Apple didn’t announce a new watch overnight at the WWDC convention but they did drop interesting spoilers on what watchOS 6 is packing for its users when the new Apple Watch Series 5 drops later this year. The most interesting feature in our opinion? A Noise app which tells you if the ‘doof-doof’ from concerts, sporting events or noisy environments is doing damage to your hearing.
The Noise app takes full advantage of the watch which sits exposed on the wrist to measure sound levels in the surroundings. As the sound levels change, the app’s decibel meter moves in real time and the watch will send a notification if the decibel level reaches 90 decibels – a level which begins to impact hearing after four hours per week of exposure, according to the World Health Organisation.
At the other end of the spectrum more skewed for women, watchOS 6 also includes a menstrual cycle app which can tell female users about their flow cycles and when to expect the next one. Weirdly functional, we’d assume. As a guy who once dated a girl, simply gauging their rising anger levels sufficed for us…but we digress.
And finally for those who always dine out in large groups, you’ll never be short changed again by cheapskate ‘friends’ because the new Calculator app helps with splitting the bill efficiently. There’s also an additional feature which helps non-Americans workout the tip amount to pay on a bill to avoid unexpected death stares.
Other WatchOS 6 features to look out for include:
- Dynamic new watch faces and customisation options offering more personalisation and access to favourite apps, contacts and information
- New developer tools include an audio API to stream music, radio and podcasts, an API to give extended runtime to session-based tasks, such as physical therapy and meditation, and Core ML now uses the Apple Neural Engine on Apple Watch Series 4, enabling faster processing of on-device inputs
- The popular Voice Memos app is now available on Apple Watch
- Audiobooks purchased on Apple Books are now available to listen to directly from the new Audiobooks app on the watch
- Siri search queries can display webpage results in full on Apple Watch
- Apple GymKit compatibility extends to manufacturers Octane Fitness, TRUE Fitness and Woodway, connecting Apple Watch to more cardio equipment in clubs around the world