watchOS 9 Delivers New Ways to Stay Connected, Active, and Healthy
Introducing more customizable watch faces, an enhanced Workout app, sleep stages, a first-of-its-kind AFib History feature, and an all-new Medications app
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watchOS 9 brings new experiences and features, app updates, and creative ways to customize
“Users around the world love
Watch Faces for Everyone
The
watchOS 9 introduces enhanced and modernized complications on some of the most classic watch faces, such as Utility, Simple, and Activity Analog, along with background color editing for Modular, Modular Compact, and X-Large for additional personalization. The new Portraits face showcases the depth effect on more photos, including cats, dogs, and landscapes, while Chinese scripts have been added as options for
Workout App Updates
The Workout app, one of the most popular apps on
For triathletes, the Workout app now supports a new Multisport workout type that automatically switches between any sequence of swimming, biking, and running workouts, using motion sensors to recognize movement patterns. When each workout is complete, a redesigned summary page in the Fitness app offers additional details with interactive charts for more precise analysis.
Hit the Ground Running
Users can choose to race against their best or last result on frequently used routes, and receive alerts during the workout for being ahead or behind their pace, as well as when going off route. Additionally, a new pacer experience lets users choose a distance and goal for the time in which they want to complete a run, and calculates the pace required to achieve the goal. During the workout, they can follow the pace alerts and metrics provided.
Swimming Enhancements
Kickboard detection has been added as a new stroke type for Pool Swim workouts, using sensor fusion on
Get More Out of
Fitness+ subscribers without
Sleep Insights
The Sleep experience on
The machine learning models were trained and validated against the clinical gold standard, polysomnography, with one of the largest and most diverse populations ever studied for a wearable. As the science of sleep is still being explored, users will be able to aid in potential discoveries by contributing their sleep stage data in the
First-of-Its-Kind AFib History
Currently, the ECG app and irregular rhythm notification on
Research suggests that the amount of time spent in AFib may impact a person’s symptoms, overall quality of life, and risk of complications. Previously, there has not been an easy way to track the frequency of AFib over an extended period of time, or to manage lifestyle factors that may influence one’s condition. According to the
With watchOS 9, users who are diagnosed with AFib can turn on the FDA-cleared AFib History feature2 and access important information, including an estimate of how frequently a user’s heart rhythm shows signs of AFib, providing deeper insights into their condition. Users will also receive weekly notifications to understand frequency and view a detailed history in the Health app, including lifestyle factors that may influence AFib, like sleep, alcohol consumption, and exercise.
Users can download a PDF with a detailed history of their AFib and lifestyle factors, which can easily be shared with doctors and care providers for more informed conversations.
Medications
The new Medications experience on
Custom schedules can be created for each medication, whether it needs to be taken multiple times a day, once a week, or as needed, and users can set up reminders to help keep them on track. In the US, users can receive an alert if there are potential critical interactions with medications they have added to the Health app.3
Privacy
Privacy is fundamental in the design and development across all of Apple’s features. When a user’s iPhone is locked with a passcode, Touch ID®, or Face ID®, all of their health and fitness data in the Health app — other than Medical ID — is encrypted.
Additional watchOS 9 Updates
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Staying informed in the moment is a powerful part of the
Apple Watch experience, and in watchOS 9, notifications have been redesigned to be less interruptive while still being impactful, arriving with new slimline banners whenApple Watch is being actively used. -
Family Setup now supports the Home app so a child can be invited as a member to control HomePod® speakers and smart home accessories.4 They can also use home keys and hotel keys in
Apple Wallet®. -
With new Quick Actions on
Apple Watch, users can do even more with a double-pinch gesture, including answer or end a phone call, take a photo, play or pause media in the Now Playing app, and start, pause, or resume a workout. This builds on the innovative technology used in AssistiveTouch® onApple Watch, which gives users with upper body limb differences the option to controlApple Watch with gestures like a pinch or a clench without having to tap the display. -
Apple Watch becomes more accessible than ever for people with physical and motor disabilities withApple Watch Mirroring, which helps users controlApple Watch remotely from their paired iPhone. WithApple Watch Mirroring, users can driveApple Watch using iPhone’s assistive features like Voice Control and Switch Control — so they can navigateApple Watch by using their voice, sound actions, head tracking, and external Made for iPhone switches as alternatives to tapping theApple Watch display.5Apple Watch Mirroring uses hardware and software integration, along with advances built on AirPlay, to ensure users who rely on these mobility features can benefit from uniqueApple Watch apps like Blood Oxygen, Heart Rate, Mindfulness, and more. -
The QWERTY keyboard on
Apple Watch Series 7 adds support for French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazil ), and Spanish (Mexico ,Spain ,Latin America ). - Apps that are actively in use are now promoted over the rest of the apps in the redesigned Dock,making it easier for users to quickly return to them.
- The Reminders app now lets users add or edit key details such as date and time, location, tags, and notes.
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Stay productive with the updated Calendar app by creating new events directly from
Apple Watch. For the first time, users can access a Week view in addition to updated List, Day, and Month views to support more scrolling through calendar events. -
Cardio Recovery is a useful fitness metric that can be an indicator of cardiovascular health.
Apple Watch now provides estimates of Cardio Recovery after an Outdoor Walk, Run, or Hiking workout, even when the workout does not reach peak intensity. This metric can be tracked over time in the Health app. -
New APIs allow developers to build best-in-class third-party apps, with CallKit and share sheet support, access to Photos picker, and the ability to integrate watchOS apps with
Apple TV.
Availability
The developer beta of watchOS 9 is available to
1
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32148086/
2 AFib History is FDA-cleared for users in the US age 22 years or older who have been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation.
3 Medication and interaction information is evidence-based content licensed from
4 Access to latest home architecture requires a paired iPhone running iOS 16, a home hub (
5
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