Five WatchOS 11 Features Apple Didn’t Tell Us About at WWDC
This year’s WWDC was a huge event for Apple, with the company unveiling its latest operating systems for the Apple Watch , iPhone , Mac and iPad . Along with these new operating systems, the company also showed off Apple Intelligence , the company’s custom artificial intelligence that will power various features coming to its devices later this year.
Now that we’ve had a chance to take a look at the newest Apple Watch update, watchOS 11, there are a few features that Apple didn’t highlight that I think are worth discussing.
Sleep detection
I’ve already covered this in more detail today , but I think it’s worth a double dip here because it’s such a cool feature.
Before watchOS 11, you had to use the Sleep Focus feature for the Apple Watch to actually track your sleep. It also couldn’t track anything like naps. However, with the release of watchOS 11, the situation is changing. We hope this is just the first step towards a fully automated sleep tracking system.
Finally you can change your ringtone
I’m honestly surprised Apple didn’t show this off because so many have wanted it since the very first Apple Watch came out. In watchOS 11, you can now change the ringtone on your Apple Watch.
This includes ringtone, text alert, and even alerts for reminders, calendar, and your email notifications. Apple has also added some new sounds to Apple Watch to give you more customization options. You can find all of these options in Settings > Sound & Haptics .
The Translate app is now built into Apple Watch.
Translate isn’t a new app for the Apple Watch, but before watchOS 11 you had to go out of your way to download it. However, your Apple-powered smartwatch will now come with the feature pre-installed.
This means that more people will have access to the Translator app than ever before – I know a lot of people who didn’t even know it existed. What’s even cooler is that Apple plans to offer real-time translation using an app on your Apple Watch.
Smart Stack shows information about what’s currently playing in interactive activities
Apple noted that watchOS 11 finally brings Live Activity to the Apple Watch. This includes things like tracking your Starbucks order, sporting event results, information about your concert seats, and more. However, Apple hasn’t indicated that this will also affect your “now playing” information.
In watchOS 11, if you’re watching a YouTube video, listening to music, or anything else that used to trigger the “now playing” screen on your Apple Watch, you’ll now see a handy new widget in the Smart Stack. You can pause your music or video directly from the widget, or tap it to go to the Now Playing screen.
It’s a nice little feature that I like much better than the full-blown Now Playing window, but if you prefer the old way, you can turn off media enablement in the Live Actions menu.
Apple Watch Ultra gets a new workout complication
Unfortunately, this latest hidden gem is only for my fellow Apple Watch Ultra users. If you wear Apple Watch Ultra or Ultra 2, you’ll be able to take advantage of the new workout complication on the Ultra watch face. The complication appears along the outer edge of the watch face, allowing you to easily track your current progress.
This isn’t a big change, but it’s likely to be a useful one for gym and fitness enthusiasts.
As future watchOS 11 betas roll out, we’ll likely discover more hidden features that Apple hasn’t highlighted. If you want to try out the new features in watchOS 11 but don’t want to wait until fall, you can always install the beta now. However, I would recommend that most people avoid beta versions of watchOS , as you won’t be able to easily go back to a previous version.
If you want to install the beta, simply open the Watch app on your iPhone, go to General > Software Update > Beta Updates , and then select watchOS 11 Developer Beta to get started.