Apple Watch 'Series 6,' 'watchOS 7' may have shareable faces, kid modes

Posted:
in Apple Watch edited July 2020
The next Apple Watch and major release of watchOS could offer features to share customized watch faces with other users, along with a new "pro" version of the Infograph watch face that adds a tachymeter to the collection of selectable elements, and child-friendly elements.




Speculation has already started for the "Apple Watch Series 6," with suggestion of improvements to the ECG and a new blood oxygen detection system proposed for the device. Not all new features Apple will announce at its launch will pertain to the new hardware, with some software-specific changes likely to also affect some earlier models.

In exploration of code allegedly from iOS 14 seen by 9to5Mac, Apple Watch users will be able to share their watch face configurations with other people. While it is unclear if specific watch faces will be shareable between Apple Watch units directly, it is claimed there is the ability to share configurations for faces with others, which may be interpreted by the watch to configure a watch face it has installed or access to on the paired iPhone.

The configuration settings will include colors, styles, and complication selections, which can be shared as files and previewable in the Files app. They will also reportedly be sharable by the share sheet within the Watch app in iOS, and can be passed along via AirDrop.

At this time, there is apparently no sign of third-party watch face support within watchOS 7.

Along with sharing configurations, a new watch face will be introduced. "Infograph Pro" will follow on from Infograph and Infograph Modular from the Apple Watch Series 4, with the key change being the inclusion of a tachymeter. An analog scale that measures speed and distance based on travel time, the feature is more used on analog watch faces than digital versions.

It is not clear how the tachymeter will be represented on the watch face.

Photo watch faces are also touted, where users will be able to personalize the face using images stored within the iPhone or Apple Watch Photos app. The face will be able to cycle through image collections in an album whenever the Apple Watch is woken up.

Image sources for the face will include individual photos, albums, and shared albums, with the latter able to be a jointly-accessible album that can be viewed and contributed to by other users.

Apple will also add in features in watchOS 7 to make it more usable for children. While it is currently possible to activate multiple Apple Watches to one iPhone, it is only possible to operate one at a time, with all linked to the same account. Under watchOS 7, it is claimed a mode will allow a parent to activate a child's Apple Watch on the parent's iPhone, instead of the child requiring one.

The management will also allow for a parent to designate trusted contacts, music the child can listen to, and possibly other controls. A "Schooltime" feature will potentially let parents limit what apps and features could be accessible at specific times of day, such as during class.

Other changes touted in watchOS 7 include the return of the sleep tracking rumors, a Control Center on Apple Watch, and a change of architecture for Apple Watch apps that no longer require apps to be based on extensions.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    Kid-friendly? Great googly moogly! When I was young, parents didn't buy multi-hundred dollar gadgets for all us kids. We considered ourselves lucky if we got 50¢ for candy.
    PetrolDavetomjunior39mac daddy zee
  • Reply 2 of 9
    neilmneilm Posts: 985member
    Why when I was a kid we had to use a sun dial to tell the time.
    And we had to make our own, out of dinosaur bones — after killing the dinosaur ourselves.
    mike1Beatsmbenz1962jony0mac daddy zeebadmonk
  • Reply 3 of 9
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    Kid-friendly? Great googly moogly! When I was young, parents didn't buy multi-hundred dollar gadgets for all us kids. We considered ourselves lucky if we got 50¢ for candy.
    Is that what you got for Christmas? Apple Watch is a once a year(at most) purchase. I'm sure parents will have them hold on to a cheap model for 3 years.
    lolliver
  • Reply 4 of 9
    eugeeuge Posts: 19member
    Kid-friendly? Great googly moogly! When I was young, parents didn't buy multi-hundred dollar gadgets for all us kids. We considered ourselves lucky if we got 50¢ for candy.
    Actually, I think this is genius. I know many parents want their young kids at a certain age to have access to a phone so they can call them in emergencies, and so the parents can know where they are at any time. But the parents worry of giving them a full on mobile phone because of the distraction of gaming, texting, watching videos, etc. Instead, give them an Apple Watch with cellular, and the kid can call them in an emergency, can do some basic texting, and can easily be tracked. All without the downsides of a full on mobile device. I know many parents would gladly shell out $$$ for that.
    mbenz1962lolliver
  • Reply 5 of 9
    wonkothesanewonkothesane Posts: 1,717member
    I’ll wait until you can share your time with friends ;)
  • Reply 6 of 9
    zimmiezimmie Posts: 651member
    euge said:
    Kid-friendly? Great googly moogly! When I was young, parents didn't buy multi-hundred dollar gadgets for all us kids. We considered ourselves lucky if we got 50¢ for candy.
    Actually, I think this is genius. I know many parents want their young kids at a certain age to have access to a phone so they can call them in emergencies, and so the parents can know where they are at any time. But the parents worry of giving them a full on mobile phone because of the distraction of gaming, texting, watching videos, etc. Instead, give them an Apple Watch with cellular, and the kid can call them in an emergency, can do some basic texting, and can easily be tracked. All without the downsides of a full on mobile device. I know many parents would gladly shell out $$$ for that.
    Yeah, this reminds me of the Firefly cell phone for kids, but tied to their wrists. More expensive, but easier to not forget (not exactly harder to forget or easier to remember, but since it's attached to you, you don't need to remember to bring it with you, you just need to not take it off).
    lollivereuge
  • Reply 7 of 9
    mbenz1962mbenz1962 Posts: 171member
    neilm said:
    Why when I was a kid we had to use a sun dial to tell the time.
    And we had to make our own, out of dinosaur bones — after killing the dinosaur ourselves.
    You guys had it so easy.  We had to hunt the dinosaurs in places that were always up-hill from the village. We’d trudge 20 miles through the snow to the hunting grounds, which wasn’t easy because we hadn’t evolved legs yet and just waddled on our flippers. After we made the kill using only our bare hands (tools still haven’t been invented you see) then we had to waddle the same 20 miles back up-hill (again) to return to the village while carrying the bones on our shirtless backs in the blistering heat.
    lolliver
  • Reply 8 of 9
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,350member
    Sharing Watch face configurations will definitely be attractive to younger Watch wearers and the occasional adult.

    But I'd take some new Watches from Apple or heavily vetted third-parties over 'sharing' any day.

    AI said:
    An analog scale that measures speed and distance based on travel time, the feature is more used on analog watch faces than digital versions. 

    I've never had occasion to see a tachymeter on a digital watch. On analog watches the scale circles the watch. The watch and scale provide the time, usually in MPH or KPH, but the wearer needs to then provide a measured distance. 

    The speed can usually read directly if the measured distance is 1mi/1km. Any other distance requires a little cognitive churning. 

    The  Series 5 has advanced accelerometery and with GPS, I think it could give a direct speed readout just like a Garmin/GPS sat nav. The   phone and iPad (GPS) do this already with third party apps.



  • Reply 9 of 9
    zimmiezimmie Posts: 651member
    macgui said:
    Sharing Watch face configurations will definitely be attractive to younger Watch wearers and the occasional adult.

    But I'd take some new Watches from Apple or heavily vetted third-parties over 'sharing' any day.

    AI said:
    An analog scale that measures speed and distance based on travel time, the feature is more used on analog watch faces than digital versions. 

    I've never had occasion to see a tachymeter on a digital watch. On analog watches the scale circles the watch. The watch and scale provide the time, usually in MPH or KPH, but the wearer needs to then provide a measured distance. 

    The speed can usually read directly if the measured distance is 1mi/1km. Any other distance requires a little cognitive churning. 

    The  Series 5 has advanced accelerometery and with GPS, I think it could give a direct speed readout just like a Garmin/GPS sat nav. The   phone and iPad (GPS) do this already with third party apps.



    Tachymeters aren't just for distance over time. They're for calculating any rate. I've seen a watch marketed towards doctors which has a fast-moving second hand with a tachymeter to calculate beats per minute.

    I have long wanted a digital tachymeter. Think something like a stopwatch, but instead of counting up in time, it counts down in events per time interval across several intervals (maybe ten seconds, minute, ten minutes, hour). Pick one as a complication. Tap it to start, stop, and reset to zero seconds since the last event, force-touch it to launch the application showing all the intervals (I know, that's not how complications work right now, but it seems like how such a complication should work).
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