We're about six months away from the unveiling of the next version of
watchOS. We haven't heard any rumors yet, so all of these ideas are based
purely on conjecture. But at the end of the day, there are lots of ways that
watchOS could be improved. From more detailed health data metrics to even
more glanceable information, Apple has plenty of opportunities to make
watchOS more powerful.
At the heart of this concept is a focus on adding new apps and turning
existing components of the system into standalone apps. Perhaps the most
important functionality of Apple Watch is its extensive array of health
sensors. At the moment, each core health capability has its own app. But
there's really no way to go through previous health data or look at a more
comprehensive overview.
Health App
Apple really ought to add the Health app to watchOS in an effort to turn the
watch into a more powerful and independent health device. Each existing app
for measuring different health metrics would still exist, but to see
historical health data or all of today's data in one place you could use the
new Health app.
You'd be able to look at highlights that normally only appear on your
iPhone, as well as each individual category and health metric. This means
you'd be able to look at data you currently can't directly on your watch.
Solar + Astronomy Apps
Two of the most beautiful watch faces on Apple Watch also happen to be super
powerful. In fact they essentially function like standalone apps. But
neither is very discoverable. Both of these faces also don't allow much room
for complications and as a result aren't used very often.
Apple could split these off into two new individual apps. The Solar app
could introduce an easy way to see the place of the sun throughout the day
using the same exact graph design as the Solar Graph watch face. The
Astronomy app could let you view the current moon phase, the position of
Earth and play around with the orbit of the solar system.
Both of these watch faces would stick around, but by adding two new apps
with these features more folks could use them more often.
Widgets in Control Center
Apple offered something called "glances" in the first two versions of
watchOS. Originally they were intended to display quick bits of important
information from third-party apps. But once developers were able to make
more powerful native apps and once the watch had a more powerful processor,
they weren't necessary. Apple opted to replace them with a single Control
Center overlay. They left the quick glanceable information to complications
and apps in your dock.
iOS 14's small widget size class is a perfect candidate for the Apple Watch.
Apple ought to consolidate the Control Center into a single, non-scrollable
page and add horizontal scrolling between various widgets. The user
interface bears a striking resemblance to glances, but these widgets would
be far more powerful and much faster at reloading.
Apple could even make it possible to simply port your existing iOS 14
widgets to the Watch without a standalone app. The data could sync from the
web or your iPhone. This could help get more third-party software on the
watch with interest in developing full Apple Watch apps at a lull.
Fun New Faces
Apple TV+ has really blown up over the past year and some of its characters
have become especially beloved. A new incentive for signing up for the
service could be a new "TV+" face that brings characters from your favorite
shows to life on your watch. Snoopy could float around your watch face, Ted
Lasso could give you a smile, characters from Central Park could sing, the
possibilities are endless. It could display quotes and affirmations from
these characters as well through a custom complication.
I would fully expect a Ted Lasso watch face to be a huge hit amongst Apple
fans. And paired with his optimistic quotes, it could be a really delightful
new watch face.
Batteries App
One of the best widgets in iOS 14 is the batteries widget. It beautifully
displays the current battery level on your connected devices. While it's
great on iPhone, it could be even more useful to have on Apple Watch.
To make it even more powerful, it could let you turn things like low power
mode on remotely. It'd simply be a great way to keep an eye on your connect
devices. Plus, the more powerful battery widget from iOS 14 could be added
to the new control center.
Hiking App
With an ever more quarantined world, it's important that we spend some time
exploring the great outdoors and getting some fresh air. With the new Hiking
app you could learn about the trails and places you visit, find guides to
new places, and keep track of your location while hiking.
There are plenty of other ways for Apple to power up watchOS with this
year's release. But they seem to be focusing on very specific smaller
subsets of features with each major release lately.
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