Apple continues to improve watchOS, the operating system of its connected mounts, by fully exploiting all the sensors to increase the accuracy of sports and sleep tracking apps while offering more freedom for personalization.
The Apple Watch, the queen of connected watches, just keeps getting better. WWDC, the great mass for developers which opened with a river keynote on June 6, was an opportunity for the Cupertino company to lift the veil on the new features of watchOS 9, the next version of the mobile system which will animates the Apple Watch. As with iOS 16, Apple first wanted to emphasize personalization. Four new dials will thus make their appearance. The astronomy dial shows a globe that changes with the time of day to show it in sunlight or in the shadows of night as well as cloud cover. The lunar calendar presents an ultra-detailed view of the phases of the moon indicating religious holidays and cultural events around the world related to the lunar phases. The Récréation dial features figures animated like a cartoon. And finally, the Megalopolis dial plays on typography to offer an elegant view of which you can change the size of the numerals by turning the crown of the watch.
These dials will be supplemented by new dynamic complications (the additional information that takes place on either side of the dial) and a new form of notifications that will be displayed in the form of a banner at the top of the screen, such as on an iPhone.
The Apple Watch also wants to remain the queen of sports watches. For this purpose, Apple also continues to put the package on the functions dedicated to addicts to sport. Thanks to new algorithms taking into account all the sensors, the watch is for example able to determine the vertical oscillation of your steps in addition to their length, to try to determine if you jump a little too high when you jog. And is also able to indicate the time of contact with the ground at each step.
It also allows you to follow the activity in detail and live by marking the effort zones. Useful to know if you have to force a little more at a given moment of training.
watchOS 9 also offers new functions related to health and well-being. Sleep monitoring is much more detailed, allowing in particular to detect the different phases (deep, REM, light, etc.). In this area, Apple catches up with certain functions offered by third-party applications. Tracking heart rhythm disturbances is also more accurate.
More surprisingly, it will be possible to ask your watch to remind you to take medication regularly, thanks to a specific application which will allow you to record the list of your treatments and the times when you should take them. This function is very closely linked to the Health application of the iPhone, in which you can even scan the labels of your medicines to register them, obtain information and even be warned in the event of potential contraindications in the event of medicines. incompatible with each other. It remains to be seen whether Apple will be able to offer this system in all countries as soon as the new systems are released, as medical data is so sensitive and its use subject to drastic regulations.
Finally, the calendar application also benefits from a little refreshment by offering a more detailed view of the program for the day or even the week. It is also possible to create new events from the Apple Watch. We can do this using the keyboard now available in French as well as in German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Japanese.
watchOS 9 is available in beta for developers. It should be proposed as an update next fall in the final version. It will be compatible with the following Apple Watches:
- Apple Watch Series 4
- Apple Watch Series 5
- Apple WatchSE
- Apple Watch Series 6
- Apple Watch Series 7
It will also be necessary to have an iPhone 8 at least animated on its side by iOS 16.