Apple has officially announced watchOS 11 at this year’s WWDC. While watchOS 10 was rebuilt from the ground up, the 10-year anniversary of this smart wearable sees a few notable new additions. New features include new workout and Health improvements, a new Vitals app and more.
Arriving to users in the fall, a developer beta will be available after the event.
What’s New in watchOS 11
One of the largest features to arrive to watchOS 11 is enhancements to the way users track their health and workouts. Users will be able to measure the intensity of their workout through an effort rating estimate, based on factors such as weight, age and heart rate. New rest day options and the ability to customize what day of the week it is will be available as well.
For Health, a new app called Vitals allows users to monitor their health statistics daily. Users will also receive notifications if any values go out of determined ranges. There is also updates for Cycle Tracking as well.
A new Check-in feature allows users to notify those close to them when they arrived to a location. The new update also provides updates in real-time through Live Activities. There is also an update to the way the device recommends photos on Faces.
There will also be RCS support for watchOS 11. Additional improvements include updates to Smart Stack, new Double Tap API, interactive widgets and improvements to maps for workouts.
How to Update to watchOS 11
The new version of watchOS arrives in the fall. The developer beta will be available the day of WWDC, and public betas will be soon to follow. Remember that you can always check for an update to your Watch via Settings > General > Software Update. You can do this either directly from your Watch or through the Watch app on your iPhone.
If you’re looking to enter the public or developer betas, you can find more information here. Expect around July to start seeing betas drop.
Along with watchOS 11, Apple also announced Apple Intelligence and a wealth of OS improvements at WWDC 2024.