Apple’s latest watchOS 11 update aims to provide users with a more flexible and personalized experience in their daily lives. New features for those who want to track their health and manage their exercise habits more efficiently make the watch a more comprehensive assistant. Innovations such as pausing activity rings, sleep tracking, and customizable exercise goals are designed to better meet users’ needs.
These innovations offered by watchOS 11 allow users to use the watch not only as an accessory, but as a tool that provides support in all areas of daily life. Let’s take a closer look at the new features and advantages that come with this update.
Innovations in Activity Rings
First of all, a feature that users have been requesting for years is finally here: the ability to pause and personalize activity rings. Let’s say you’re sick or need a break; in that case, you can pause the rings. In the activity app, you tap on the rings and click “pause rings”, it’s that simple. Moreover, you can pause not only daily, but also weekly or monthly.
Another nice feature is that you can set the target of each ring (movement, exercise, standing) as you wish. For example, is the 30-minute exercise target too much for you? You can reduce this time immediately. Especially on your busy office days, keeping the targets a little lower and increasing the tempo on the weekends can be a great solution.
Vital Signs
Let’s say you wear your watch to sleep at night. WatchOS 11 tracks your sleep while also recording your heart rate, respiratory rate, and wrist temperature. Thanks to the new Vital Signs app, you can see this data right on your watch in the morning. No more opening the Health app and digging through menus.
One of the best details is that you can see the data of the last seven days and find out if anything is out of the norm. If two or more measurements deviate from the norm, your watch will notify you with a pink alert. This feature is a great advantage, especially for users who like to be careful about their health.
If you’re a regular exerciser or training for a marathon, the Training Load feature is for you. It measures the intensity of your workouts and gives you feedback. Open the Activity app and click on the graph icon in the top right; here you’ll see a graph comparing your performance over the last seven days and your 28-day average. You can easily track which days you put in more effort or which days you’re below average.
Another nice detail is that you can manually adjust the difficulty level of your workouts. Let’s say you’re very tired and your run was slower than normal. In this case, you can adjust the effort score according to how you feel at that moment. Especially small adjustments like these help you manage your workouts more consciously.
Sleep Apnea Notifications
Apple Watch can now detect signs of sleep apnea. It’s thought that 1 billion people worldwide suffer from sleep apnea, and it’s a serious condition. WatchOS 11 tracks small movements on your wrist throughout the night to track breathing irregularities. If these signs are consistently noticed, your watch will alert you. The feature has FDA approval in the US and is available in over 150 countries worldwide. If you care about your sleep health, you should definitely try this feature.
Status Check
One of the most useful features of watchOS 11 is the Status Check feature. Let’s say you’re hiking alone or heading somewhere. In this case, Status Check lets you automatically notify people you choose when you arrive at a certain place or after a certain amount of time. During a workout, if your pace suddenly slows down or your heart rate goes outside of normal, your watch will warn you and if you don’t respond, it will share your location with the person you choose.
Watch Faces and App Innovations
There are also some innovations on the watch face side. In particular, the Photos watch face now allows you to bring your favorite people, pets or nature photos to the watch face. Apple Watch automatically selects the best images by looking at your photos on your iPhone and displays them on your watch face. In this way, your watch gains a completely personal touch. The movement appeals to those who like minimal but stylish watch faces. This watch face will look stylish especially on the renewed screen of the Apple Watch Series 10. However, I can say that it looks just as good on older watches.
In addition, the Remote app has been updated with new controls. You can now control your Apple TV from your watch, turn subtitles on and off, and turn the device off with a single tap. The Translate app can translate 20 different languages, including Turkish. Moreover, it can work without an internet connection.
The endc
watchOS 11 offers users a more personalized experience, making Apple Watch more functional in everyday life. Pausing activity rings, adjustable exercise goals, and more comprehensive tracking of health data allow users to optimize the watch according to their own needs. Features such as health tracking and workout load in particular transform the watch from a mere fitness device to a tool for monitoring your overall health.
In general, the innovations offered by watchOS 11 offer various benefits for both health and safety-focused users and those who lead an active lifestyle. With new updates, Apple Watch continues to gain a solid place in the technology world and makes the lives of its users even easier.