Introduced as part of the WWDC22 event, the watchOS 9 operating system was released with Apple’s iOS 16 update. Apple Watch owners can start downloading this new update to their compatible devices right now.
While Apple’s watchOS 9 update doesn’t bring huge innovations, it brings improvements for fitness and health tracking and some new important features. Of course, along with these, a lot of changes, new features and improvements are also included in the update.
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WatchOS 9 compatible 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
New dials
With the new watchOS 9 release, Apple introduces three new dial options: Lunar Calendar (Lunar Calendar, Playtime) and Metropolitan. In addition to these, existing features that support pet portraits have been improved. It also offers the possibility to pair with iOS 16 and More customization options are available in areas such as font, appearance, and style.In addition, it is now possible to set a dial depending on the focus mode you are in, as in iOS 16.
More powerful sports and fitness tracking
With the new update, many new exercise features of the Apple Watch that further enhance the experience are offered to users. First, more specific and customizable skins are introduced while training. Turn the Digital Crown for new views of metrics like Activity Rings, Heart Rate Zones, Power and Elevation.
Advanced sleep tracking
With watchOS 9, how long you’ve spent in REM, superficial or deep sleep stages and when you wake up is now shown in more detail. However, sleep pattern tracking is also more detailed. Measurements such as breathing and heart rate experienced during the night can be followed from the Health application of your iPhone.
Calendar app will now work
New events can now be created on your Apple Watch device. With the update, these events will be able to be observed and edited. Similarly, it is now possible to add or edit reminders. Frankly, although this feature may seem small, it should be noted that it is extremely important in terms of reducing dependency on the iPhone.
Productivity
Important steps are taken in the fields of productivity and accessibility with the watchOS 9 release. If you are actively using your Watch, incoming notifications will now be displayed as a single line. With your wrist down, the entire screen will be covered. It also makes it easier to access your apps running in the background.
Other watchOS 9 features
Watch Dials
- Astronomy now displays current cloud status and star chart
- The Moon includes a Chinese calendar, Hebrew calendar, or Hijri calendar in which the lively rendered Moon phases surround the Moon
- Playtime features animated numbers designed by Chicago artist Joi Fulton and offers options to edit the background color
- Metropoliten features a genre-specific watch face with numbers that constantly change in style and thickness as you rotate the Digital Crown
- Nike Analog, Nike Bounce, Nike Compact, Nike Digital, and Nike Hybrid are now also available on more Apple Watch models, all featuring a Nike Swoosh that starts Nike Run Club on tap
- Detailed complications, Chinese alphabet options and background color editor available in Breath, California, Modular, Typography and more
- Portraits now also supports portraits of dogs, cats and landscapes with the ability to customize the color of the background or the entire photo
- Ability to select the watch face to display when a Focus is active
Training
- Episode Durations, Episodes, Activity Rings etc. Ability to customize and scroll through multiple workout views during workouts, including
- The Heart Rate Zones view uses maximum and resting heart rate values to create personalized zones and displays the time spent in each zone
- elevation view; Displays current elevation and elevation gain and provides a visual map of your elevation progress during a Run (Outdoor), Cycling (Outdoor), Wheelchair Running Pace (Outdoor), Hiking, Walking (Outdoor), and Wheelchair Walking Pace (Outdoor) workout
- The Running Power view shows an instantaneous measurement in watts of how much power is produced during your run (Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch Series 6 and later)
- Running metrics such as Stride Length, Ground Contact Time, and Vertical Oscillation in workout views can be used to monitor running efficiency and identify trends (Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch Series 6 and later)
- Private Training; Lets you create workouts based on time, distance or clear target, with sets of repetitive intervals that can be automatically or manually advanced to your next set
- Pace provides a workout experience that helps you maintain your desired pace using alerts and a custom workout view.
- Multisport Training, Open Water/Pool Swimming, Cycling (Indoor/Outdoor), Running (Indoor/Outdoor) training and auto-detection of next stage, supports duathlon or triathlon training
- Training alerts; customizable for metrics such as pace, power, cadence, and heart rate zones
- Pool Swimming workouts auto-detects the swimming board
- The SWOLF swimming efficiency measurement is calculated by adding the number of strokes and the time to complete the lap.
Fitness+
- On-screen trainer directions including intensity goals, Paddles per minute for Rowing, RPMs for Bike, and percent incline for Treadmill
- Trainer referrals and personal fitness metrics are displayed on screen for compatible third-party TVs and devices
Compass
- Redesigned compass app with more detailed information and magnified views (Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch Series 5 and later)
- The primary dial supports both an analog compass dial and a digital view with up-to-date bearing and heading information.
- Magnified view includes analog bearing view as well as your elevation, slope and coordinates
- Compass Waypoints allow you to mark your location or a point of interest (Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch Series 6 and later)
- Reversing uses GPS to trace back the way you came if you get lost or disoriented (Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch Series 6 and newer)
Sleep
- Sleep stage tracking using accelerometer and heart rate sensor data to detect REM, Superficial and Deep sleep as well as time spent awake
- The Comparisons graph in Health on iPhone provides a view of heart rate and respiratory rate, as well as time spent asleep
Medicines
- Features to record used and planned medications as needed, including amount taken and time taken
- Ability to view your medication plan and what you have recorded during the day
- Reminders to save scheduled medication
- With the Medicines complication you can see your plan or open the app quickly
Atrial Fibrillation History
- Weekly notifications with an estimate of percent of time spent in atrial fibrillation in the previous calendar week
- Highlights show on what day of the week and time of day atrial fibrillation is highest
- Tracking lifestyle factors in the Health app on iPhone that can affect time spent in atrial fibrillation, including Exercise, Sleep, Weight, Alcohol Consumption, and Mindfulness Minutes
- Shareable PDF for more informational correspondence with healthcare providers
- Users 22 years and older diagnosed with atrial fibrillation are supported
Family Settings
- The Podcasts app is now available and offers the ability to search, download, watch shows and discover tailor-made content
- Extended third-party email support to Yahoo and Outlook
- Contact photos can now be edited and shared
Accessibility
- Extended Quick Actions with AssistiveTouch to play and pause in Now Playing, pause and resume in Workout, take a photo with Camera, and switch between map view and turn-by-turn directions in Maps
- Bluetooth keyboard pairing with Apple Watch
- Apple Watch Mirroring lets you remotely control your Apple Watch from your paired iPhone via AirPlay and supports assistive technologies such as Voice Control or Switch Control as an alternative to tapping the Apple Watch screen
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