Recapping Apples watchOS 9 Announcement
New Faces for watchOS 9 - Image via Apple
08 JUNE 2022 - Not unlike the focus on the lock screen during Monday’s introduction of iOS 16, the starting point for watchOS 9 is the watch face. Or, faces. Four new ones on the way for the new OS, including:
Lunar - depicting the relationship between the Gregorian calendar and lunar calendar
Playtime - a dynamic, artistic endeavor created in collaboration with artist Joi Fulton
Metropolitan - a classic, classy, type-driven face
Astronomy - a remastered face featuring a new star map and current cloud data
Health and Fitness Improvements
On the health and fitness side, the way workout metrics are displayed has been tweaked, as have the metrics for select activities. Stride Length, Ground Contact Time, and Vertical Oscillation are added options for Running workouts. According to Apple’s press release, runners can also race against old times on established routes, and they can set a distance and time they want to run, with Apple Watch guiding them to the proper pace to complete it.
“Kickboard detection has been added as a new stroke type for Pool Swim workouts,” according to Apple.
While Fitness+ has always displayed workout metrics on the screen, watchOS 9 will also post guidance messages on the screen as well. That sounds like an interesting way to tailor a video workout to the specific needs of a specific individual.
And Fitness+ finally gets AirPlay support, shooting both the video and the on-screen metrics to compatible third-party TVs and devices.
Sleep Insights are going more in depth. With the watchOS 9 update, Apple says:
Users will see sleep stage data on Apple Watch in the Sleep app and can view more detailed information, like time asleep, alongside additional metrics, like heart rate and respiratory rate, in sleep comparison charts in the Health app on iPhone.
While the ability of Apple Watch to alert someone in AFib has been a thing for a while, watchOS 9 will let users access their AFib History, “providing deeper insights into their condition.” They can also export a PDF of that info to share with the medical professionals in their lives. Kind of amazing.
And finally, Apple’s press release says:
The new Medications experience on Apple Watch and iPhone helps users manage and track their medications, vitamins, and supplements, allowing them to create a medications list, set up schedules and reminders, and view information on their medications in the Health app.
And here in the states, the watch will be smart enough to know whether new meds added have potentially critical interactions with meds already in the regimen.
Sayonara, Series 3?
Tons of other updates for the tiniest of Apple’s computers, though not for one of its oldest. For a couple of cycles now, folks have wondered why Apple kept selling Apple Watch Series 3, and when it would stop doing so. Expect that to happen soon. According to Apple’s update announcement:
watchOS 9 will be available this fall as a free software update for Apple Watch Series 4 or later paired with iPhone 8 or later and iPhone SE (second generation) or later, running iOS 16.
In other words, Apple Watch Series 3 will not make it to watchOS 9. Hard to imagine Apple selling a device that can’t take the latest OS.
Coming Sooner or Later
Beta number one of watchOS 9 is out to developers now. It’ll be out to Apple’s public testing program next month. Like the rest of Apple’s operating systems, the consumer release is expected this fall.
