Since its reveal atWWDC 2024this June , I ’ve been incredibly eager to try Apple’swatchOS 11 update . What was ab initio wait to be a small , tepid update , watchOS 11 quickly prove to be much more exciting than we ab initio thought .
There are the big stylemark features , of course — specifically the ability to pause your activity goal , plus Apple ’s new Vitals app . But there are plenty of small features , too , and they ’re just as deserving of your tending .
I recently had the opportunity to talk with Eric Charles , older manager of watchOS product selling , and Lori Hylan - Cho , senior engineering science manager for watchOS , to learn a fleck more about these less - talked - about prospect of watchOS 11 . They ’re easy to look across , but they could seriously touch on how you practice your Apple Watch every single day .
Big changes to Double Tap
When Apple added Double Tap to theApple Watch Series 9andApple Watch Ultra 2last twelvemonth , the feature feel underutilized , to say the least . The gesture works well and is a fun manner to verify the smartwatch , but it just doesn’tdoall that much .
WatchOS 11 exchange this in a match of big way of life . Once you download watchOS 11 , you ’ll be able to scroll through all of your apps using the treble rap gesture . “ Apps will get that automatically , ” Charles told me . “ All of the apps with scrolling views or tab views , a exploiter can expend the Double water tap gesture to go through them . It will be such a bully experience ; make it a picayune flake more convenient . ” It ’s avowedly a little change , but it ’s one I ’m wind up to have .
The other Double water faucet variety , and arguably the more exciting one , is Apple ’s Modern API for the motion . This allows developer to use Double spigot in their apps however they ’d like . Charles says developers “ may have to rethink ” how their apps are lay out to make the gesture work precisely how they want , but it has the potential to ultimately realize treble Tap ’s dead on target electric potential .
In the Sprout app , for example , Charles tell me that the app ’s developer had to “ come up with a fresh mind ” for where to put its sleep - trailing release so it could be started / stopped with Double Tap . That entail it ’ll in all likelihood take some prison term for all of your favorite apps to add Double Tap support , but the waiting should be worth it . I ’ve waited nearly a year for a reason to use Double strike more often , and watchOS 11 is in the end doing something about that .
Smart Stack and Live Activities
Even more exciting , at least for me , are watchOS 11 ’s improvements to Smart Stack . preface in watchOS 10 last twelvemonth , Smart Stack give up you to tot widgets below your lookout man cheek and makes them accessible with a immediate turning of your Apple Watch ’s crown .
Smart Stack visually face the same in watchOS 11 , but it ’s alotsmarter . Smart Stack already tries to surface contrivance it thinks are most relevant , but in watchOS 11 , it can do so much more effectively based on the time , your location , and other factors . For deterrent example , after you connect your AirPods to your Apple Watch , an Apple Music widget could come out in the Smart Stack .
First - party apps like Apple Music will take advantage of these new smarts , and third - political party apps can too . Thanks to the existing Smart Stack API and the improvements made in watchOS 11 , Hylan - Cho says developers will be able to “ think about when their widgets would be most relevant . ”
Speaking of gizmo , they can also now have interactive element in watchOS 11 . Developers can now use a fresh widget invention that can include up to three actionable buttons — for model , the Messages doodad shows three contact you could tap to alternate into those conversations , while the Workout gimmick showing shortcuts to your three favorite workouts .
Similarly , watchOS 11 brings Live Activities to the Apple Watch — and the way Apple is adding them is passably nerveless . As Hylan - Cho explicate to me , “ developer who have build Live Activities for the iPhone will have them show up on watchOS 11 . ” In other word , the Dynamic Island version of your iPhone ’s Live Activities — such as the progression of your DoorDash purchase order or Flighty showing how much time is remaining before your flight ’s deviation — will mechanically seem on the Smart Stack in watchOS 11 . It ’s jolly cool .
Developers can customize these Live action to be well suit for the Apple Watch if they want , and Hylan - Cho evidence me it require just “ a few line of codification ” to tailor-make them for watchOS 11 . All of this fathom a lot likethe AI place projection screen pitch Nothing made sooner this year , and I ca n’t wait to get my hands on it .
Other changes to health and fitness
Finally , there are other changes coming to the wellness / fittingness side of your Apple Watch . Beyond the Vitals app and the ability to pause bodily function rings , Charles says there are “ lots of exciting young APIs for the health and wellness quad . ”
For one , the customs separation and workout screen ( part of the Custom Workouts API ) is now uncommitted for swim . Charles says this include Modern distance and time goal for swimmers , which third - political party apps can use . I ’m not a natator myself , but if I were , this would be a nice touch .
Further , watchOS 11 allows developers neat controller over their tradition workout screens , specifically the freedom to rename the measure of a custom exercise . For model , if you produce a custom workout in the TrainingPeaks app , it could now say the specific step of the impost workout you ’re doing — such as “ Freestyle ” and “ remain , ” as demo in the image above . As Charles explains it : “ Now you may actually utilize a new display name property and give those stride literal name calling . ”
Small updates make the difference
I did n’t need any more convincing to be excited about watchOS 11 . The changes to how move ring piece of work , plus all of the hope behind the Vitals app , were enough to suck up me in . However , after chatting with Charles and Hylan - Cho about these smaller function of the update , I ’m completely sell .
Is watchOS 11 completely reinvent the Apple Watch from the ground up ? Not at all . But I do suppose the changes Apple is make are a big mass . I ’d still wish to see even more done to Double Tap , but Apple ’s heading in the veracious direction with it . I already love how Smart Stack works today , and the change coming to it in watchOS 11 are incredibly promising . Although the health / fitness genus Apis do n’t impact me in person with how I use my Apple Watch , it ’s encouraging to see Apple make watchOS more capable and approachable to jock of all types .
As we were enclose up our chat , Charles end the conversation by enounce these change in watchOS “ can add so much more utility program ” and that they open up “ opportunities I ’m really frantic about ; surprise and pleasure second . ”
The watchOS 11 public genus Beta is usable now , and the update should be ready for wide release afterwards this fall .
