For all the Apple Watch users, it is certainly worth looking into the latest watchOS 4. In fact, it is set to bring lots of new wonderful features to your Apple Watch. And, with lots of new stuff coming up, it might be hard to track everything that is new to the Apple Watch. So, here is a rundown of what Apple plans to bring up with watchOS 4.
Jump To Section:
- Heart Rate Info
- More Watch Faces Come To Apple Watch
- Flashlight
- The Latest Activity Features
- The Workout Features
- The Music App
- Person-to-Person Payments
- Native Core Bluetooth
- When Is Latest watchOS 4 Going To Be Available?
Heart Rate Info – watchOS 4
As claimed by Apple, heart rate sensor that Apple Watch comes with is probably the most used sensor for monitoring heart rate all over the world. What this means is that it has proven to be really useful for all sorts of people having different types of activity levels. And, as you continue to monitor your heart all the time, Apple plans to give us access to most of the data that is being learnt by the sensor.
You can now be able to check out active, resting and recovering heart rates right on your Apple Watch. These different heart rates are actually the speed of the heart rate going up or dropping down during and after workouts.
Apple has already started working with researchers and doctors for tracking down irregular heartbeats that are also called as arrhythmia. Gathering such sort of data, the researchers can be able to better understand serious conditions,such as atrial fibrillation,and it will help in their treatment as well. Apple also plans of releasing its Heart Study app so that users can be allowed to volunteer and send the information of their heartbeat for conducting studies.
More Watch Faces Come To Apple Watch
As expected, the watchOS 4 comes with more watch faces to add to the fun. Here is a look at all the latest watch faces coming along.
- Siri Watch Face: It automatically displays everything that you might find relevant including photo memories and reminders, and is updated dynamically every time your wrist is raised. The watch face also offers sunrise/sunset features, updates from the news app, home application features and some sort of coaching for the Activities.
- Kaleidoscope Watch Face: This watch face shifts & moves and creates some unique and custom designs depending on your chosen photos.
- Toy Story Watch Face: The new watchOS also offers an entire collection of watch faces from popular Toy Story. They feature some popular characters that featured in the animated movies including Woody, Jesse, and the Buzz Lightyear. In fact, there are animations that make these characters to keep moving around on the screen.
- Custom Watch Faces: The new watchOS even lets you design your own customized watch facesright from your photos app in iPhone. All you have to do is to bring up the Share Sheet on desired photo and select the option labeled Create Custom Watch Face. You will now be taken to the Watch app right there on the iPhone where you can be able to create the custom face for your Apple Watch.
Flashlight
The Control Center in latest watchOS 4 offers a Flashlight feature as well. With this feature enabled, the screen of your Apple Watch turns completely white and shines brightly to serve as flashlight. You can also choose between red-light flashlight or a strobe one as well.
The Latest Activity Features
The new watchOS 4 gives you some activity features that work to remind you exactly how you can be able to reach your goals or what should be done for reaching everyday goals. You’ll also be able to find some monthly challenges which prove to be helpful in accomplishing tasks or beating something. Let’s quickly look at these activity features that you get to enjoy in your new watchOS.
Daily Inspiration: The Apple Watch running watchOS 4 sends you personalized progress updates for your daily activities as soon as you put your watch on the wrist. With these updates, you get a clear picture of exactly what achievements you are about to accomplish and even there are words of encouragement to make sure that you don’t lose hope after getting too close to something.
Evening Push: Every evening, the Apple Watch tells you which of your goals are still to be achieved before the day ends. You’re given suggestions on how you can accomplish various goals and what activities you can perform for that.
Monthly Challenge:With this activity feature, your Apple Watch creates custom monthly challenges depending on the previous month activity. Your progress on such challenges can be checked out any time using Activity app from iPhone.
Celebrations:Smaller celebrations are shown by new animations for your daily successes. But whenever some bigger goal is achieved, there are larger celebrations as well.
The Workout Features
There have been some major upgrades made to Workout application in latest watchOS 4 and it’s now even more powerful.It can track workouts with its better swim tracking and quick start featuresand also works perfectly fine with high-intensity training as well. Your new watchOS can even connect to different gym equipment for better syncing of your data from machine that is being used with workout app. Let’s take a look at what new features are there and how you can be able to use them.
Quick Start: No matter what workout you want to do, you can start it only with a finger tap. All you have to do is to simply select your desired workout and it’ll begin right there after a quick 3-second countdown.
Better Swim Tracking: Pool Swim workout has received an update in the latest watchOS and it can now track sets & rests automatically. So, you’ll have to do comparatively less work on your part as you splash down into water.In addition, your pace in each of the sets is also recorded alongside the distance you cover with each of the different kinds of strokes.
High-Intensity Interval Training: The motion and heart rate algorithms have also been changed by Apple in watchOS 4 for better accommodating HIIT. This allows the Apple Watch to monitor your burned calories as you perform HIIT workouts.
Quick Switch: In case, if you are training yourself for some major event, such as triathlon, Quick Switch feature will definitely help you a lot. Your new watchOS allows you to begin a new workout before the previous one ends. So, it’s now possible for you to take a ride right after taking a swim without even missing a single beat. At the end of your workouts, your entire activity is displayed as final summary giving you complete overview of key metrics that you might need.
Gym Equipment Sync:
The new Apple Watch can now be paired with any gym equipment that is compatible with it and all the important workout data can be accessed right there – including heart rate, speed, and the calories burned – in sync. All the major companies like TechnoGym, Life Fitness, Schwinn, Star Trac, Stair Master, Matrix, and Cybex are going to introduce new machines by this fall.
Do Not Disturb: When you are performing workouts, your new watchOS 4 activates Do Not Disturb mode automatically and you can easily enjoy the spin class with no notifications whatsoever popping up on your Apple Watch screen to disturb you.
The Music App
Some new tricks are also coming to your Apple Watch Music app to make sure that you can be able to listen to your favorite music anytime you like. Let’s look at what you can expect from Music app in watchOS 4.
Automatic Sync: Music app will now sync all its Apple-curated playlists automatically to the Apple Watch. This means you will always have access to Heavy Rotation, New Music playlists, and Favorites Mix right there on your Apple Watch. Just remember that Apple Music subscription will be needed for viewing all the available options.
Person-to-Person Payments
There are some upgrades made to Apple Pay for Apple Watch as well. It now allows users for making and receiving person-to-person payments in your family and friends using Messages or Siri. As some money is received, it is placed directly into your Cash account on Apple Pay and you can be able to send that amount to others right away, make Apple Pay payments, or send it to the bank account directly.
Native Core Bluetooth
The new watchOS 4offers support for native core Bluetooth so that you can link it and use it with small wireless products. It will let you to work with uninterrupted glucose monitoring, information from the surfboard while you’re one the waters, and other such stuff.
When Is Latest watchOS 4 Going To Be Available?
Apple is releasing final watchOS 4 version to the public on 19th of September.
So, with latest watchOS 4 final release just around the corner, and plenty of new features coming to your Apple Watch, it’s about time that you upgrade to the new version and enjoy all the latest features. You’ll really love the experience for sure.