Apple's watchOS 3 for Apple Watch focuses on speed, instant information
User complaints about slowness on Apple Watch have not gone unheard, as Apple is planning major improvements to speed and responsiveness with watchOS 3, including background loading of data, a quick-access Control Center, and dynamic new uses for the side button.
In a demonstration at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference, watchOS chief Kevin Lynch showed off the new features coming to Apple Watch later this year. The main focus is speed: favorite apps will be kept in memory, background updates will pre-cache data, and apps will launch instantly.
Lynch showed off a third-party app on watchOS 2, then demonstrated how it will launch about seven times faster with watchOS 3.
Apple has also updated how the side button works on the Apple Watch, with quick access to apps in a new dock. When scrolling through the dock, apps are presented live, so they can be previewed without actually being opened.
Apple is also making it easier to change settings and access quick links on the Apple Watch with a new Control Center, borrowing the swipe-up gesture already found on iOS.
watchOS 3 will also make it easier to respond to text messages directly from the Apple Watch, with a series of quick responses instantly available. A new feature called Scribble also allows users to draw the characters they want to send for a message, and a text can be composed from a user's wrist. Scribble works in both English and Chinese.
Apple is also planning to launch a series of new customizable watch faces in watchOS 3, including a fitness-focused one that presents activity rings in a large size, and a new Minnie Mouse option. watchOS 3 also makes it easier to switch between watch faces with a swipe.
For emergencies, Apple is also introducing a new feature called SOS, which can be invoked by pressing and holding the side button. Doing this can call 911 or emergency services over cellular or Wi-Fi. This will also notify emergency contacts with a map of the user's current location.
Activity rings are also set to become more social with watchOS 3, allowing users to see each others' step counts, calories burned, exercises and more, even from third-party apps. Data like racing heart rate or "smack talk" can be sent to Activity Friends in the new watchOS.
Activity tracking in watchOS 3 has also been updated to help users in wheelchairs in a more specialized manner. For example, the "Time to Stand" hourly alert on Apple Watch can be changed to "Time to Roll." Movement tracking for different types of wheelchair mobility has also been programmed into the operating system.
Apple is also working on a deep breathing and medication app called "Breathe" that will be baked into watchOS 3. It will track heart rate and present users with prompts to help them relax.
watchOS 3 is available to developers starting today. It will launch as a free update for all Apple Watch users this fall.
In a demonstration at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference, watchOS chief Kevin Lynch showed off the new features coming to Apple Watch later this year. The main focus is speed: favorite apps will be kept in memory, background updates will pre-cache data, and apps will launch instantly.
Lynch showed off a third-party app on watchOS 2, then demonstrated how it will launch about seven times faster with watchOS 3.
Apple has also updated how the side button works on the Apple Watch, with quick access to apps in a new dock. When scrolling through the dock, apps are presented live, so they can be previewed without actually being opened.
Apple is also making it easier to change settings and access quick links on the Apple Watch with a new Control Center, borrowing the swipe-up gesture already found on iOS.
watchOS 3 will also make it easier to respond to text messages directly from the Apple Watch, with a series of quick responses instantly available. A new feature called Scribble also allows users to draw the characters they want to send for a message, and a text can be composed from a user's wrist. Scribble works in both English and Chinese.
Apple is also planning to launch a series of new customizable watch faces in watchOS 3, including a fitness-focused one that presents activity rings in a large size, and a new Minnie Mouse option. watchOS 3 also makes it easier to switch between watch faces with a swipe.
For emergencies, Apple is also introducing a new feature called SOS, which can be invoked by pressing and holding the side button. Doing this can call 911 or emergency services over cellular or Wi-Fi. This will also notify emergency contacts with a map of the user's current location.
Activity rings are also set to become more social with watchOS 3, allowing users to see each others' step counts, calories burned, exercises and more, even from third-party apps. Data like racing heart rate or "smack talk" can be sent to Activity Friends in the new watchOS.
Activity tracking in watchOS 3 has also been updated to help users in wheelchairs in a more specialized manner. For example, the "Time to Stand" hourly alert on Apple Watch can be changed to "Time to Roll." Movement tracking for different types of wheelchair mobility has also been programmed into the operating system.
Apple is also working on a deep breathing and medication app called "Breathe" that will be baked into watchOS 3. It will track heart rate and present users with prompts to help them relax.
watchOS 3 is available to developers starting today. It will launch as a free update for all Apple Watch users this fall.
Comments
/s
The speed is the killer enhancement, for sure.
to the trolls & haters who say "they should have done this from the start" -- go home. seriously. youll only comfortable at home w/ your parents, sheltered from the real world... cuz that isnt how things work in real life. ideas & products dont just spring forth fully-formed and perfect. things get better over time as people work with them and improve them. software is iterative development. Phone OS 1 didnt even have cut & paste -- should apple have delayed the iPhone until they had it? until they had native maps? until they had icloud? etc etc... no, no, and no.
so please, get real or go home.
Everything in time. The original iPhone OS wasn't all that great either. It was SLOW, buggy, not many features, etc. As time went on look what it does today. Nothing is great out the door.
Best
Support makes the difference.
The difference between the Watch and the original iPhone is that nothing like the original iPhone really existed. The standard was Blackberry, and customers embraced the new superior technology, buggy though it was. The Watch is a companion to the iPhone, and so much of its acceptance depends on whether it actually makes a persons life easier than pulling the iPhone out of their pocket. When the apps are slower than just pulling out your phone, that takes a lot of the usefulness out of it, especially considering the cost. And that's why at a minimum, Apple should have made great pains to get the responsiveness right from the start, particularly in relation to the iPhone, and the competition. There's studies on the internet that show customers will shop on a different website if it loads too slowly. The same is true for an iPhone accessory. I had assumed that the processor was the problem with the current watch, as did many others ... what's stunning from today's revelation is that it's not. It was the software all along. But now they've fixed it, so great. But I do wonder how many potential customers were turned off by how slowly the watch ran, and passed on it. It's a legitimate question.
I do like the 911 button. And it has me re-thinking the watch for my Mom. However, I do wonder what happens when you can't push the button, because of a fall or unconsciousness. I see this more as a silent alarm in some respects, though when the 911 operator comes on, there goes the silence ... I also wonder how likely an accidental button press might be. I've certainly reached into a cabinet, or otherwise pressed up against something, and pressed buttons on my watches before. Hopefully the countdown is linger than most such accidental presses.
I really hope Minnie Mouse was a tease of things to come. I doubt they'd release watch faces during WWDC anyway. There's going to be a whole store associated with it, and will really have the greatest impact during the Watch 2 keynote. Considering the rumors of how little may change, they sort of need all they can get to make the announcement special. I wonder if the new faces will be restricted to the Watch 2, requiring some kind of new watch face co-processor? Otherwise the incentive to upgrade will be minimal -- think about it: a simple software upgrade seems to have removed the speed issue many thought was processor related, so if it runs new watch faces, then what's left, assuming no new fresh design? A barometer? GPS (which not everyone needs)? A FaceTime camera (which not everyone wants)?
Not being negative here, just aiming to understand the trade-offs.
As for others' questions about how this will affect battery life, I imagine it will, to some extent. That's actually one reason this particular solution had to wait. With a lot of real-world data available to them now, Apple has a better idea of how much wiggle room is available with regard to battery life. I recharge my watch nightly, but there's almost always a significant amount of battery life left for me. Assuming I'm not unusual in this regard, Apple knows that if they chew up another 10% of the battery in order to deliver quicker loading of apps with background data already present, they're not likely to cause a huge uproar. On the initial release a year ago, slow app loading was a much smaller issue than assuring battery life would reliably last a full day for most users.
If they had initially pushed for quicker apps, but missed the mark on battery life, lots of users would have reported their watches couldn't last past dinner time, and that news would have overshadowed everything else. That would have been much worse than the current circumstance, and the solution would have been to slow down the apps to improve battery life, which would also have been a PR disaster. It makes total sense to first assure that the thing has basic functionality in the real world, and then make improvements from there.