WWDC 2022: watchOS 9 introduced with new watch faces, workout app updates, and more

As expected, Apple has rolled out the watchOS 9 updates for Apple Watch users. This update brings a few new features and most importantly, tries to improve the existing features. The list includes new watch faces, workout app improvements, a new medicine app, and more. Have a look at the details.

watchOS 9 gets new watch faces like Lunar, Metropolitan, Playtime, and Astronomy. New advanced complications are added to watch faces such as Utility, Simple, and Activity analog with background color editing for Modular, Modular Compact, and X-Large for extra personalization. Portrait Faces now supports depth effects in more photos and will show focus on a selected watch face when launched on an iPhone.

The Workout app now has the ability to use the Digital Crown for the in-session display to easily see the workout view, and it now includes heart rate zones, which can be manually set to track the intensity of a workout. Users will now be able to create custom workouts and type a new multisport workout, especially for triathletes that can easily switch between different combinations of workouts.

Apple Watches can now support more running form criteria like stride length, ground contact time, and perpendicular oscillation. Also, they can match their results on a single route to see their progress. Swimming enhancements include a new kickboard detection when a user is swimming with a kickboard and the ability to track user skills with SWOLF scores.

Apple Fitness+ gets more workouts like HIIT, cycling, rowing, treadmill and more Fitness+ users can also stream workout sessions to compatible third-party TVs and devices using AirPlay. This negates the need for an Apple TV. Sleep tracking is enhanced with Sleep Stages to view sleep levels. This can be tracked in the Sleep app and further details can be accessed through the Health app.

watchOS 9 also supports the FDA-cleared AFib history feature for AFib (atrial fibrillation) to access important information about it. Users can also do weekly notifications to understand the frequency and view a detailed history in the health app. The new Medications feature allows users to track their medications in the Medications app on Apple Watch. It can be tracked through the Health app and also supports custom notifications.

Other new features include redesigned notifications, new Quick Actions, a QWERTY keyboard (Apple Watch 7 and up), Apple Watch mirroring with iPhone assistive features, Reminders app improvements, new APIs, and more.

watchOS 9 is out as a developer preview and will appear as a public beta in July. It will be released to general users this fall. It is compatible with Apple Watch Series 4 or later, iPhone 8 or later, and iPhone SE (2nd generation) or later running iOS 16.