watchOS 8: 5 features we expect, want, and hope to see

There are plenty of methods we need the Apple Watch to be higher, and most of them wouldn’t even require shopping for a brand new watch. Apple’s smartwatch is already far more succesful than any of its opponents, and exterior of vastly bettering battery life, the {hardware} itself doesn’t actually need to get higher. The software program, however, ought to constantly enhance. Apple has to stroll a fantastic line between including helpful features and rising complexity on a tool with a 1.5-inch show, however there’s nonetheless a whole lot of room to develop. Here are 5 features we need to see when Apple introduces watchOS Eight later this yr.

iPhone proximity alerts

I nonetheless can’t determine why I can’t have my Apple Watch notify me once I wander greater than 10 ft or so away from my iPhone. Using Bluetooth sign energy to approximate distance is already a solved drawback—Apple does it for the “unlock your Mac with your Apple Watch” characteristic. Just permit me to optionally activate a mode the place the Watch and iPhone each beep and the watch faucets my wrist after they’re now not “nearby” to one another. It may even be location-aware, so if it’s linked to your private home Wi-Fi it needn’t buzz. Just give us a fast toggle in Control Center and an possibility in Settings not to alert me when we’re at house.

FaceEquipment for builders

Users have been begging for a “Faces Store” for Apple Watch for the reason that first day we strapped it on our wrists. Granted, we don’t actually need to be nickel-and-dimed for a bunch of Baby Yoda—sorry Grogu—watch faces, and Apple most likely doesn’t need the trouble of making an attempt to maintain copyright and trademark infringements out of a watch face retailer, however there has to be some center floor.

A carefully-managed FaceEquipment framework for builders and strict guidelines for a Face Store may stop a lot of the issues proper off the bat. Like widgets for iOS, Apple may produce all kinds of artwork belongings for palms, backgrounds, numbers, borders, and different features that don’t run afoul of different firm’s claims (or are formally licensed), then builders may combine and match, tweak measurement and place, colour, supplies, and extra to make hundreds of distinctive faces. And just like the App Store, Face Store ought to have human-minded guardrails to stop overpriced faces, faces that show advertisements, faces that require particular apps, and so on.

Auro-changing faces

Speaking of watch faces, it might be nice if the Apple Watch may robotically change them situationally. We know we can add a number of faces to our Watched and swipe via them, however that’s annoying and unintuitive and most individuals most likely don’t do it fairly often. But setting completely different day or night time faces? Or geo-tag areas for various faces so we robotically see a special face at house, at work, on the gymnasium? Or even simply biking via 5 or 10 faces all through the day? That has actual worth.

Customizable rings

Activities don’t carry the identical weight to everybody, however we’ve been caught with the Move, Exercise, and Stand rings since day one. The Apple Watch can now accomplish that way more, so why not a Breathe ring, a Sleep ring, or a Calories ring (as recorded by one of many many calorie-counting meals apps)?

Apple

I’d a lot moderately be motivated to shut a Sleep ring than the Stand ring, and it might arguably have a much bigger influence on my well being and well-being.

A Notes app

All of Apple’s default apps needs to be out there throughout all Apple’s gadgets in a means that is smart for that machine. It’s ridiculous to me that there’s an Apple News app on my watch however no Notes app. It’s not that I believe most individuals would need to take notes on their watch, nevertheless it positive could be helpful to pull up the notes we have already got.

Leif Johnson/IDG

We wished for it last year, and we didn’t get it. Let’s hope that is the yr. It shouldn’t be arduous, as there are many third-party notice taking apps with Apple Watch assist that work nice. But we’re partial to Notes on our iPhone and we’d like to find a way to apply it to our wrist too.