Skip to main content

WatchOS 7 adds much-requested sleep tracking feature

Apple announced the next generation of its software for the Apple Watch, WatchOS 7, at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on Monday.

WatchOS 7 introduces some remarkable features that promote mental and physical health, as well as nifty UI innovations.

With the new and improved complications, you can customize watch faces for specific purposes (if you like surfing, make a watch face that displays stats about water, for example).

Face Sharing allows users to get watch faces from friends, family, even websites. When you install the face, you’ll be asked to install any apps you don’t already have that factor into that face.

Workouts is getting livelier with the addition of Dance, allowing users to track various styles of dancing from around the world. WatchOS 7 is also getting a revamped Activity app, now called Fitness, for tracking fitness goals.

WatchOS 7 is adding a much-requested feature: Sleep. The Wind Down function creates a new lockdown screen at your scheduled bedtime, dimming the screen and removing distractions. The watch uses machine-learning to track your breathing during your sleep, giving you more insight into your health.

The new Apple WatchOS is even suited to post-coronavirus society, tracking your hand-washing motions and letting you know if you still need to keep scrubbing.

Be sure to check out the rest of our WWDC coverage for the latest news on the next wave of Apple products.

Will Nicol
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Will Nicol is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends. He covers a variety of subjects, particularly emerging technologies, movies…
iOS 17: Apple didn’t add the one feature I’ve been waiting for
Multiwindow on Galaxy S23 Ultra (on left) and multiwindow with popup window on Oppo Find X6 Pro (on right).

Multiwindow on the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (left) and multiwindow with pop-up window on the Oppo Find X6 Pro (right). Prakhar Khanna/Digital Trends

I’m a big-screen phone advocate. While I like the comfort of holding a compact phone (such as the Samsung Galaxy S23 with a 6.1-inch display), I prefer using devices like the Galaxy S23 Ultra, Oppo Find X6 Pro, Xiaomi 13 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Read more
iOS 17 isn’t the iPhone update I was hoping for
iMessage stickers in iOS 17

Apple gave us a jam-packed WWDC 2023 keynote, and it was one of the most significant ones in years. After all, it introduced a brand new product category for Apple with the Vision Pro mixed reality headset. It’s basically as significant as when Steve Jobs revealed the iPhone in 2007, then the iPad in 2010, and when Tim Cook showed off the Apple Watch in 2014.

But the headset isn’t the only thing we got in the WWDC keynote. Since it’s a developer conference, it’s also about the software for all of our devices. This includes iOS 17 for the iPhone, along with iPadOS 17, watchOS 10, and macOS 14 Sonoma.

Read more
iOS 17’s coolest new feature is horrible news for Android users
iOS 17 contact posters

At the end of 2022, Google implored Apple to “get the message” and end the green-versus-blue bubble controversy by adopting RCS messaging. Apple’s response eventually came at WWDC 2023, where it introduced a new iOS 17 feature called Contact Posters, which instead of bringing everyone together, only furthers the us-versus-them split between Android and iOS.

If you thought the green/blue iMessage arguments could get fiery, there’s a lot more to come.
Blue good, green bad

Read more