. We tested this.

  3. […] Vale notar que o método acima é uma adaptação da versão que utiliza o iMazing para ser instalada, a qual você também pode conferir nesse site. […]

  4. […] Vale notar que o método acima é uma adaptação da versão que utiliza o iMazing para ser instalada, a qual você também pode conferir nesse site. […]

  5. 「O」的個人頭像
    O

    Is this method working with iPhone 11 , ios 13.3 .. series 5 watchOS 6.0 ??

    1. 「皮樂」的個人頭像
      皮樂

      Yes

  6. 「O」的個人頭像
    O

    https://ibb.co/2PMvLSt

    Hello, it keep give me this error message!! ?

    Is there any solution??

    Thanks ?

    1. 「皮樂」的個人頭像
      皮樂

      It's because your device storage is not enough to restore backup. Please reset your device and remove all content, then restore the backup.

  7. 「O」的個人頭像
    O

    It’s working after erasing my phone it restore the backup without error message , ios 13.3 watchOS 6.1.1

    Thank you very much!!

  8. 「prashenda」的個人頭像
    prashenda

    hey I stuck in restoring my iphone, it kept rebooting and on and on and never finish restoring.. help?

    1. 「Hiraku」的個人頭像
      Hiraku

      You need to restore your device with DFU mode. And you can export your backup with iMazing to the path of your iTunes / Finder backup, then use iTunes / Finder to restore modified backup, it would be more stable.

  9. 「mytheris」的個人頭像
    mytheris

    Can you help eactivating in iOS14.4 and watchOS7.3? thanks

    1. 「Hiraku」的個人頭像
      Hiraku

      I haven't updated to iOS 14.4. I'm not sure whether it works

  10. 「Abdalim」的個人頭像
    Abdalim

    Hi, I have iphone 12 ios 14.3 and iwatch 6 ios7.2. I have followed steps given 3 times but when restoring it stop at 90%. And asked to restart iphone. Please help me.

    1. 「Hiraku」的個人頭像
      Hiraku

      You can export your backup with iMazing to the path of your iTunes / Finder backup, then use iTunes / Finder to restore modified backup, it would be more stable.

  11. 「Abdalim」的個人頭像
    Abdalim

    Ok, I will try to see the result tomorrow.
    Thanks for the advice

  12. 「Ivan Dimitrov」的個人頭像
    Ivan Dimitrov

    I try several times to activate ecg on iOS 14.3 with no luck . I follow step by step . My watch is from country when ecg is available and no work . Can you help.

  13. 「Brian」的個人頭像
    Brian

    @Hiraku I now have the app on muy watch and after setting my phone region to US, I am able to enter the ECG setup on my phone, but when I click continue in setup is says "The ECG app is not available in your region." do I need to be logged into app store with an account that is within a supported region?

    1. 「Hiraku」的個人頭像
      Hiraku

      No. It detects cellular carrier. You must use my method to activate it

  14. 「Abdalim」的個人頭像
    Abdalim

    Ok, Success. Thanks

  15. 「Ivan Dimitrov」的個人頭像
    Ivan Dimitrov

    Can you help me ? V2 not working for me

  16. 「Brian」的個人頭像
    Brian

    @Hiraku Which method of yours are you referring to to get ECG app installed on the phone within the Health app?

  17. 「dm」的個人頭像

    I cannot activate on iOS 14.3 and watchOS 7.2. When I pair Apple Watch and enter ECG app it asks me to setup egg in Health app on iPhone. I used v2 version and did every step. Can you please help. I used same method before on iOS13 and it worked since I updated to 14.3 and watchOS 7.2. then it suddenly stoped working. help please. thanks

    1. 「Hiraku」的個人頭像
      Hiraku

      I guess watchOS 7.2 blocked this method again, it only allows v1 upgrade to v2

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