watchOS 4

Apple’s second beta of watchOS 4 is rolling out to developers. The new operating system brings a number of changes across the platform including an app list navigation, and new text UIs throughout. We’ve gone in-depth with over 50 of the changes watchOS 4 brings.

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With the upcoming watchOS 4 update for Apple Watch slated to bring new features for diabetes management devices, we took some time to speak with Dexcom’s CEO Kevin Sayer this week about what it means for users. When Apple revealed watchOS 4 at its Worldwide Developers Conference this month, it featured Dexcom, makers of the G5 Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) popular among iPhone users, on stage as an example of an Apple Watch app that will benefit from new features in the release.

Sayer shared details on how exactly Dexcom devices will improve from these new features in watchOS 4, and more specifically why CoreBluetooth support will be a “game changer” for Apple Watch users with diabetes.

We also learned from Sayer about the next-generation of the company’s popular G5 CGM coming soon. And we had to ask about the chatter prior to WWDC that Apple is reportedly developing its own glucose monitoring technology, to find out his thoughts on the possibility of such features being built directly into future Apple Watch models.

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As we did with the beta release of iOS 11, we’ve taken some time to walk through many of the new features and changes found in watchOS 4. While the Apple Watch software isn’t busting at the seams with new features like iOS 11, there are still quite a few new goodies and changes to be found. In this hands-on video walkthrough, we step through many of the new additions in watchOS 4.
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New for Health in iOS 11 & watchOS 4: Apple is introducing a handful of new features for diabetes management as the Apple Watch gains the ability to connect directly to Bluetooth Low Power devices like those used for glucose monitoring.

Alongside the new diabetes management features, app developers are getting more access to Workout data and other Apple Watch features, swimming tracking is getting improvements, and Health is introducing new Activity categories for tracking different types of exercises including Tai Chi, Mixed Cardio, and Hand Cycling.

Head below for a roundup of new features coming to the Health app and watchOS 4 this fall:

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With watchOS 4, Apple is offering an alternative to the honeycomb screen used to display your Apple Watch apps. The honeycomb view lays out the circular watch app icons in a hexagonal grid with a focus on the middle of the display, and a miniature clock in the center.

The honeycomb design is not universally beloved, but it has been the only option for Apple Watch users to date. With watchOS 4, Apple is adding list mode which sorts apps into an alphabetical scrolling view. Here’s how to enable it …

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Although watchOS 4 doesn’t drop support for any Apple Watch models, the new iOS 11 software update will not be available for the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5c. This likely means Apple Watch users with either of those models will need to upgrade to a newer iPhone to update to watchOS 4.

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If you’re curious about whether or not you should run Apple’s brand new software betas, the answer is probably just wait for now. In short, iOS 11 and the other new betas are very beta which is to be expected for a major new pre-release.

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Apple has made the first betas of iOS 11, watchOS 4, tvOS 11, and macOS 10.13 available. The updates are available to registered to developers now via Apple’s online developer portal. Additionally, the Xcode 9 beta is now available as well.

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