Apple announced new features for watchOS 9 at its iPhone 14 launch keynote. In addition to the familiar features from WWDC 2022, the manufacturer has introduced new features such as retrospective ovulation estimates, crash detection or the new low power mode. Discover all the new features of Apple Watch OS here.
TL; DR
- Apple unveiled the new features of watchOS 9 at its September keynote.
- watchOS 9 provides support for Apple Watch 4 series and above.
Last year, watchOS 8 brought features like using your iPhone for the keyboard, new functions for the Wallet app, and several health functions. This year, the company has invested more in the health features of the world’s most successful wristwatch, as well as features for women’s health and simply those who like to tell the time on their wrists.
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watchOS 9: All the new features coming to Apple Watch
Ocean+ app
Apple has released a new app called Ocean+, Apple Watch Ultra, a powerful device for water and ocean sports lovers. It shows various information and data related to these functions. This app will of course be exclusive to the Apple Watch Ultra.
Compass app
Apple has completely redesigned the Compass app in watchOS 9. It contains more detailed information and three different views. Compass Waypoints allows you to quickly mark a location or point of interest directly in the app. Backtrack uses GPS data to create a trail of where you’ve been, which can help you find your way back if you get lost.
Look at the looks
As of the watchOS 9 announcement, Apple has made improvements to watch faces such as Astronomy, Moon, Playtime Face and Metropolitan. In addition, we had improvements to the Siri interface.
Power saving mode
watchOS 9 brings a new power saving mode to better manage power consumption to extend your smartwatch’s battery life up to 36 hours. This new feature is available for Apple Watch Series 4 or later users.
Fault detection
The Apple Watch Series 8 can use the gyroscope and the new accelerometer to detect a car crash and alert emergency services in less than ten seconds. The watch can detect up to four different crash types, so it knows if you’ve swerved or had a front- or rear-end collision.
Cycle tracking
Thanks to the new temperature sensor on the Apple Watch Series 8, watchOS 9 brings new menstrual cycle tracking features. The Apple Watch Series 8 can notify women when they are ovulating.
To achieve this, the smartwatch measures your body temperature every five seconds to detect the difference during the night. All data is processed locally on the smartwatch and then shared with end-to-end encryption on iCloud.
Exercise app
One of the most used features for Apple Watch users is undoubtedly the Workout app, a series of exercise profiles and metrics to more efficiently track your performance during exercise. With watchOS 9, Apple brings three new metrics to running. Now you can see your stride length and ground contact time as well as heart rate zones.
Using machine learning (ML) capabilities using real-time sensors, the software detects body movements and provides an accurate report on training progress. This also allows you to create custom workouts, allowing you to track what’s right for your workout.
Alarms during exercise
Another new feature is the alarm function available during exercise. You can configure the type of alert you want to receive in advance during your workout. That way, you can easily stay informed about your workout goals or risks without having to look at the watch regularly.
If you don’t own an Apple Watch, you can still take advantage of the new health features. Because Apple’s fitness app will be released to all iPhone users starting from iOS 16. This is a big change for Apple users as most of the features were previously only available to Apple Watch users.
Health App: Sleep Stages
The Health app has now received a Sleep Stages feature, which combines time sensors like accelerometer and heart rate monitor to understand which sleep stages lasted the longest. Research has been conducted to better understand how sleep levels affect people’s health, and now Apple wants to use such data to improve your sleep report as well.
afib
Apple also improved the way the Apple Watch detects atrial fibrillation—the most common type of heart arrhythmia that increases the risk of stroke. Now watchOS can detect how often a person experiences AFib over a period of time.
Medication monitoring
watchOS 9 makes it easy to track your medication intake by sending reminders to use these frequently used medications. Everything can be tracked from the Health app, and it’s even possible to add medications and scan the product label using the iPhone’s camera.
Additionally, the sharing feature can be used with family members to help track their health.
Privacy
During the event, Apple executives made a point about their concern for people’s health information and ensuring that it remains encrypted on the device.
Other activities
This was the first presentation of what we expected from watchOS 9, so many features were only mentioned, such as the arrival of six new languages to the watchOS keyboard and the ability to control smart devices with family settings.
Notifications have been tweaked to be less intrusive, and on the accessibility front we have the new Apple Watch Mirroring feature that allows people with physical and motor disabilities to control their Apple Watch remotely.
watchOS 9: These Apple Watch models will receive the update.
watchOS 9 will be available at the same time as the new Apple Watch Series 8 and SE, which will be released on September 16. These are the Apple watches receiving the watchOS 9 update.
And of course, Apple will pre-load the upcoming Watch Series 8 with the new watchOS 9 out of the box. Here’s our tutorial on how to download and install watchOS 9 on your Apple Watch right now.
So, what do you think about the new features coming with watchOS 9? Which of the new features are most useful to you?
This article was written in collaboration with Florian Fillon, updated September 2022. Comments are reserved before this article is reprinted.