WatchOS 9: The New Options Anticipated to Hit Your Apple Watch

The Apple Watch Collection 8 is anticipated to reach later this 12 months, however you most probably may not want the most recent {hardware} to benefit from Apple’s latest options. The corporate usually provides extra capability annually via device updates. 

Apple’s WatchOS 8 replace offered new watch faces created from the iPhone’s portrait mode pictures, a brand new app referred to as Mindfulness to interchange the Breathe app and higher exercise detection for biking. The device works on gadgets as previous because the Apple Watch Collection 3, although some options would possibly require more moderen fashions.

We are anticipating to get a preview of Apple’s subsequent main Apple Watch device replace on the corporate’s International Builders Convention in June. According to the rumors and reviews we’ve got noticed thus far, it seems like we will be able to 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 main enhancements to the Apple Watch’s battery existence lately, however it is going to have a distinct 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 line with Bloomberg. It seems like this might be other from the Apple Watch’s present energy reserve characteristic, which simplest allows you to see the time and disables different capability to maintain battery existence.

A brand new characteristic like the only Bloomberg describes may lend a hand atone for the Apple Watch’s rather quick battery existence, which typically lasts for approximately an afternoon and part. This mixed with the Collection 7’s quicker charging may considerably extend the Apple Watch’s battery longevity, which may well be essential if you happen to use it for sleep monitoring. 

Learn extra: I Need Extra From the Apple Watch in 2022

Automotive crash detection

The Apple Watch can already assess your strolling balance and inform whether or not you’ve gotten taken a difficult fall. Subsequent, it could possibly locate automotive crashes. Apple is making plans to make use of sensors within the iPhone and Apple Watch to spot automotive crashes in actual time, in line with The Wall Side road Magazine. The brand new characteristic may arrive this 12 months. It sounds very similar to a characteristic Google already provides on its Pixel telephones, which robotically calls emergency services and products and stocks your location if it detects that you’ve got been in a major automotive crash. 

Extra well being options, together with drugs reminders

Well being has been one in every of Apple’s main priorities for years, and the corporate reportedly plans to take {that a} step additional with its upcoming device replace. Apple would possibly upload new gear to the iPhone’s Well being app this 12 months, together with drugs reminders and new options for sleep monitoring and girls’s well being, in line with Bloomberg. 

Even if the record specifies this will likely be a part of the iPhone’s Well being app, it sort of feels most probably those additions would display up at the Apple Watch by hook or by crook too, despite the fact that it is simply via notifications. The medication control characteristic would make it imaginable to scan drugs within the iPhone’s Well being app and obtain reminders, in line with Bloomberg. 

Improvements to atrial fibrillation detection

Apple may also improve the way its smartwatches 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. 

Read more: A New Apple Watch SE Actually Sounds More Exciting Than the Series 8

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 exception. Bloomberg also reports new watch faces and exercise modes will be part of Apple’s upcoming software release, although it didn’t divulge many 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. 

Read more: Apple Watch 8 Rumors: Will We Get New Health Features and a Bigger Design?

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 wish list 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 of Apple’s software update. It’s another sign the Apple Watch has evolved into a sophisticated health tracking device capable of doing more than logging workouts and activity. The update will fit nicely with the expected Apple Watch Series 8, which Bloomberg and WSJ report will be the first to come with a temperature sensor.