Apple Watch & watchOS History
We ’re expecting to seeApple Watch Series 10 , Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch SE 3rd generation , runningwatchOS 11 , launch in September 2024 at the company’sGlowtime event(seehow to learn the September issue ) . If you ’re in the market for a Modern Apple Watch , see ourApple Watch buying guide , round - up of thebest Apple Watch hatful , and advice on whether you shouldbuy Apple Watch now or wait . You might also be concerned in what othernew Apple productsare fall this class , and when is thenext Apple event . you could find nexus to all our Apple Watch reviews below .
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Just five months after Apple launched its “ most personal gimmick ever , ” the society released watchOS 2 , the second - propagation operating arrangement that makes its smartwatch much more useful .
From apps that run natively and third - party lookout man face up complications to colourful Digital Touch sketch and deeper Apple Music integration , watchOS 2 pack in a variety of new feature . If you were n’t already plan to buy an Apple Watch , watchOS 2 might not win you over , but the upgrade is a definite betterment for watch owners .
Apple Watches shipped with watchOS 1.0 , which supports third - company apps but necessitate them to push all of the heavy lifting to your iPhone . Apps that do n’t run natively ( so anything other than Apple ’s work up - in watch apps ) could n’t tap into all of the ticker ’s hardware features , like the accelerometer , Taptic Engine , mike , and affectionateness pace sensor . That changed with watchOS 2.Apple just opened its featuresto app developers and let them test the spotter ’s limit .
Instead of expect for the watch ’s native Activity app to relay your ticker pace to the iPhone Health app using HealthKit , third - company apps can run natively and collect that selective information on their own .
Ideally , this mean we ’ll see developers make function of features like the Taptic Engine in really interesting ways . Watch apps also run much faster , because native apps do n’t have to waitress for your iPhone to reply .
Apple has face unfavorable judgment over the Apple Watch ’s security measures — specifically , how easy it is tosteal and wipe the lookout man , even if you do n’t know the passcode . watchOS 2 change that with Activation Lock .
When you touch off your Apple Watch , you ’ll be required to enter your iCloud Apple ID and password , so the gimmick is tied to your business relationship and no one can use your watch if it ’s steal . This feature of speech is optional , but a adept move on Apple ’s part .
The current line - up of Apple Watch faces is attract , but just like with your iPhone base screen backcloth , sometimes you ’d rather personalise your machine than employ a descent image . watchOS 2 let you to opt from either a prison term - lapsed skyline scene ( which search very cool in activeness ) , a still photograph from your own aggregation , or a curated record album of favourite that rotate through images in your library every meter you raise your wrist . It ’s a simple change , but a welcome one .
Some vigil faces ( though not the new ones added to watchOS 2 ) show complications — fiddling piece of helpful information like the time in other cities , the temperature outside , and how close you are to reaching your Activity goal . The new OS open up those knottiness to app developers so you may add even more information to your watch face — or swap out weather with something more relevant to you , like your airline expiration time .
The next - gen watchOS offers a fresh way to reckon your life-time with Time Travel . The fresh feature gives you an overview of your day ( or yesterday , or tomorrow ) . Just use the Digital Crown to scroll through your schedule and see contextual data like what the weather will be like during your trip tomorrow or the electronic mail you missed from yesterday . A press of the Digital Crown refund your exhibit to its vigil fount .
If this feature fathom similar to Pebble ’s Timeline , well , that ’s because it is . Timeline is n’t quite as graceful as Time Travel , but it ’s an innovational way to use sentence as a drug user user interface that buy the farm beyond just numbers on a video display . Like Timeline , Time Travel force in information from third - party apps , and is particularly useful on watch faces that set aside third - party ramification .
The power to apply retailer loyalty programs and store credit and debit card is a must - have for manyApple Payusers , and soon that support will roll out to both iPhones and Apple Watches . Just double - click the side clit and cull the card you want to use , same as before . Except now you ’ll be rewarded with points that you would otherwise miss out on , which might hike Apple Pay ’s use . Major spouse in that initative include Walgreens , JCPenney , and Dunkin doughnut — you know , all the necessary .
We wish the Maps app for Apple Watch , which tap you on your carpus to give you turn - by - turn focusing instead of verbally disrupt you . But , just like on the iPhone , Maps miss crucial information for the great unwashed in major metropolitan areas : public transit directions . Like iOS 9 , watchOS 2 got a major Maps upgrade , complete with aggregate transportation information . The watch ’s Maps app even gives you walking directions to and from your transit stop , so you never have to reach for your iPhone .
Because you’re able to only use your representative to pass with your lookout , not text , Siri has become more useful than ever . watchOS 2 upgrade her to the next tier with new capabilities : Now Siri can start a exercise for you , find public transit information from Maps , candid glance without a swipe , and convey with your HomeKit accessories base on your verbal mastery .
When I take off my Apple Watch at Nox and secure it in , it becomes , for all intents and purposes , useless to me . It does n’t do anything but sit there and tell me how charged its bombardment is . That ’s utilitarian and all , but watchOS 2 makes your charging watch informative with Nightstand musical mode . When you tap the silver screen , the Digital Crown , or the side push button , the watch will exhibit the clip , escort , and battery percentage . And when you set an alarm on your watch , you ’ll be able to click the side clitoris to turn it off or the Digital Crown to snooze it .
Some Apple Watch owners have more than 12 friends and felt unbelievably limit by the telephone number of slots you could fill in your lookout man Friends . With watchOS 2 , you’re able to summate multiple chemical group of 12 and organize those contacts , the groups , and their names in your iPhone ’s Apple Watch app . you may also lend ally from your touch list directly on your watch .
If you ca n’t ( or do n’t want to ) grease one’s palms an iPhone sixer or 6s Plus , you wo n’t get to see alive Photos , one of the marquise features Apple trumpet at its September event . But if you are upgrading to the next - gen iPhone and can shoot Live Photos , which immortalize the 1.5 seconds before and after you pip an image , you may then set one as your watch face wallpaper . It ’s like watching a GIF on your wrist . ( Though time - lapse photos are also very cool and passably similar , for those not raise . )
One of the spotter ’s little irritations on launch was its inability to stay awake longer than 15 seconds . If you elevate your wrist to check the time and let your eye wander alternatively of reading the screen , you ’d entirely miss it . But now you could commute that in your picket ’s background or the Apple Watch app on your iPhone by tap throughMy determine > General > Wake Screenand picking the selection for the show to stay awake for 70 seconds or else of 15 when you solicit it . This reach the watch much more utilitarian as a watch , where the time stays visible for as long as you need it to .
Apple gave its most - used aboriginal watch apps a much - needed cost increase , and that includes Mail . With watchOS 2 , you could finally reply to email subject matter without resorting to your iPhone — though in keeping with the watch ’s best uses cases , you could only send short - and - sweet response . pick out from predetermined responses , which you may make yourself in the Apple Watch app on your speech sound underMy Watch > ring mail > Default Replies . you’re able to bring up to 20 custom messages . Your replies will come with a “ post from my Apple Watch ” signature , just like on the iPhone — that , too , is customizable .
Digital Touch is one of the watch ’s most playful features , because it allows you to sketch images or send your twinkling to an Apple Watch - put on supporter . But the sketches were a little sad , because you could only draw in one colour . Now you may send cartoon using multiple colors , so red roses can at long last have green bow , or low skies can have fluffy white clouds . ( That ’s the extent of my draft skill , so you get a little more creative with this raw feature of speech . )
