A new watchOS version is finally live for all users

Sep 16, 2020 17:00 GMT  ·  By

Apple has just launched watchOS 7, the latest version of the operating system that powers the company’s Apple Watch smartwatch.

Needless to say, this is a massive update, and it comes approximately one year after Apple rolled out watchOS 6.

One of the highlights this year is the introduction new watch faces and sharing capabilities. In other words, you can now create your own watch faces and then share them with others through iMessage or right via the Mail app.

More importantly, you can now download watch faces from websites, although it goes without saying that the customization options continue to be limited. In other words, aside from the standard face that can be tweaked with custom backgrounds, the modular face is likely to remain the most popular.

“watchOS 7 offers new ways to discover and share unique combinations to completely configure the watch face to suit any activity or lifestyle, from the new parent to the surfing aficionado, tennis player, or photographer. Infinitely customizable and personalised faces, inclusive of complications, can be shared through Messages or Mail, and discovered through the App Store or even from links through websites and social media channels,” Apple explains.

One important change for apps actually concerns developers, as app makers can now offer more than just a complication per app. In other words, you can now use the same app for multiple complications, and for complex apps, this is clearly good news.

But the biggest addition is certainly sleep tracking. This is a feature that’s already available on the majority of smartwatches out here, so Apple is finally bringing it to all supported Apple Watch models with this new software update.

However, worth knowing is that watchOS doesn’t come with a detailed analysis of your sleeping patterns, but only shows basic information on your iPhone.

“With watchOS 7, Apple Watch introduces sleep tracking, taking a holistic approach to sleep by providing valuable tools to help users get the desired amount of sleep, get to bed on time, and create a pre-bedtime routine to meet their sleep goals. Through the detection of micro-movements from the watch’s accelerometer, which signals respiration during sleep, Apple Watch intelligently captures when the wearer is sleeping and how much sleep they get each night. In the morning, the wearer will see a visualisation of their previous night’s sleep, including periods of wake and sleep. They will also see a chart showing their weekly sleep trend,” Apple explains.

Given the times we’re living in, Apple Watch has received another welcome feature that can detect if you’re washing your hands correctly.

Apple Watch will rely on an army of sensors, including motion sensors, the microphone, and data analyzed by its machine learning tech to detect handwashing motions and sounds. A 20-second timer shows up on the device to help you correctly clean your hands. Of course, such a feature might be annoying for some, especially because if you don’t wash your hands for 20 seconds, you see a prompt to keep washing.

Furthermore, when entering your house, you’ll get a notification to wash your hands.

watchOS 7 also introduces new workout types, namely core training, dance, functional strength training, and cooldown. The Activity app has been redesigned and is now called Fitness.

“[It] provides a streamlined view of data including daily Activity, Workouts, Awards, and Activity Trends on one tab, and Activity Sharing and Activity Competitions on another,” Apple says.

The new software update is available today on the Apple Watch Series 3 and newer models.

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