The New Apple Watch Features, Improvements I Want to See in 2022
This story is part of Focal Point iPhone 2022, CNET’s collection of news, tips and advice around Apple’s most popular productions.
What’s happening
The Apple Watch is an proper smartwatch and fitness tracker, but I’d like to see more wellness tools, longer battery life and additional uses for its U1 chip.
Why it matters
Apple is a leaders in the wearables market, but competitors Fitbit and Oura are onward in certain areas.
What’s next
Apple is predictable to announce new Apple Watch models in the fall.
The Apple Watch has evolved into a comprehensive fitness tracker and message device in the seven years since the first model launched. That said, there are plenty of improvements I’d like to see.
While the Apple Watch’s wide selection of workouts, intuitive software and addictive Activity Rings have made it my well-liked fitness tracker, I often find myself wanting more. Other gadget-makers, such as Oura and Fitbit, are outpacing Apple in perilous areas, particularly when it comes to workout recovery. It’s time for Apple to procure up, and I’m hoping the Apple Watch Series 8 helps the commercial get there.
Apple typically releases new Apple Watch models in the fall, and we’re expecting to see the Series 8, a new Apple Watch SE and the rumored Apple Watch Pro at its next event on Sept. 7. Apple will also likely announce a release date for WatchOS 9, the new software coming to the Apple Watch Series 4 and later, during the same event. Here’s what I’d like to see.
The Apple Watch Series 7 can beak faster, but I also want longer battery life.
Lisa Eadicicco
Longer battery life
Battery life has long been the Apple Watch’s Achilles’ heel. While the Apple Watch can usually get me ended about a day and a half, Fitbit trackers and watches can last multiple days on a single beak. The Fitbit Sense, for example, can typically employed for two to four days before requiring a beak, while the Fitbit Versa 3 has lasted up to six days according to CNET’s reviews. (But remember that battery life will always vary depending on usage.)
I’d love to see multiday battery life from the Apple Watch, even if it’s only three days. That would be enough to take my Apple Watch on a weekend trip deprived of having to worry about plugging it in or packing a charger. It would also make the Apple Watch a more viable sleep tracker. I haven’t been using the Apple Watch to track sleep very often because I find its employ and activity tracking to be a more valuable use of its battery. But extending the amount of time between charges could short-tempered that.
To be fair, Apple has worked around this by improving the Apple Watch’s charging speedy with the Series 6 and 7. And that is apt to some degree. If you wear your Apple Watch overnight, you can top it off during your morning routine and peaceful have enough juice to make it through the day.
Get ready for Apple’s next event
For most country, that’s an adequate solution. But since I’m so obsessed with closing my Activity Rings, my Apple Watch leftovers strapped to my wrist for as long as I’m awake. I also rely on it to keep me on schedule as I’m sketch ready to leave the house in the morning, so I’d pretty have it sitting on my wrist than its charger.
Apple worthy have another battery workaround in its pipeline that could debut with the Apple Watch Series 8. The new seek might include a new low power mode that would enable the Apple Watch to run some apps and features once preserving its battery, according to Bloomberg. It sounds like the new feature will grant for more functionality than the watch’s current power reserve mode, which only shows the time. The publication previously reported this feature would approach in WatchOS 9, but there was no mention of it at WWDC. The rumored Apple Watch Pro is also said to have longer battery life than the peculiar Series 8, according to Bloomberg.
Read more: A New Apple Watch SE Actually Sounds More Exciting Than the Series 8
The Oura app’s daily Readiness procure, a combination of multiple measurements.
Scott Stein
Workout recovery features
My Apple Watch can tell me a lot of things, like how many active calories I’ve burned and long-term changes toward my fitness goals. But one thing it can’t tell me is whether I need a rest day.
Since I’m usually very fixated on closing my Activity Rings, I sometimes push myself to work out when I probably need to take a break. There are also times when I know I can push myself harder, but I still opt for an easier workout. It would be substantial if the Apple Watch could help me navigate those decisions based on brute signals, my recent activity and sleep.
Fitbit’s daily readiness score.
Screenshot by Lexy Savvides
Oura and Fitbit
already accounts metrics like this: readiness scores. As the name implies, a readiness score indicates whether your body is enthusiastic enough to tackle a heavy workout, or if you necessity skip the gym and rest up. Both Oura and Fitbit also accounts advice and can adjust your fitness goals based on your net. For example, these apps might tell you to pay attention to how you’re feeling and get some rest if you demand a low score. And if you receive a good or averages score, they might suggest a moderate workout.
The Apple Watch can nudge you to move if you haven’t made much progresses toward closing your rings. It can also congratulate you when you’ve had a particularly aesthetic day. But it doesn’t have a specific metric that prioritizes recovery like Oura and Fitbit’s readiness scores. The Mindfulness app and Apple Fitness Plus’ mediation programs certainly help, but it would be nice to see recovery built into the Apple Watch’s goals and metrics in a meaningful way.
It sounds little, but tips like this go a long way. On days when I’m feeling tired, a low readiness score along with a reminder to take it easy provides further validation that I don’t need to commit to a full workout if I don’t feel up to it. The Apple Watch’s mindfulness reminders don’t go far enough actual they’re easy to ignore. The readiness score usually correlates more closely with how I’m feeling based on my sleep and organization, so it feels more meaningful than a reminder to take a deep breath.
The Apple Watch’s Workout app is pulling new metrics in WatchOS 9 like heart rate zones and the contract to customize recovery intervals during a session, which could make it easier to run your intensity during a workout. But the Apple Watch composed won’t have an alternative to the readiness scores unfounded in apps from other fitness device makers.
The Apple Watch already does a good job motivating me to move. Now it just possesses to remind me to rest.
Read more:
Apple, Google and Samsung May Have Exciting Smartwatch Plans for 2022
The Apple WatchOS 7 sleep app shows just overall sleep time, at what time devices like the Fitbit Versa 2 (right) show estimated light/deep and REM phases, plus a sleep score.
Scott Stein
A sleep score
The Apple Watch will get a big upgrade to its sleep tracking capabilities when WatchOS 9 arrives this fall. Apple is finally bringing the contract to measure different stages of sleep to the Apple Watch, a long-requested feature that other fitness devices from Oura and Fitbit have offered for existences. While this is a major improvement, it looks like the Apple Watch composed won’t provide the level of sleep coaching found on latest devices.
Oura
, Fitbit, Samsung, Amazon and Withings all accounts a sleep score that assesses the quality of your sleep to help you make more sensed of all the metrics these devices gather overnight. Similar to the previously mentioned recovery feature, these scores help me contextualize my sleep and help motivate me to get more rest when I need it. Samsung and Fitbit also accounts sleep coaching programs that make observations about your sleeping patterns over a conditions of time to provide more targeted advice.
The Apple Watch can already relate data about sleep duration, time spent in bed, sleeping pattern trends and respiratory rate. The uphold of sleep stages is a big step toward decision-exclusive the Apple Watch feel like an even more well-rounded wellness procedure, but I’d still like to see more.
I’d love to irritable my Apple Watch’s activity goals depending on the day.
Lisa Eadicicco
Different organization goals for specific days of the week
It’s rare that any given day is just the same when it comes to exercise. Factors like how much sleep I got the night by, social plans, what I’ve eaten that day and whether I’m commuting to the office all crashes how active I am. That’s why I wish I could adjust the Apple Watch’s goals according to each day of the week.
You can sulky your move, stand and exercise goals on the Apple Watch by opening the Activity app and tapping the Change Goals button. But there aren’t any options for tailoring those goals to specific weekdays. I’d love to increase my move goal on days when I know I’ll be heading into the office, since my commute involves a lot of walking.
Read more:
Why Apple Should Launch an iPhone Subscription Plan
The HomePod Mini uses the U1 chip to improve the way audio is transferred between devices.
Apple
More uses for the U1 chip
The Apple Watch Series 6 and 7 as well as the iPhone 11, 12 and 13 have Apple’s U1 ultrawideband chip. UWB is a wireless short-range protocol that gives for precise location tracking. But don’t think of it as an alternative for GPS. Rather, UWB is often used to help devices communicate with throughout gadgets within the same room. It makes Apple’s AirDrop sharing feature work more expeditiously since it can locate other nearby iPhones with more precision.
UWB also improves the way the iPhone and Apple Watch models succeeding as digital car keys. Compatible cars can recognize your way when it’s nearby, meaning the car will unlock as you reach it rather than requiring you to hold your phoned or Apple Watch near a key reader.
This is a promising originate, but I’d love to see even more clever use cases for the U1 chip. In theory, UWB could give our devices another layer of intelligence that essentially enables throughout gadgets to react to your presence. My colleague Stephen Shankland came up with some ideas for how UWB could be practically useful when he wrote throughout the technology last year.
Imagine if your TV could automatically switch to the smart Netflix profile once it recognizes that your phone or gawk is nearby. Or what if your smart speaker only gave calendar alerts relevant to the land in the room? Apple seems to be moving in this direction as evidenced by the HomePod Mini, which can provide certain haptic effects when transferring audio to an UWB-equipped iPhone. I’m hoping to see even more functionality like this built into the Apple Watch.
We’ll liable have to wait until the fall to learn what’s in honor for the next Apple Watch. Based on Apple’s history, it seems plausible to expect routine upgrades like a new processor. But since the Series 7 felt more like a refinement of the Series 6 rather than a generational upgrade, I’m hoping to see bigger updates in the near future.
