New Apple Watch Options We are Anticipating Later This 12 months

You do not wish to purchase a brand new Apple Watch to get Apple’s latest options. The corporate normally provides extra capability once a year thru tool updates that ceaselessly do not require the most recent {hardware}.

Apple’s WatchOS 8 replace offered new watch faces made out of the iPhone’s portrait mode pictures, a brand new app known as Mindfulness that replaces the Breathe app and higher exercise detection for biking. The tool works on gadgets as outdated because the Apple Watch Collection 3, even supposing some options would possibly require more recent fashions.

We are anticipating to get a preview of Apple’s subsequent primary Apple Watch tool replace on the corporate’s International Builders Convention in June. In response to the rumors and studies we have observed to this point, it appears like we will be expecting to peer some battery enhancements and extra well being and security features. 

A brand new low energy mode

Apple hasn’t made any primary enhancements to the Apple Watch’s battery existence not too long ago, however it’s going to have a special repair coming quickly. Apple is making plans to introduce a brand new low energy mode with WatchOS 9 that may permit the gadgets to run some apps and contours with out eating as a lot energy, in step with Bloomberg. It appears like this might be other from the Apple Watch’s present energy reserve function, which simplest allows you to see the time and disables different capability to keep battery existence.

A brand new function like the only Bloomberg describes may lend a hand atone for the Apple Watch’s slightly quick battery existence, which typically lasts for roughly an afternoon and part. This blended with the Collection 7’s sooner charging may considerably lengthen the Apple Watch’s battery longevity, which might be essential in the event you use it for sleep monitoring. 

Automobile crash detection

The Apple Watch can already assess your strolling balance and inform whether or not you could have taken a troublesome fall. Subsequent, it could possibly hit upon automotive crashes. Apple is making plans to make use of sensors within the iPhone and the Apple Watch to spot automotive crashes in actual time, in step with The Wall Boulevard Magazine. The brand new function may arrive this yr. It sounds very similar to a function Google already gives on its Pixel telephones, which mechanically calls emergency products and services and stocks your location if it detects that you’ve got been in a major automotive crash. 

Extra well being options, together with medication reminders

Well being has been one in every of Apple’s primary priorities for years, and the corporate reportedly plans to take {that a} step additional with its upcoming tool replace. Apple might upload new equipment to the iPhone’s Well being app this yr, together with medication reminders and new options for sleep monitoring and girls’s well being, in step with Bloomberg. 

Even supposing the record specifies this might be a part of the iPhone’s Well being app, it kind of feels most probably those additions would display up at the Apple Watch by hook or by crook too, although it is simply thru notifications. The medication control function would make it conceivable to scan medicines within the iPhone’s Well being app and obtain reminders, in step with Bloomberg. 

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Improvements to atrial fibrillation detection

Apple may also improve the way its watches can detect atrial fibrillation, which is a common type of heart arrhythmia that can increase your risk of stroke. The next Apple Watch software update might enable the watches to detect what is known as “burden,” according to Bloomberg, or how often a person experiences AFib over a certain amount of time. The launch would come after Fitbit just received clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration for its atrial fibrillation detection technology. 

New watch faces and workout types

Apple’s software updates typically introduce new watch faces and workout types, and it sounds like WatchOS 9 will be no different. Bloomberg also reports new watch faces and exercise modes will be part of Apple’s upcoming software release, although it didn’t divulge many other details. New metrics for runners are also reportedly coming.

Apple has expanded its selection of Apple Watch workouts in recent years. It added Pilates, Tai Chi and improved detection for cycling workouts in WatchOS 8. It also brought support for dance workouts to the watch in 2020. 

Compatibility with older Apple Watch models

Apple’s last two software updates were compatible with watches as old as the Series 3, but there’s a chance that could change in 2022. Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst with TF International Securities known for his Apple predictions, recently said the Series 3 might be retired because it won’t be able to support the new version of WatchOS. That means WatchOS 9 will likely be compatible with the Series 4 and later, although we won’t know for sure until Apple debuts the software. 

Apple launched the Series 3 in 2017 as the first model with built-in cellular functionality, enabling it to work independently of the iPhone. Apple still sells the Series 3 for $199 alongside the $279 Apple Watch SE and $399 Apple Watch Series 7. But we don’t recommend buying the Series 3 in 2022 since its specifications are getting old. Its limited storage capacity also means it’s a chore to update, and there are better options for the price. 

A September launch date

If Apple sticks with its historical launch pattern, we can expect to see WatchOS 9 in September. Apple usually releases its new software alongside a new watch model, with 2021 being an exception. (Apple launched WatchOS 8 in September, but didn’t release the Apple Watch Series 7 until October). 

Although we’ll probably have to wait until September, Apple is expected to detail the new features in WatchOS 9 during its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. It will also probably release a public beta version of the software shortly thereafter to let watch owners try an unfinished version of the software before its official release. 

What we want to see in WatchOS 9

It sounds like Apple has a lot in store for WatchOS 9, but there are a few features on my personal wishlist that I’d like to see. These include more detailed sleep tracking, features aimed at promoting rest and recovery after a workout, the ability to adjust activity goals for different days of the week and more uses for the U1 chip. Some of these features, particularly sleep tracking and workout recovery, would help the Apple Watch catch up to rival devices from Oura and Fitbit. 

If these reports turn out to be accurate, health and wellness will once again be major themes in Apple’s software update. It’s another sign the Apple Watch has evolved into a sophisticated health tracking device capable of doing much more than just logging workouts and activity. The update will fit nicely with the expected Apple Watch Series 8, which Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal report will be the first to come with a temperature sensor.