Apple Watch gets smarter and healthier with WatchOS 11

Image: Apple

Apple unveiled its latest Apple Watch software update, WatchOS 11, at its annual WWDC event. The update focuses on fitness, health, and improved usability.

WatchOS 11 introduces "training load," a metric that measures the intensity of your workouts and their impact on recovery. It uses heart rate, pace, elevation, weight, and height to provide a score (1-10) reflecting your training effort. You can adjust the score if it doesn't match your perception.

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Apple is reportedly looking to bring back a bit of its old Glances feature

Apple might be ready to overhaul watchOS. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports the company is working on redesigning the Apple Watch user interface, making widgets a "central part" of how you will interact with the smartwatch. Gurman reports that Apple plans to bring back elements of the Glances system it introduced in the original watchOS while borrowing the "style" of widgets Apple introduced with iOS 14 last year.

Gurman describes that the new interface will be "reminiscent" of the Siri watch face introduced with watchOS 4 in 2017. But the functions will work as an overlay for whatever watch face you want to use. It works similarly to widget stacks on iOS, so you can scroll through widgets you've placed on top of one another.

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Microsoft Authenticator for Apple Watch will be discontinued in Jan. 2023

Microsoft's two-step verification app, Microsoft Authenticator, will be one of the latest apps to leave the watchOS App Store. The company will release an update next month to remove the companion app for watchOS. According to Microsoft, the Apple Watch operating system is "incompatible with Authenticator security features." If you already have the app on your Apple Watch, you'll still need to delete it since it won't work after January. The iPhone and iPad versions of the app will still be available for iOS users.

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Wristcam update lets you join a video call without the accessory

With watchOS 9's release coming up, Wristcam is getting a bit of an upgrade. According to Mark Gurman's Power On newsletter, the Wristcam's third-party app on the Apple Watch will allow you to receive video calls from an iPhone without the Wristcam attachment. This means you can send audio and receive video from the other person in the call without sending back video. Wristcam is a niche accessory that adds a video-chat camera to the Apple Watch.