The world’s most popular smartwatch will soon have a new software. This was revealed by Apple yesterday in connection with the company’s annual developer conference, WWDC 21.
The new version of the operating system is called watchOS 8, and from that we can expect updates to the Wallet and Home apps, among other things. There will also be a new version of the Breathing app as well as new Tai Chi and Pilates training types.
Wallet
With watchOS 8, Wallet offers even more contactless approaches.
Ultra broadband support was first announced in conjunction with WWDC 2020 and can now be used for the digital car keys in Apple Watch Series 6. Apple Watch users can remotely unlock and start the car from the driver’s seat. During the fall, users can also add their home, office, and hotel keys to their wallets and tap their Apple Watch to unlock them.
home
The newly designed Home app in watchOS 8 provides more convenient access to accessories and events to use at specific times and allows you to control accessories in individual rooms. Users can see who’s standing at the door, right on the wrist, if they have a HomeKit-compatible camera. Apple Watch users can also press the call button to quickly send a message around the house or to specific rooms via HomePod, HomePod mini, or other personal devices.
Playing sports
As mentioned earlier, watchOS 8 introduces two new types of exercise that are beneficial for physical health and alertness: Tai Chi and Pilates. These new types of training are supported by efficient, validated and tailored heart rate and motion algorithms, which provide users with accurate measurements.
Messages and contacts
New features have also been added to the Messages app. Users will be able to use Scribble, Dictation and Emojis in a single message, and in dictated messages the provided text can be edited. At the same time, users can type a word or phrase to search and choose from hundreds of popular GIFs that can be used for messaging.
Availability
The developer beta of watchOS 8 is available to members of the Apple Developer Program at developer.apple.com starting yesterday. A public beta will be available to watchOS users next month at beta.apple.com. watchOS 8 is available this fall as a free software update for Apple Watch Series 3 or later with iPhone 6s or later running iOS 15.
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