Over three months after Apple launched it at WWDC 2024, watchOS 11 is formally right here. The 2024 Apple Watch replace, which provides the brand new Vitals app, widget enhancements and sleep apnea detection, is now accessible to put in in your smartwatch.
Apple’s sleep apnea detection function, which the corporate highlighted in its Apple Watch Collection 10 reveal, can even work with a few year-old fashions. For those who personal the Apple Watch Collection 9 or Apple Watch Extremely 2, you’ll be able to attempt the function earlier than the brand new mannequin makes it into prospects’ arms later this week. Sleep apnea detection will ship you an alert if the watch’s sensors detect in a single day respiratory disturbances. The well being function, just like one Samsung included with the Galaxy Watch 7 earlier this yr, acquired FDA approval final week.
watchOS 11 additionally introduces a brand new Vitals app, additional beefing up Apple’s health-tracking options on its wearable. For many who put on their Apple Watch to mattress for sleep monitoring (and a useful alarm within the morning), Vitals collects your in a single day information in a single place. The app establishes baselines in your well being metrics. It lets you recognize if any fall outdoors your typical vary, probably useful for recognizing irregularities like oncoming diseases or monitoring the results of alcohol use.
Equally, the brand new Coaching Load function measures the depth of your exercises over time. After establishing an depth baseline over 28 days, it exhibits how arduous you’re pushing your self in your exercises — evaluating it along with your commonplace averages. At launch, it helps 17 exercise varieties, together with walks, runs, biking, rowing, swings and extra. You’ll discover your Coaching Load within the Exercise app in your Apple Watch and the Health app in your iPhone.
Apple added a long-requested function this yr: the power to pause and customise Exercise ring objectives. It hardly is smart to maintain pushing your self (at your watch’s prodding) when you’re sick or want relaxation. The wearable now helps you to take a break for a day, week, month or extra with out dropping your award streaks. As well as, you’ll be able to set totally different Exercise ring objectives for every day of the week and customise the info you care about most within the iOS 18 Health app.
The Apple Watch’s Sensible Stack (the pile of widgets you see if you scroll down out of your watch face) now exhibits widgets mechanically based mostly on context. (For instance, rain alerts.) As well as, Dwell Actions, which arrived on the iPhone two years in the past, can also be coming to the Apple Watch within the new replace. You’ll discover Dwell Actions for issues like sports activities scores you observe or an arriving Uber within the watchOS 11 Sensible Stack.
Verify In is a brand new function that allows you to notify a pal if you attain your vacation spot. You may start a Verify In from the watchOS Messages app by tapping the plus button subsequent to the textual content subject, selecting Verify In and getting into the place you’re going and if you count on to reach. Equally, when exercising, you can begin a Verify In from the exercises app: Swipe proper from the exercise display screen and select Verify In from the controls. You may then choose a contact to share your train routine with.
Different options embody new being pregnant monitoring within the Cycles app and a Double Faucet API that lets third-party builders incorporate hands-free controls.
To obtain watchOS 11, you’ll first have to set up iOS 18 in your paired iPhone. After that, open the Watch app in your telephone, then head to Basic > Software program Replace. It ought to then immediate you to replace to the 2024 software program.
