The Apple Watch is consistently a nearly great device. The potential is there but much like the original iPhone, it’s not quite there yet. While a hardware revision isn’t yet on the horizon, the existence of watchOS 3, releasing this fall, is going a long way to improving the Apple Watch experience.
Here’s 6 reasons why you should be excited about it.
1. Everything is Faster
Anyone who’s regularly used an Apple Watch knows that it’s not the fastest device out there. That’s about to change. Thanks to a background updating feature and other tweaks, apps are expected to load around 7 times faster than before. That’s a huge difference, and sure to encourage you to use it more. You’ll also be able to unlock your Mac through your Apple Watch, saving you some seconds of time there too.
2. Motivate and be motivated by your friends
Much like how many Fitbit and other fitness trackers work, you can share what exercise or workout you’re doing with your friends, encouraging them to beat your best session. You can even send over ‘smack talk’, no doubt sparking some hopefully friendly rivalry. Exercise always proves more beneficial when you’re doing it with friends, so this should be a huge boon to your motivation levels.
3. Disability support
In an original move for a fitness tracking device, watchOS3 will provide support for those users in wheelchairs. It’ll track their spins and their different hand movements, ensuring they can benefit from pedometer based options. As well as that, it’ll encourage them to roll at regular intervals rather than stand for a time. Two workouts are included specifically with wheelchair users in mind too.
4. It’ll remind you to breathe
Ok, so actually breathing shouldn’t need a reminder, but deep breathing does. Plenty of evidence supports the claim that deep breathing can go a long way to reducing stress and relaxing you throughout the day. A new Breathe app helps you with that, reminding you to take some time out of your busy schedule to focus on your breathing and to calm down. It’s a small but potentially significant few moments in your daily life.
5. Replying to messages is easier
WatchOS 3 introduces Scribble, a better way to reply to messages. Scribble means you can reply by hand writing letters on the Watch face, saving you plenty of time and effort. No longer will you have to worry about relying on ‘smart’ replies, or digging out your iPhone to reply fully. It’s a vast improvement upon dictating your replies too, allowing you to do so without telling everyone around you what you’re trying to say.
6. Minnie Mouse!
Let’s be professional for a moment. The official line is that watchOS3 comes with some new watch faces, and they look pretty useful and practical. The fun part? One of them is the ever delightful Minnie Mouse. It gets better too. She comes with customizable dresses, meaning you can tweak the colors to match your watch’s wristband. You might want to switch to something more professional in a work environment but that’s all good, as it’s quicker to change these things on the fly too.