At WWDC 2024 on June 10, Apple unveiled watchOS 11, the subsequent working system replace for Apple Watch. The replace was made accessible on September 16, 2024.
This new model of watchOS brings new apps, new options, new face customization choices, an upgraded Good Stack, and in depth adjustments to the Apple Watch’s well being and health features.
Up to date September 16, 2024: Apple has launched watchOS 11. You may replace your watch within the Watch app in your iPhone by choosing Normal then Software program Replace.
watchOS 11: Launch date
You may obtain watchOS 11 now. It was first made accessible on September 16, 2024 at roughly 10:00am Pacific Time.
watchOS 11: Compatibility
You will want an Apple Watch Sequence 6 or later to run watchOS 11. The Apple Watch Sequence 6 was launched in 2020, and whereas the Apple Watch SE was additionally launched in 2020 it misses out on WatchOS 11.
Suitable Apple Watches embody:
- Apple Watch Sequence 6 (2020)
- Apple Watch Sequence 7 (2021)
- Apple Watch SE 2 (2022)
- Apple Watch Sequence 8 (2022)
- Apple Watch Extremely (2022)
- Apple Watch Sequence 9 (2023)
- Apple Watch Extremely 2 (2023)
- Apple Watch Sequence 10 (2024)
What are the brand new watchOS 11 options?
Learn on for a style of the brand new options coming to your Apple Watch with watchOS 11.
New watch faces
We’ll begin with one thing that comes up almost yearly: new watch faces.
Or maybe we must always say upgraded moderately than new faces as a result of it is a change to the present Photographs face. The way in which this adjustments in watchOS 11 is that you just’ll be capable of create customized faces extra simply, due to help from the OS. The Watch will analyze hundreds of your pictures to make a advice of these that can work effectively as a watch face (based mostly on composition, facial features, and different components) after which assist you to to crop and zoom to get the very best positioning inside the body.
You’ll get a spread of personalization choices past this, together with font, structure, clock measurement, and extra, and there’s additionally a Dynamic mode that can push a distinct photograph every time you increase your wrist.
Health
The Apple Watch’s predominant features revolve round well being and health, and it was no shock that Apple focuses closely on these areas in watchOS 11.
On the health aspect, there’s a brand new metric known as Coaching Load, designed to assist customers perceive the pressure that train locations on the physique and the best way exercises are impacting their physique. Exercises can be given an effort score on a scale of 1 to 10, based mostly on age, top, weight, coronary heart charge, GPS knowledge, and the exercise kind, however customers can additional modify this to account for components reminiscent of stress. Then longer-term knowledge can be utilized to investigate whether or not pressure on the physique “is ramping up, staying the identical, or easing off to allow them to alter their coaching for the very best outcomes.”
WatchOS 11 additionally brings the flexibility to pause Exercise rings whenever you want a relaxation day or undergo an damage however don’t need to break a streak. (That’s a function that’s been wanted so long as Apple Watch has been a factor.) You may pause rings for a day, per week, a month, or select a customized timeframe.
These rings may even be extra customizable than prior to now. You may select to change the ring targets relying on the day of the week, in order that calorie targets are decrease on Sundays, for instance, if that’s whenever you wish to relaxation. That’s one other function that’s been wanted for a very long time; it was all the time peculiar and rigid for the Apple Watch to insist that your health patterns must be the identical all through the week.
One other common function of watchOS updates is the addition of recent exercise sorts, and watchOS 11 is not any exception. On this case the important thing issue is enhancements in GPS positioning, which implies extra exercise sorts can observe distance and supply GPS map knowledge, together with Soccer, American Soccer, Lacrosse, Cross Nation Snowboarding, Golf, Outside Rowing, and extra. The Customized Exercises function can now even be used for pool swims.
Vitals
There’s a brand new app for the Apple Watch known as Vitals. This brings collectively helpful health-related metrics (together with the brand new Coaching Load info mentioned above) and makes them simple to browse in a single place.
You may monitor your coronary heart charge, as an example, and examine how the present measurement compares to what’s typical for you. Outliers are flagged, in case they’re value checking with a medical skilled, and the app explains what has modified from the norm and gives attainable causes of this.
Larger temperatures, for instance, “may very well be attributable to many components together with sickness or alcohol consumption.” Particularly, Apple says a notification may be triggered if two or extra metrics are out of their typical vary.
Being pregnant assist
Persevering with the well being and health focus, watchOS 11 (together with iOS 18 and iPadOS 18) is designed to assist pregnant folks “to replicate adjustments of their bodily and psychological well being throughout this essential time.” You’ll must log the being pregnant within the Well being app, after which the Apple Watch’s Cycle Monitoring app will observe gestational age, assist you to log signs, and immediate you to regulate the brink to your excessive coronary heart charge notification and related options. Fall detection can alter its sensitivity to account for the usually better unsteadiness of pregnant folks, whereas the Well being app may be set to immediate the consumer to assessment their psychological well being regularly.
Translate
Right here’s one other new app, however on this case it’s solely new to Apple Watch. The Translate app makes use of machine studying that can assist you navigate conversations in different languages. (A complete of 20 are supported.) This additionally offers Romanized pronunciation guides for languages utilizing completely different alphabets.
Good Stack
Apple says the Good Stack function has turn out to be extra succesful. It could actually now function Stay Actions, enabling you to comply with sports activities occasions or the progress of your Uber driver. The function can use details about your routine, in addition to the time and site, to counsel applicable widgets–reminiscent of a weather-alert widget when unhealthy climate is on the best way. And there are new widgets based mostly on Shazam, Photographs, Distance, and extra.
The Good Stack may counsel a related Translate widget whenever you journey to a distinct nation and contains entry to the Verify In function, which additionally involves Apple Look ahead to the primary time.
Verify In
Talking of which… this helpful personal-safety function, beforehand accessible on iPhone as of the launch of iOS 17 final yr, lets you simply let family and friends know that you just’ve reached your vacation spot. And it now involves the Apple Watch.
It’s been built-in into the Exercise app, which sounds excellent for these embarking on late-night runs, in addition to Messages (as on the iPhone).
What about Apple Intelligence?
The Apple Watch’s new Translate app and the Photographs watch face customization algorithm every depend on machine studying, but it surely was notable at WWDC that the Apple Watch is getting far much less entry to Apple’s new AI developments, at the least on this first wave. The Apple Intelligence options are coming to the iPhone, the iPad, and the Mac… however the Apple Watch wasn’t talked about.
It’s doubtless that watchOS will turn out to be a part of Apple Intelligence in some unspecified time in the future, however not but. With one minor exception: Apple says “Summarized notifications, powered by Apple Intelligence, can be forwarded from iPhone 15 Professional and iPhone 15 Professional Max to Apple Watch.”
Apple Watch & watchOS historical past
watchOS 11 is on the market as a developer beta immediately and a public beta will turn out to be accessible in July. The ultimate model of watchOS 11 will roll out to the general public within the fall. We’re anticipating to see Apple Watch Sequence 10, Apple Watch Extremely 3 and Apple Watch SE third technology, working watchOS 11, launch in September 2024 on the firm’s Glowtime occasion (see tips on how to watch the September occasion). For those who’re out there for a brand new Apple Watch, see our Apple Watch shopping for information, round-up of the greatest Apple Watch offers, and recommendation on whether or not it is best to purchase Apple Watch now or wait. You may additionally be eager about what different new Apple merchandise are coming this yr, and when is the subsequent Apple occasion. You could find hyperlinks to all our Apple Watch opinions under.