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watchOS 7

New features include sleep tracking, new work outs, hand washing detection, and more

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watchOS 7

During the WWDC 2020 presentation, Apple unveiled watchOS 7 for Apple Watch. In watchOS 7, Apple is adding a number of new features.

watchOS 7 features

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watchOS 7 offers updates to faces for more personalization and faster access to your favorite apps. The ultraprecise Chronograph Pro includes a tachymeter to calculate speed based on time traveled over a fixed distance, the Photos face offers color filters, and the bold X-Large face now has an option to add a rich complication to your screen. The Chronograph Pro face features an integrated tachymeter.

Developers can now offer more than one complication per app on a watch face. For example, Glow Baby can display multiple complications that help parents track bottle-feeding, breastfeeding, pumping statistics, and nap times, while Dawn Patrol can show tide, wind speed, and water temperature from a favorite surf spot.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us all the benefits of washing our hands. Washing hands for at least 20 seconds can help prevent the spread of illness. Apple Watch uses motion sensors, microphone, and on-device machine learning to automatically detect handwashing motions and sounds. It then starts a 20-second timer, and if the person finishes early, watchOS 7 will prompt to keep washing. Apple Watch can also conveniently remind the user to wash their hands when they return home.

“We’re energized by the positive impact Apple Watch is having on our customers and are excited to deliver meaningful new tools that support their health, fitness, and wellness,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer. “watchOS 7 brings sleep tracking, automatic handwashing detection, and new workout types together with a whole new way to discover and use watch faces, helping our users stay healthy, active, and connected.”

With watchOS 7, Apple Watch now offers workout tracking for  Dance, Functional Strength Training, Core Training, and Cooldown. With iOS 14, there is a redesigned Activity app on iPhone, now called Fitness, which provides a streamlined view of workout data.

watchOS 7 also adds sleep tracking to the Apple Watch. Through the detection of micro-movements from the Apple Watch’s accelerometer, which signals sleep, Apple Watch intelligently captures when the user is sleeping and how much sleep they get each night. In the morning, the user will see a visualization of their previous night’s sleep, including periods of wake and sleep. They will also see a chart showing their weekly sleep trend.

watchOS 7 release date

watchOS 7 was released on September 16th, 2020 for Apple Watch SE, Apple Watch Series 6, Apple Watch Series 3, Apple Watch Series 4, or Apple Watch Series 5 paired with iPhone 6s or later running iOS 14 or later.

Continue reading for the latest information about the upcoming Apple Watch update.

 

Apple releases watchOS 7.1 with expanded ECG support, headphone level alerts, screen issue fix

watchOS 7 Diary test plans

Two days after making the release candidate of watchOS 7.1 available, Apple has released the public version of the update to Apple Watch users. watchOS 7.1 brings ECG functionality to new countries, notifications for headphone levels that could be harmful, and fixes issues like unlocking Mac with Apple Watch and a screen issue for the wearable.

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‘Facer’ offers an App Store-style experience for discovering customized Apple Watch faces

Facer Apple Watch customized watch faces

One of the headlining features of watchOS 7 is the ability to easily share Apple Watch faces. It makes it easy to share them with a friend but thinking bigger, the feature also allows them to be easily shared online with anyone. Now Apple Watch customization app Facer has been updated to support watch face sharing and it’s aiming to be your hub for discovering and sharing them as well as following friends and favorite artists with an App Store-style experience.

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Developers frustrated at just one day’s notice of iOS, iPadOS and watchOS rollout

Developers frustrated at Apple

There weren’t too many surprises in yesterday’s event, but there was one big one – and it was one which left developers frustrated. Apple gave just one day’s notice of the official rollout of iOS 14, iPadOS 14 and watchOS 7. This contrasts with the usual week or so developers get to prepare.

Not only did this leave them scrabbling to get updated versions of their apps completed, but some said that Apple’s developer tools were also not ready for the launch …

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Apple Watch speed boosts: watchOS 7 enhances app launching with faster Dock, always-on display

watchOS 7 is one of those software updates that makes your Apple Watch feel faster without upgrading to a new model. Subtle enhancements to how launching apps works on watchOS 7 contribute to this effect. These include changes to the Dock and Apple Pay on all Apple Watch models with watchOS 7 and the always-on display on Apple Watch Series 5.

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watchOS 7 Diary: What I’m looking forward to testing

watchOS 7 Diary test plans

I mentioned last month that I’ve always avoided OS betas in the past, and that remains my firm and unwavering policy where macOS is concerned. However, testing the public beta of iOS 14 on my iPhone, and iPadOS 14 on my iPad, didn’t reveal any nasty surprises, so I’m hoping to have the same experience with watchOS 7.

The majority of you are doing the sensible thing and waiting for the official release. That’s especially smart with the Watch, as there’s no ability to remove the beta: once you’re on watchOS 7, you’re stuck with it. But I figure it’s a relatively low risk for two reasons …

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Poll: Are you trying the watchOS 7 public beta or waiting until the fall?

Apple announced watchOS 7 in June at WWDC 2020, but the official release is only expected this fall. Developers already have access to watchOS 7 beta, and today, Apple made the update available through Apple’s Public Beta Software Program. Now, we want to know if you’re already trying watchOS 7 on your Apple Watch or if you decided to wait until the fall.

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