How Apple’s watchOS 11 is Better than Its Previous Version: Major Updates, Key Features, and More
Apple’s watchOS 11, which was released on 16th September 2024, adds a number of improvements on top of watchOS 10 in the areas of personalization, health entries, and user-friendly features. Although it is not a major overhaul, the updates reflect Apple’s attention to health, usability, and convenience, making it a worthwhile upgrade for current users. Below are the ways watchOS 11 improves on its predecessor.
Improved Health and Fitness Features
Perhaps the most exciting upgrade in watchOS 11 is the new Vitals app. This one area will allow you to entirely monitor your key health metrics—such as heart rate, blood oxygen, etc. There is now the capability to be notified when any two or more of these metrics are out of rhythm, giving you more insight into the attention required for everyday stress, fatigue, illness, and the like. Sleep apnea detection has also been introduced for compatible devices, a needed addition for users who are conscientious about their overall sleep health.
In addition to the above upgrade, the Training Load feature will measure the duration and intensity of your workout for the last 7 and 28 days to customize your ongoing training routine toward optimum health or if you are practicing for a marathon or other event.
Smarter Activity Rings and Rest Days
Modifying your activity rings will be much simpler with watchOS 11. Users can set different goals for each day of the week, in addition to being able to reward themselves for their activity on rest days. Now you can set yourself a high-intensity goal for the weekend and lighter goals while resting or recovering during the week. More robust Rest Days are now officially offered to users in set days so that you won’t lose your streak taking time off to be sick or recover.
Redesigned Smart Stack of Widgets and Live Activities
With watchOS 10 we were introduced to the Smart Stack of widgets. Now in watchOS 11, we get even more reprieve from our distractions with the integration of utilizing Live Activities. In the Smart Stack, you can now see real-time updates—such as a sports score or the arrival of an Uber- right on your watch face.
New Watch Faces and Customization
watchOS 11 contains two significant new watch faces—Reflections and Flux. These designs utilize the larger display and improved refresh rates of the Apple Watch, especially the newer Series 10 and beyond. Some significant enhancements are also present in the Photos watch face, which formerly allowed you to choose a face from the server if you had been storing them as images. Now, you can choose image layouts and even organize images within certain groups in your photos library, such as People or Nature.
New Apps and Features
Numerous useful apps have been added with watchOS 11 improvement, including a new Tides app for surfers and beach-goers looking for set times, an expanded array of workout types with a new amalgamation of Bootcamp within the existing Workout app, and for travelers the new integrated Translate app. In addition, the new Check In feature allows users to share their location with family and friends when traveling alone.
You can read more about the new watchOS 11 on Apple’s official website.
