Recall that the last time we explored the Apple Watch, the platform had just received its biggest update in history - the Series 4 Edition (you can check out that release here) with numerous new features that took the device far beyond the definition of any watch - smart or otherwise. At Apple's 2019 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC19), the tech giant gives the Apple Watch Series 4 another shot in the arm with the new watchOS 6, boasting a fresh series of additions and enhancements to the outgoing operating system, promising to make the Apple Watch an even more indispensable part of its owner's daily life.
As previously mentioned, the updates we saw in the Series 4 watches in 2018 elevated them to a whole new category of health devices. The updates in watchOS 6 are not as dramatic as last fall, but still quite significant - depending on your lifestyle and usage of the device. Key highlights of the new OS include:
the addition of the App Store on the watch, new built-in apps like Calculator and Voice Memos (both of which received loud approval from attendees), new hearing, fitness, and health tracking capabilities (including cycle tracking for women), new "taptic chime" alerts, new streaming audio capabilities, the addition of the App Store on the watch, and new developer tools making it easier for engineers to create apps for the watch.
The last detail is particularly interesting, as it will likely continue to open the Apple Watch platform to innovations from the developer community outside of Apple. Moreover, many of the new apps available in OS6 (such as the new streaming audio API) will now be standalone and will not require an iPhone to operate.
Which of these updates are the most important depends on your lifestyle and how deeply integrated the Apple Watch already is into it. If you are into fitness, you will be pleased to know that the "Health and Fitness" app now boasts a new Activity Trends feature, which tracks your activities over the long term and reports key trends (like your overall fitness level over a 90-day period) to provide a more complete picture of your physical condition, helping you stay more active and motivated.
The new "Noise" app, related to the "Health" feature, is aimed at maintaining ear health (concertgoers should pay attention to this one). This app actively monitors the decibel level in your environment and sends an alert if you are in an environment that could harm your hearing in the long term. Apple specifically emphasized that this app was designed without privacy as a primary element - the app merely samples the sound environment periodically, but does not record or store your audio recordings.
As we have seen with all previous watchOS updates, OS6 also received numerous customizable new watch faces, making it the largest collection of new dials to date. From classic and simple three-hand dials that we are well familiar with, to bold new minimalist dials, a series of new animated gradient dials, and even the classic "California" dial (50/50 between Roman and traditional Arabic numerals, popular in Panerai in the mid-last century) - all can be complemented with additional information using complications introduced by Apple in OS5. Last year's tactile additions to the watch OS have also been updated with what Apple calls "taptic chimes" - a series of new tactile and sound alerts that are a bit more pleasant to the ear than the traditional set of alarms.
Finally, to the delight of many WWDC attendees, the Apple App Store is now available directly from the Apple Watch (users can search the store using Siri, dictation, or scribbles directly on the watch face), where any app can be purchased or installed directly on the watch. Following the keynote event, the store was updated with new strap options designed to complement the new dynamic watch faces, but in keeping with WWDC tradition, Apple will not be introducing any new hardware updates for the Apple Watch until the fall event.
The price of the Apple Watch Series 4 remains at $399 for the entry-level and $499 for GPS models. For more information on the new Apple Watch or watchOS 6, visit apple.com.