Apple announces watchOS 7 with more health, fitness features

Source: Xinhua | 2020-06-23

Apple on Monday announced its latest version of smartwatch operating system, watchOS 7, during its virtual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), delivering enhanced customization tools and new health and fitness features to its smartwatch.

"We're energized by the positive impact Apple Watch is having on our customers and are excited to deliver meaningful new tools that support their health, fitness, and wellness," said Jeff Williams, Apple's chief operating officer.

"WatchOS 7 brings sleep tracking, automatic handwashing detection, and new workout types together with a whole new way to discover and use watch faces, helping our users stay healthy, active, and connected," he added.

The update will release this fall for the Apple Watch Series 3 and later. According to the company, the new operating system offers updates to faces for more personalization and access to favorite apps. 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 captures when the wearer is sleeping and how much sleep they get each night. In the morning, the wearer will see a visualization of their previous night's sleep, including periods of wake and sleep. They will also see a chart showing their weekly sleep trend.

The Workout app is one of the most popular apps on Apple Watch, and watchOS 7 brings four new workout types such as Core Training, Dance, Functional Strength Training, and Cooldown. The redesigned Activity app on iPhone, now called Fitness, provides a streamlined view of data.

WatchOS 7 adds support for hearing health with headphone audio notifications. When total listening with headphones has reached 100 percent of the safe weekly listening amount, Apple Watch provides a notification to the wearer. This amount is based on World Health Organization recommendations that, for instance, a person can be exposed to 80 decibels for about 40 hours per week without an impact on hearing abilities, the company said.

The WWDC 2020 kicked off on Monday and will run virtually until Friday.