No Blood Oxygen reading on new Apple Watch Ultra 3

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Level 1

47 points

No Blood Oxygen reading on new Apple Watch Ultra 3

New Apple Watch Ultra 3 (upgraded from a Watch v7) running Watch OS 26.2, paired with an iPhone 16 Pro running iOS 26.3. Of the many "problems" I'm experiencing with my new watch failure of Blood Oxygen is very irritating:

Blood Oxygen function will not show the result but instead records the reading and I am instructed to access it on my iPhone. I tried what I read here: Take Heart Rate reading, do ECG reading, then do Blood Ox. Watch still says, "Recording Complete You can view your Blood Oxygen results in the Health app on iPhone" Nope! iPhone says, "Result Unable to Analyze"

Any real fix available, and by real fix I mean will I be able to see my Blood Ox reading on my watch??

Posted on Dec 21, 2025 2:16 PM

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Answer 1

Mac Jim ID

Level 9

60,860 points

Dec 21, 2025 2:24 PM in response to John Gruver

Are you using the beta version of iOS 26.3?

There is no support for the beta, with the only recommendation being to restore the latest shipping release and test again. If you are able to isolate the problem with the beta version of iOS 26.3, then you have the Feedback Assistant that should be used to report issues with the beta software.

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Answer 2

Dec 21, 2025 2:57 PM in response to John Gruver

I just tried taking a reading, got the alert that it was available. But on iPhone, the latest available reading was hours old.

So I did it again, and it came through and showed up in the blood oxygen display.

Result:

"The report of my death was an exaggeration."

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Answer 3

Mac Jim ID

Level 9

60,860 points

Dec 21, 2025 3:00 PM in response to John Gruver

John Gruver wrote:

Thanks. I was going to do that when I found that Apple has stopped signing iOS 26.1 and does not allow downgrading to previous versions. I am turning off the beta switch though.

There are 2 options when you are using beta software:

Restore to the latest shipping release which would be iOS 26.2. This does require a computer and you should also have a backup prior to installing the beta to restore your data after the Factory Reset.

Apple Beta — Restore Shipping Software

After turning off the option to update the Beta Software and after the shipping version of 26.3 is released, you will have to option to update to it where you will not have to Factory Reset your phone.

Unfortunately, we are unable to discuss any issues with beta software on this Support Site as it violates the Terms of Use, so it is not possible to confirm if the issue you are seeing is due to the beta. Apple specifically states that support is not available if you choose to be a beta tester.

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Answer 4

John Gruver Author

Level 1

47 points

Dec 21, 2025 2:45 PM in response to Mac Jim ID

Thanks. I was going to do that when I found that Apple has stopped signing iOS 26.1 and does not allow downgrading to previous versions. I am turning off the beta switch though.

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