Apple fails in bid to kill heart-rate apps antitrust trial

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
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in Apple Watch
AliveCor's lawsuit alleging Apple is anti-competitively blocking third-party heart-rate apps on Apple Watch will now go to trial, a federal judge has ruled.

Apple Watch with ECG feature
Apple Watch with ECG feature


Mobile medical company AliveCor filed suit against Apple in May 2021, seeing trial by jury over its claims that Apple updated watchOS to block its third-party heart monitoring app. Now a US federal judge has ruled that the case can go trial.

According to Reuters, US District Judge Jeffrey White has ruled that AliveCor may attempt to prove that Apple violated antitrust law.

"AliveCor alleges that Apple made changes to the heart rate algorithm that made it effectively impossible for third parties to inform a user when to take an ECG," Judge White wrote in his ruling. "Plaintiff's allegations plausibly establish that Apple's conduct was anticompetitive."

Judge White, however, dismissed AliveCor's separate claim that Apple operates a monopoly over smart watches that can include ECG features. According to the judge, AliveCor's KadiaBand ECG-recording wristband "complements but does not compete" in the same market.

The allegation of Apple being anti-competitive is one of a series of suits AliveCor has brought against the company. The include ones over alleged patent infringement, and AliveCor has previously sought a ban on Apple Watch sales.

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 4
    Fidonet127Fidonet127 Posts: 507member
    I have two heart rate monitoring apps on my Apple Watch. What is being blocked?
    bala1234
  • Reply 2 of 4
    jony0jony0 Posts: 378member
    I have two heart rate monitoring apps on my Apple Watch. What is being blocked?
    FTA "Apple made changes to the heart rate algorithm that made it effectively impossible for third parties to inform a user when to take an ECG".
  • Reply 3 of 4
    Fidonet127Fidonet127 Posts: 507member
    jony0 said:
    I have two heart rate monitoring apps on my Apple Watch. What is being blocked?
    FTA "Apple made changes to the heart rate algorithm that made it effectively impossible for third parties to inform a user when to take an ECG".
    That is not blocking their app. That is also not blocking attempts at reading heart rates. Just because someone says it is a block or effective block does not mean it is a block. Nobody knows how effective their app is. Too high of battery usage, privacy, or just Apple put in to effect a better algorithm to detect heart problems.
  • Reply 4 of 4
    jony0jony0 Posts: 378member
    jony0 said:
    I have two heart rate monitoring apps on my Apple Watch. What is being blocked?
    FTA "Apple made changes to the heart rate algorithm that made it effectively impossible for third parties to inform a user when to take an ECG".
    That is not blocking their app. That is also not blocking attempts at reading heart rates. Just because someone says it is a block or effective block does not mean it is a block. Nobody knows how effective their app is. Too high of battery usage, privacy, or just Apple put in to effect a better algorithm to detect heart problems.
    I could've been clearer, I was simply answering your question, specifically that what is being blocked, allegedly, is a certain notification to a user. I agree that is not blocking their app or attempts at reading heart rates. I am not a lawyer so I was not commenting on the validity of their claim, nor am I privy to the effectiveness of their app or commenting on the newer issues that you raised in your reply.
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