Four years ago this autumn Apple unveiled the Apple Watch. Since its launch, each new watchOS has been slowly moving in the direction of health and fitness features as opposed to productivity features. So it’s safe to say Apple’s original take on what the Apple Watch was for was a bit off.
Yet now that they continue to position the Apple Watch as a fitness accessory, more and more people are strapping one on their wrist. That’s why its little surprise watchOS 5, previewed at WWDC in June, heavily focuses on fitness yet again. Here are some of the new features the new watchOS include.
Activity Competitions
With the Apple Watch’s focus on fitness, it’s no surprise that watchOS is gaining new fitness features. The one most people seem to be really excited about is Activity Competitions, which allows you to compete with a friend over the week. Apple says “now you can challenge a friend to a seven-day competition in which you earn points based on the percentage of your Activity rings that you close.”
New Workout Features
watchOS is also gaining a lot of new workout features. The really cool one is automatic workout detection, which lets the Watch detect when you have started a workout and what kind. This way it knows to start tracking your fitness for that workout automatically.
watchOS 5 is also adding yoga and hiking workouts to the Watch. Finally, if you are a runner you’ll now see pace and cadence metrics as you run. This is seriously cool.
Podcasts
What is sure to excite Podcasts fans everywhere, watchOS 5 will FINALLY bring Apple’s Podcasts app to the Apple Watch. The most recent podcasts of the shows you follow will be automatically downloaded onto your Watch, with the ability to find new shows and episodes simply by asking Siri.
Walkie-Talkie
This is perhaps the most fun feature Apple introduced for watchOS 5. Walkie-Talkie, as the name suggests, turns your Apple Watch into a Walkie-Talkie. The new app allows you to press a big yellow button and instantly be connected to your Walkie-Talkie friend wearing an Apple Watch.
Besides the obvious fun factor, it really seems like it’s a great, quick way to communicate with someone via the Watch. Plus it adds more of that “Dick Tracy” feel to the Apple Watch.
Student ID Cards
But the most unexpected new feature of watchOS 5 is support for Student ID cards. Now students at select U.S. universities can add student ID cards to the Wallet app. This allows them to easily check in to their dorms or school gyms with just the tap of their wrist.
Right now the University of Alabama, Duke University, John Hopkins University, the University of Oklahoma, Santa Clara University, and Temple University are offering support, with more universities soon to follow suit.
But the best thing about student Id card support (which the iPhone also supports in iOS 12) is that Wallet is finally moving past only credit and debit cards to include IDs. Can drivers licenses be far behind?
