Upgrade Your Workout with the watchOS9 Software Update
Attention Apple Watch users: there’s a new software update! The watchOS 9 software brings you even more features and insights to help you monitor your health and fitness, starting with the Workout app.
Jumping right in, here’s a list of the newest Workout app updates.
The display now allows you to see new views of metrics including Heart Rate Zones, Power, and Elevation.
Heart Rate Zones can be automatically calculated for you, or you can add them in yourself!
Customize your workouts based on your preferences, with alert options for pace, heart rate, and more.
Keep track of your personal bests when it comes to your Outdoor Runs or Cycle routines, and even get information such as stride length to help you understand your running patterns.
For the triathletes out there, you can seamlessly transition between swimming, biking, and running. (BONUS: Kickboard is now detected as a stroke type for your swimming workouts!)
Next, Apple introduces an entirely new app: the Medications app! This app helps you keep track of your medication and vitamin schedules, allowing you to set reminders throughout the day as well.
Sleep is another important marker of health, and the new update provides even more insights. You can track your sleep cycles, as your watch now tracks the amount of time you spend in REM, Core, or Deep sleep, and the times you may wake up in between. You can also find your heart rate and respiratory rate changes throughout the night in your updated iPhone Health app.
For those who love to customize your watch to your personality, there’s even more great news: new watch faces. Metropolitan customizes the numerals on your watch dial, Playtime shows cloud coverage, Lunar shows the phases of the moon. (BONUS: there are three different calendars to choose from: Chinese, Hebrew, and Islamic.) You can also put pictures of your dog or cat as the Portraits face, and customize your watch face’s background colors with even more options to choose from.
When it comes to family setup, the new update means: “More fun for them. More peace of mind for you.” Your kids can be invited to the Home app to control your HomePod speakers and other smart home accessories like lights, and you can also add home keys to your Wallet so kids can get in.
Moving on to accessibility, you can now double-pinch to start a workout or take a photo, and Apple Watch Mirroring allows you to stream your watch to your iPhone and control it using your iPhone’s Voice Control.
Apple Fitness+ also gets an upgrade. Personalized metrics like heart rate, calories, and more allow you to hone in on your performance during every workout. Trainers will also provide guidance to help you optimize rowing, cycling, and treadmill workouts. And if you use AirPlay to see your workouts, you can now get personal-metrics from your Apple Watch onto compatible device displays to see your stats in real time.
This is a must update for all compatible devices! Compatibility is limited to an iPhone 8 or later with iOS 16 or later and one of the following Apple Watch models:
Apple Watch Series 4
Apple Watch Series 5
Apple Watch SE
Apple Watch Series 6
Apple Watch Series 7
Apple Watch Series 8
Apple Watch Ultra
If that’s you, send us a message! We’ll have you up and running with the latest in smart watch technology in no time.