So it was all about software at this year’s Apple developers’ conference and the most talked about wearable in the world ( I am talking about the Apple Watch here ) is set to sport some new features in the months ahead.
Besides the bevy of features that WatchOS 5 comes with, the new wearable operating system brings to the table more workouts, a new way to communicate called “Walkie Talkie”, new Siri shortcuts and an interesting fitness feature called “Competitions”.
Great! More “Competition”
Apple was very excited to share the “Competitions” feature added to the new WatchOS 5. The feature helps you achieve your fitness goals better, but it also makes you compete with other Apple Watch users based on your fitness targets.
The WatchOS 5 now enables users to invite another Apple Watch wearers to compete in a seven-day Activity competition, earning points for closing Activity Rings, while receiving coaching notifications to help stay engaged and win the week.
So if your ‘competitor’ is burning more calories than you, that means you have to put in a bit more effort on that treadmill.
The only way to beat you opponent in that time period is to overtake his/her score which you can constantly monitor on your Watch. The more you workout the more points you earn and if you win you get reward points.
More Reasons to Workout
The new Watch OS also introduced something called auto-workout detection which provides an alert to start the correct workout and gives retroactive credit. This feature also offers a reminder to end workout sessions after a period of inactivity if the user forgets.
There were also some more exercises that were introduced into the WatchOS namely Yoga and Hiking which joined 12 other dedicated workout types.
WatchOS 5 will now also delivers high-performance features for running enthusiasts, including a new cadence (steps per minute) metric for indoor and outdoor runs and walks, as well as a new pace alarm for outdoor runs that alerts users when they are behind or ahead of their designated target pace.
Apple’s Walkie Talkie
This feature perhaps is the most exciting of all the developments we have seen in the new Apple WatchOS 5. Walkie Talkie is a type of voice note feature that has been integrated into the Apple Watch.
It works something like what we see in WhatsApp’s voice notes.
The Walkie Talkie feature allows users to send voice message over the watch to others via cellular or wi-fi.
Users have to send a request to the contacts they want to send a message to and until the request has been accepted, no messages will be sent.
Apart from the above features, there were a few more additions made to the WatchOS like the fact that now you don’t have to say “Hey, Siri” every single time you have to give a command to the Apple Watch. Now you can just lift your arm and speak to the Watch directly.
The new WatchOS also bring Podcasts to the Apple Watch. It now offers more predictive and proactive shortcuts throughout the day based on routines, locations and information such as heart rate after a workout, etc.
The WatchOS 5 will be available this September as a free update for Apple Watch Series 1 and later and requires iPhone 5s or later running on iOS 12.
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