Pavel Jelic At yesterday's Apple Keynote, Apple informed us that this year we will see new operating systems already on September 16, which is exactly one day after the conference itself. In previous years, all new operating systems were released up to a week apart. Today we specifically saw the release of the public versions of the operating systems iOS 14, iPadOS 14, watchOS 7 and tvOS 14. As for macOS 11 Big Sur, we will have to wait a few weeks for it. If you couldn't wait for watchOS 7, the wait is finally over.
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You're probably wondering what's new in watchOS 7. Apple attaches so-called version notes to each new version of the operating systems, which contain absolutely all the changes that you can look forward to after updating to watchOS 7. Those release notes that apply to watchOS 7 can be found below.
What's new in watchOS 7?
With watchOS 7, Apple Watch is more powerful and personal than ever before. You'll find new ways to discover and share watch faces, sleep tracking, automatic hand washing detection, and new exercise types. In Family Settings, you can pair a family member's Apple Watch with your iPhone and never lose touch with your loved ones again. watchOS 7 also brings Memoji, cycling routes in Maps and language translations in Siri.
dials
- On the new Stripes watch face, you can set the number of stripes, colors and angle to create a watch face according to your style (Series 4 and later)
- Dial Typograf offers classic, modern and rounded numerals - Arabic, Arabic Indian, Devanagari or Roman (Series 4 and later)
- Created in collaboration with Geoff McFetridge, the artistic watch face constantly transforms into new works of art as time passes or when you tap the display
- The Memoji watch face contains all the memoji you've created, as well as all the standard memoji (Series 4 and later)
- The GMT dial follows a second time zone - the inner dial shows 12-hour local time and the outer dial shows 24-hour time (Series 4 and later)
- The Chronograph Pro dial records time on 60, 30, 6 or 3 second scales or measures speed based on the time it takes to cover a constant distance on the new tachymeter (Series 4 and later)
- Countdown watch face allows you to easily track the elapsed time by tapping the bezel (Series 4 and later)
- You can share watch faces in Messages or Mail, or you can post a link on the Internet
- Other selected watch faces are waiting to be discovered and downloaded in popular apps in the App Store or on websites and social networks
- The extra large dial supports rich complications
- You can customize the Photos watch face with new color filters
- New World Time, Moon Phase, Altimeter, Camera and Sleep complications
Sleep
- The new Sleep app offers sleep tracking, custom sleep schedules and sleep trend views to help you sleep as long as you set out to
- It uses data from the accelerometer to detect when you are awake and when you are asleep
- Sleep mode will reduce distractions - turn on Do Not Disturb and turn off wrist-wake and the display
- Alarm sounds or haptics can be used to wake up with the watch
- You can set reminders to recharge the watch before going to sleep and notification that the watch is fully charged
Hand washing
- Automatic detection of hand washing using motion sensors and a microphone
- A twenty-second countdown starts after hand washing is detected
- Encouragement to adhere to the recommended 20 seconds if the watch detects an early end to washing
- The option to be reminded to wash your hands when you get home
- Overview of the number and duration of hand washing in the Health application on the iPhone
- Available on Apple Watch Series 4 and later
Family settings
- You can pair and manage your family members' watches with your iPhone, preserving their phone number and Apple ID
- Support for Screen Time and Quiet Time lets you manage contacts, set communication limits, and schedule screen time
- School Time turns on Do Not Disturb, limits usage, and replaces the watch face with a bold yellow time display
- Setting your own Time in School schedule and monitoring when the Time in School ended in classes
- Users under 13 can track minutes in motion instead of active calories and have more accurate measurements of walking, running and cycling
- One-time, recurring, and time-based location-based notifications can be set for family members
- Send money to family members and review transactions for users under 18 using Apple Cash for Family (US only)
- Family members can share their activities and health data, and they'll know you've created automatic location-based notifications
- Family Sharing is required, Family Settings can be used for up to five family members
- Available on Apple Watch Series 4 with cellular connectivity and later
Memoji
- New Memoji app to create your own memoji or edit existing memoji
- New hairstyles, more age setting options and three new memoji stickers
- You can use your own memoji on the Memoji watch face
- You can send memoji stickers in the Messages app
Maps
- Detailed navigation is displayed in a larger, easier-to-read font
- Cyclist navigation offers routes using dedicated cycle lanes, cycle paths and cycleable roads, taking into account elevation and traffic density
- The ability to search and add places focused on cyclists, such as bicycle shops
- Navigation support for cyclists is available in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, Shanghai and Beijing
Crab
- Autonomous dictation brings faster and more reliable processing of requests and deepens the protection of your privacy (Series 4 and later, only in US English)
- Translate phrases directly on your wrist with support for more than 50 language pairs
- Support for reporting messages
Additional features and improvements:
- Change goals for minutes in motion, hours not moved, and hours with motion in the Activity app
- New customized algorithms in the Exercise app for dance, functional strength training, core training and post-workout cool-down providing accurate tracking and relevant measurement results
- Redesigned and renamed the Fitness app on iPhone with clearer summary and sharing panels
- Manage Apple Watch health and safety features in the Health app on iPhone in the new Health To-Do List
- New Apple Watch mobility measurements in the Health app, including VO2 max low range, stair speed, stair speed, and six-minute walk distance estimate
- The ECG app on Apple Watch Series 4 or later is now available in Israel, Qatar, Colombia, Kuwait, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates
- Irregular heartbeat notifications are now available in Israel, Qatar, Colombia, Kuwait, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates
- Support for additional actions on the Apple Watch Series 5 without the need to wake up the display, which includes, among other things, access to Control Center and Notification Center and the ability to change watch faces
- Create group threads in Messages
- Inline replies for replying to specific messages and displaying related messages separately
- New Shortcuts app to view and launch previously created shortcuts
- Adding shortcuts to watch faces in the form of complications
- Sharing audiobooks in Family Sharing
- Search in the Music app
- Redesigned Wallet app
- Support for digital car keys in Wallet (Series 5)
- View downloaded media in the Music, Audiobooks, and Podcasts apps
- Current location in the World Time and Weather apps
Some features may only be available in select regions or only on certain Apple devices. More information can be found at:
https://www.apple.com/cz/watchos/feature-availability/
For detailed information about the security features included in Apple software updates, visit the following website:
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201222
What devices will you install watchOS 7 on?
- Apple Watch Series 3
- Apple Watch Series 4
- Apple Watch Series 5
- …and of course the Apple Watch Series 6 and SE
How to update to watchOS 7?
If you want to install watchOS 7, it is first necessary that you have your iPhone, with which you have paired the Apple Watch, updated to iOS 14. Only then will you be able to install watchOS 7. If you meet this condition, just open the application Watch and go to General -> Software Update, where the watchOS 7 update will already appear. Just download, install and you're done. Apple Watch must be at least 50% charged and connected to a charger when installed. After updating to watchOS 7, there is no turning back - Apple does not allow downgrades for the Apple Watch. Note that Apple gradually releases watchOS 7 from 19 p.m. However, the rollout is slower this year – so if you don't see an update to watchOS 7 yet, be patient.
