Galaxy Watch 5 now uses its temperature sensor for cycle tracking

When the Galaxy Watch 5 was released, temperature tracking was promised but not entirely fleshed out. Now, Samsung is announcing the arrival of that feature and the cycle tracking it’ll be used for in the Galaxy Watch 5.

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Temperature tracking can be a vital feature in wearables. The unit can give you a little insight into your health patterns and help you’d determine if you’re sick or not. The feature can also give you a lot of information on your menstrual cycle, as your body’s temperature is a major indicator of your cycle.

Related: Galaxy Watch 5: Does Samsung’s temperature sensor do anything?

In conjunction with Natural Cycles, Samsung has announced that the Galaxy Watch 5’s temperature tracking sensor will be unlocked and specifically put to use in menstrual cycle tracking for women. Natural Cycles has been around for a good while now and has proprietary algorithms that estimate fertility status based on body temperature alongside additional indicators.

According to Samsung, the temperature tracking sensor will be put to use via the Cycle Tracking feature in the Samsung Health app on the Galaxy Watch 5. This feature was recently approved by Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. In the US, the feature has been registered with the FDA. Samsung has made no note as to whether or not the functionality has passed registration and gone through approval, which could take a significant amount of additional time.

The Cycle Tracking feature on the Galaxy Watch will utilize that same algorithm put to use in the third-party Natural Cycles app. Using the infrared skin temperature sensor, the feature will be able to process menstrual cycle information as well as basic skin temperature readings.

Samsung is leading the next era of digital health monitoring with its’ advanced sensor technology, including the ground-breaking BioActive Sensor. Furthermore, the new infrared temperature sensor enables users to get a more detailed overview by tracking skin temperature changes as well as their menstrual cycle. The temperature sensor uses infrared technology for more accurate readings, even if there is a temperature change in their surroundings or they move while sleeping.

The new temperature tracking feature will make its way to the Galaxy Watch 5 in Q2 of this year. So far, Samsung has listed 32 markets in which the feature will become available:

More on the Galaxy Watch 5:

• Galaxy Watch 5 long-term review: Still outpacing the Pixel Watch [Video]
• [Update: Watch 4] New Galaxy Watch 5 update is rolling out now with tool for checking battery health
• Samsung releases update for Galaxy Watch 4 and 5, seemingly fixing ‘raise to wake’ gesture