By <https://9to5mac.com/author/chmiller44/> Chance Miller
We're less than two weeks away from Apple's annual Worldwide Developers
Conference. This year, WWDC will be held completely virtual and online, but
we still expect Apple to introduce its next round of major software
releases. Read on as we roundup all of the
<https://9to5mac.com/guides/watchos-7/> watchOS 7 features that have been
leaked so far.
This year, 9to5Mac had access to an early build of iOS 14, through which we
were able to access many of the new features coming to
<https://amzn.to/2AssLBB> Apple Watch with watchOS 7. It's possible that
Apple changes or scraps some of these features before iOS 14 and watchOS 7
are released to the public, but these are the features you should expect as
of today.
watchOS 7: New watch faces
As usual, we expect watchOS 7 to include a new collection of watch faces for
your Apple Watch. Perhaps most notably, Apple appears to be
<https://9to5mac.com/2020/03/09/apple-watch-series-6-watchos-7-features/>
planning a new Infograph Pro watch face with a built-in tachymeter.
watchOS 6 was first to introduce the Infograph watch face principle,
bringing the Infograph and Infograph Modular faces. This year, the watch
face collection will expand with a new Infograph Pro option for users.
What exactly is a tachymeter? It's essentially an analog watch scale located
around the dial, and commonly used to measure speed and distance based on
travel time. This continues Apple's trend of bringing analog watch
characteristics to the digital Apple Watch.
To use a tachymeter-equipped watch for measuring speed, the chronograph is
started at a starting marker of a known distance. At the next marker, the
point on the scale adjacent to the second hand indicates the speed (in
distance between markers per hour) of travel between the two. The typical
tachymeter scale on a watch converts between the number of seconds it takes
for an event to happen and the number of times that event will occur in one
hour
In addition to the new Infograph Pro watch face, watchOS 7 will also include
new options for creating personalized watch faces using images from the
Photos app on iPhone or <https://amzn.to/2AssLBB> Apple Watch. Apple Watch
lets users create personalized digital watch faces using images from the
Photos app on the iPhone or Apple Watch. Photo watch faces currently support
two sources: Individual photos and Groups of photos from albums.
watchOS 7
<https://9to5mac.com/2020/03/09/apple-watch-series-6-watchos-7-features/>
will add support for shared albums as well. For example, someone could use
their shared family album as a watch face that includes photos added by
other family members. You could also create a shared album for managing
photos on a parent or grandparent's watch face.
Rounding out the new watch faces coming with watchOS 7, the update is
expected to include a new
<https://9to5mac.com/2020/03/11/watchos-7-watch-face/> digital watch face
called International. As the name suggests, this face will show flags from
different countries. The flag designs will take up the entire watch face,
similar to photo watch faces.
Plus, watchOS 7 is likely to include a new feature that allows users to
share specific watch face configurations with others. This will be done
through the usual share sheet from the Apple Watch companion app on iOS.
This means that if you have a highly customized watch face, you'll be able
to easily share it with other users through iOS 14 and watchOS 7.
Kids mode
watchOS 7 and iOS 14 are also expected to include
<https://9to5mac.com/2020/03/09/apple-watch-series-6-watchos-7-features/>
new Kids Mode features designed to make it easier for parents to manage
Apple Watches used by children.
The tentpole of Kids Mode will be the ability to set up and manage Apple
Watches for kids using a parent's iPhone. Currently, a single iPhone can
activate and pair with multiple Apple Watches but only one watch can be used
at a time and each watch is tied to the same iCloud account as the iPhone.
Under this model in iOS 14 and watchOS 7, a parent could activate and manage
an Apple Watch for their child as well as their own using a single iPhone.
This would allow a kid to have an Apple Watch for communication and location
tracking purposes without having their own iPhone.
There will also be a new feature called SchoolTime, which will allow parents
to manage which applications kids can use during certain hours of the day.
Finally, Kids Mode will
<https://9to5mac.com/2020/03/30/watchos-7-kids-move-activity-tracking/> make
some changes to the Activity rings. Currently, the Apple Watch Activity
rings consist of three metrics:
* Red for number of calories burned from intense movement like a brisk
walk or running
* Green for number of minutes of exercise today
* Blue for number of different hours with stand or wheelchair movement
But when an Apple Watch is used in Kids Mode, Apple will remove the focus on
calories and instead make the move ring focused on move time instead of
calories. For example, Apple Watch can track a goal of 90 minutes of
movement throughout the day instead of 500 active calories burned.
Blood Oxygen detection
There are also at least two new health features coming with watchOS 7 this
year, though it's unclear if these two features might also require new Apple
Watch hardware, which we don't expect to be released until this fall.
First off, Apple is developing a new Apple Watch feature for
<https://9to5mac.com/2020/03/08/apple-watch-blood-oxygen-saturation/>
detecting blood oxygen levels for the first time. Blood oxygen levels
between 95 and 100% are considered healthy; blood oxygen levels below 80%
may lead to compromised heart and brain functionality. Risk of respiratory
or cardiac arrest is common after continued low blood oxygen saturation.
Using Apple Watch, you will be able to monitor your blood oxygen level as
well as receive a push notification if the vital measurement falls below a
certain level. Essentially, blood oxygen detection is expected to work much
like the ECG and Irregular heart rhythm features; you can check your levels
on demand, or rely on passive monitoring combined with push notifications.
Finally, code suggests that Apple is working to remove the current
limitations of the electrocardiogram capabilities of Apple Watch. Currently,
ECG readings on Apple Watch can result in an inconclusive reading if your
heart rate is between 100 and 120 beats per minute, but Apple is working on
an upgraded ECG app to remove that limitation.
Bloomberg has also said that watchOS 7 will add new fitness features, though
specifics here are somewhat unclear.
Again, what's key to remember here is that we don't know if these new health
features will require new Apple Watch hardware or if they could be enabled
via software. History tells us that these features are likely to be
hardware-tied, and if that's the case, we don't expect Apple to even
announce them until this fall - not at WWDC.
watchOS 7: Sleep tracking
Could this finally be the year that Apple Watch adds native sleep tracking
capabilities? All evidence so far points to yes. While evidence of Apple
Watch sleep tracking has been in watchOS for several years,
<https://9to5mac.com/2019/02/26/report-apple-aims-to-release-native-sleep-tr
acking-features-for-apple-watch-by-next-year/> reports have indicated that
Apple will officially launch the feature this year.
The first-party Sleep app on Apple Watch leaked in a
<https://9to5mac.com/2019/10/07/apple-watch-alarms-leaked/> screenshot last
October, and
<https://9to5mac.com/2019/09/02/apple-watch-sleep-tracking-revealed-sleep-qu
ality-battery-management-more/> 9to5Mac has exclusively reported many of the
features of the Sleep app. For example, the Apple Watch will track a user's
quality of sleep using a variety of different sensors and metrics, including
heart rate, noises, and movement.
Furthermore, your alarms will fully integrate with Apple Watch sleep
tracking. For instance, if you wake up and start moving around before your
alarm, the alarm will automatically be turned off. "Sleep mode" is expected
to do things like dim the display and enable Do Not Disturb.
Finally, the Sleep app will also help users remember to charge their Apple
Watch before bed. There will be a feature that reminds users to charge their
Watch beforehand so they can get through the night.
Much like with other health features, it's unclear whether Apple Watch sleep
tracking will be compatible with existing Apple Watch hardware, or if it
will be limited to the Apple Watch Series 6.
CarKey
One of the major new features in iOS 14 is
<https://9to5mac.com/2020/03/23/ios-14-bmw-carkey/> expected to be CarKey,
which will allow users to unlock and control their car using iPhone and
Apple Watch. 9to5Mac expects CarKey to work for
<https://9to5mac.com/2020/02/05/new-carkey-feature-in-ios-13-4-beta-brings-b
uilt-in-support-for-unlocking-driving-and-sharing-nfc-car-keys/> locking,
unlocking, and starting cars using the iPhone in place of a physical car key
or key fob.
CarKey is expected to integrate with watchOS 7 so that users can unlock and
control their car from their wrist as well. The exact features here, and
whether or not new hardware will be needed, is unclear.
watchOS 7 features wrap-up
Apple has quite a few new features planned for this year's update to
<https://amzn.to/2AssLBB> watchOS 7 and Apple Watch, and there are likely
additional features in store that have not yet leaked. As usual, it seems
like Apple will focus primarily on health and fitness features, as well as
new watch faces this year.
WWDC 2020 will officially kick-off on June 22 with Apple's Special Event
Keynote. During the keynote, we expect the introduction of iOS 14, iPadOS
14, watchOS 7, tvOS 14, and macOS 10.16. You can view the
<https://9to5mac.com/2020/06/11/apple-wwdc-2020-schedule-keynote/> full WWDC
2020 schedule here.
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