watchOS 8: Mindfulness & Respiratory Tracking

Apple Enhances watchOS with Mindfulness and Health Features

Did you anticipate significant updates for watchOS during this year’s WWDC? Apple’s wearable technology, while not matching iPhone sales, has proven remarkably successful, achieving dominant positioning within the smartwatch sector.

Unsurprisingly, the company is prioritizing a more concentrated focus on mindfulness. While Apple isn’t immediately challenging Calm or Headspace, the widely-used breathe function is receiving a substantial improvement, incorporating fresh animations designed to encourage reflection and greater awareness.

New Health and Watch Face Capabilities

Respiratory tracking, previously operating primarily in the background, is now being prominently featured within the watchOS interface. This allows for longitudinal tracking and provides users with more frequent notifications regarding their respiratory health.

As expected, this watchOS iteration introduces several new watch faces. A portrait mode has been added to existing faces, enhancing the depth of images used as lock screens. The Watch Photos application is also undergoing a redesign, alongside the ability to directly share images from the watch to native applications such as Mail and Messages.

Fitness+ Expansion and GIF Support

Fitness+ is set to receive a wealth of new content, including artist-focused musical spotlights for workouts featuring prominent musicians like Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, and Keith Urban. Furthermore, Tai Chi and Pilates are being incorporated into the range of activities tracked by the device.

Notably, watchOS is gaining support for GIFs, a highly requested feature. A public beta program will commence next month, with the full watchOS 8 release scheduled for general availability this autumn.