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We celebrated the fifth anniversary of the Apple Watch final April, and in September we welcomed the Watch Series 6 and Watch SE to the wearable household. The Watch’s new options, which embrace blood oxygen level monitoring, sign that the machine initially supposed to be an iPhone to your wrist, chock-full of third-party apps, has transitioned into a health and fitness tracker. And its native apps have proved extra helpful than any app you possibly can obtain.
Corporations together with Amazon, eBay, Goal and TripAdvisor have dropped help Apple Watch apps, however we have now our phones, tablets and laptops for these. What does matter is the built-in Exercise tracker, Messages and Cellphone apps — the issues we wish readily available for a fast and handy look.
“The watch is admittedly about comfort,” mentioned Ray Wang, principal analyst and founding father of Constellation Analysis. “You are not going to spend a lot display screen time in your watch. So I believe the key of constructing a superb Apple Watch app is to consider it as an adjunct along with one thing. Only a few folks use it as a standalone until it is for health or well being, or some sort of monitoring.”
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When the Apple Watch launched in 2015, it had 3,000 apps available to download. Right this moment, there are greater than 20,000 apps — 21 of that are constructed into the wearable. Whereas watches weren’t an in-demand accent typically again in 2015, the Apple Watch proved to be a great tool for checking messages, the climate, and reminders, Wang added — all of that are already constructed into the machine.
Listed below are a number of native Apple Watch apps that you could be not already be utilizing.
Swap via apps rapidly on the Apple Watch.
Jason Cipriani/CNET
1. Noise
If in case you have an Apple Watch Series 4 or later, you should use the Noise app to measure the ambient sound in your atmosphere. If the decibel degree has risen to a degree the place your listening to might be affected, the app can notify you with a faucet in your wrist.
Learn extra: Apple Watch Series 6 vs. SE: What’s the difference between them anyway?
2. Cycle Monitoring
Ladies can use the Cycle Tracking app to log particulars about your menstrual cycle, together with movement data and signs corresponding to complications or cramps. Utilizing that information, the app can provide you with a warning to when it predicts your subsequent interval or fertile window is about to begin.
3. ECG
If in case you have an Apple Watch Sequence 4 or later, you’ve {an electrical} coronary heart price sensor that works with the ECG app to take an electrocardiogram (typically referred to as an EKG by cardiologists). You may additionally want an iPhone 6S or later, and each the telephone and the watch will must be on the most recent model of iOS and WatchOS, respectively. It is also not out there in all areas.
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4. News
The News app will help you keep up with current events on the fly, showing you stories that it selects based on your interests. However, it’s not available in all areas.
5. Breathe
The Breathe app helps you remember to take a few minutes each day to do just that: breathe (which might be especially handy after checking that News app). You can set or mute Breathe reminders, or just open the app when you want some help pausing and relaxing. You’ll see an animation that encourages you to breathe in and out along with it, for 1 to 5 minutes. You can also check your heart rate during those breath sessions.
6. Remote
If you have an Apple TV, you can use your watch as another remote control — assuming both devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network. Use the Remote app to swipe around on the watch face and move through the Apple TV menu options, and play or pause shows.
7. Camera
You can’t take a picture with your watch itself. But with the Camera app, your watch can act as a remote control for your iPhone’s camera. Use it to help take selfies or start recording on your phone across the room, so you can finally get everyone in that big group shot.
8. Walkie-Talkie
The Walkie-Talkie app lets you use your watch as a walkie-talkie to chat with another person wearing an Apple Watch. You press a button to talk, and release it to listen to the reply. The app isn’t available in all regions, and both participants need to have connectivity through a Bluetooth connection to the iPhone, Wi-Fi or cellular. You also have to accept an invitation to connect with someone through the app — they can’t just start talking to you.
9. Voice Memos
Like on the iPhone, you can use the Voice Memos app on your Apple Watch to record personal notes and things to remember while on the go. The voice memos you record on the watch will automatically sync to any other iOS devices where you’re signed in with the same Apple ID.
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The future of native Apple Watch apps
The collection of native Apple Watch apps is far from complete: We’ve been waiting for a built-in sleep tracking app since the Watch was released. One of the main hurdles seems to be battery life, which may not last long enough to track sleep all night on one charge. While third-party options such as AutoSleep Tracker, Sleep Tracker Plus Plus and Sleep Watch are available for the Apple Watch, competitors from Samsung and Fitbit have offered sleep tracking for years.
A sleep tracking app is now rumored for the upcoming Apple Watch 6 — hopefully making this another example of Apple waiting to enter the market until its final product is perfected.
The Apple Watch Series 6 will also likely bring more native health capabilities. Apple has increasingly stepped into the medical research field with the watch, partnering with hospitals and research agencies to study heart health and women’s health. The Series 6 is rumored to get SPO2 tracking, which would allow the watch to measure your blood oxygen levels, similar to how it does heart rate. Smart watches from FitBit and Garmin have a similar capability already.
Additions like glucose and blood pressure monitoring are another frontier, but are likely further off in the future.
