WatchOS 9 adds new modes and watch faces – ProWellTech
During a keynote at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, the company debuted the latest version of watchOS, the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch.
Apple claims that it has improved the Apple Watch’s ability to detect arterial fibrillation (A-fib), an irregular heartbeat that can lead to blood clots, stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications. With the arrival of watchOS 9, supported Apple Watch device models can now detect “burden,” or how often a person experiences A-fib over a certain amount of time.
Apple was granted 501(k) approval from the U.S. Federal Food and Drug Administration this morning. As opposed to full approval, 501(k) approval doesn’t require companies to provide effectiveness data from clinical trials.
With watchOS 9, supported Apple Watch models now show heart zones to get a sense of your intensity level. You can set up distance and time intervals, and there’s haptic and voice feedback to tell you when to switch modes while working out.
New complications and watch faces (including astronomy and lunar faces) and exercise modes are a part of the watchOS 9 release, as well as “form metrics” for runners. There’s also a new workout type for triathletes that can auto-switch between cycling, swimming and running. And for users who own a Meta Quest VR headset, Apple Watch can now show stats from Move, Meta’s fitness tracker for the Quest, on the Fitness mobile and Watch app.
Joining these are a new sleep-tracking feature: Sleep Stage. WatchOS 9 can detect REM, core and deep-sleep stages. Plus, watchOS can now track medications and notify wearers when they need to take them. Most of the management is done via iOS in the Apple Health app, where you can scan a medication label to identify it.
Lastly, apps can be pinned for quick access in watchOS 9. And there’s a revamped, streamlined Siri UI.
Other updates of note include:
- Quick Actions on Apple Watch, including gestures for answering or ending a phone call, taking a photo, playing or pausing media in the Now Playing app, and starting, pausing or resuming a workout.
- Apple Watch Mirroring, which helps users control Apple Watch remotely from their paired iPhone. For example, with Apple Watch Mirroring, users can drive Apple Watch using iPhone’s assistive features like Voice Control and Switch Control — so they can navigate Apple Watch by using their voice, sound actions, head tracking and external Made for iPhone switches as alternatives to tapping the Apple Watch display.
- Apps that are actively in use are now promoted over the rest of the apps in the redesigned dock.
- The Reminders app now lets users add or edit details such as date and time, location, tags and notes.
- Users can create calendar view and access a weekly calendar view in addition to list, day and month views.
- Apple Watch now provides estimates of “cardio recovery” in the Health app for affter an outdoor walk, run or hiking workout, even when the workout does not reach peak intensity.
- New APIs allow developers to build third-party apps, with CallKit and share sheet support, access to Photos picker and the ability to integrate watchOS apps with Apple TV.
It’s unclear as of yet whether all Apple Watch models are due for the upgrade to watchOS 9. WatchOS 8 supported the Apple Watch Series 3 onward, but it’s not uncommon for Apple to exclude older models over time — owing to limitations in those models’ hardware. With a public beta of watchOS 9 due next month, with a developer beta out today, it fortunately won’t be long before we know for sure.
