Apple is doubling down to make the Apple Watch the best health tracking laptop and expanding its features to its most demanding users as well as everyone else. The next version of your watchOS will include a number of new health-related features, such as tracking new metrics, automatic multisport tracking, improved sleep tracking, and more.
iOS 16 will also bring the Fitness app to all iPhone users, not just those with an Apple Watch, as has been the case before. Track your gait information and other metrics to approximate your fitness level.
Sleep Tracking now includes sleep stage tracking, which tells you how much time you spend in each stage, including the basic and deep REM stages, and when you woke up. Apple is using machine learning models that take cues from heart rate tracking, as well as blood oxygen readings and respiratory rate to determine what stage you are at, and say they validated the data with the “standard gold polysomnography clinic “.
In watchOS, you can now track three new running metrics to track efficiency, such as vertical oscillation, stride length, ground contact time, and heart rate zones . All of these are metrics that high performance athletes use to really refine their performance. You can also take advantage of the new digital crow views, including a heart rate zone view, and you can create custom workouts to track improvements in specific metrics.
There is a new skill focused on triathletes that automatically switches between running, cycling and swimming to follow the course of an entire workout as well.
Apple is also adding drug tracking to watchOS and iOS, allowing you to search for and enter regular drugs and receive an alert when you are supposed to take it.
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