However, with the convening of Apple's autumn conference, watchOS 8 also released the official version today (September 2 1 day). Since the release of the first beta in June, we have had an in-depth experience of watchOS for more than three months, and the official version is not worth upgrading. You will know after reading this article.
Regarding the upgrade of watchOS 8, we can simply summarize it as: better design, more practical functions and more comprehensive contact.
For Apple Watch, the dial is like the wallpaper of a mobile phone, which is a display of personality. With watchOS 8, you can put the portrait mode photos in the iPhone on the dial. After Apple Watch is calculated, the portrait can change with the rotation of the crown.
The app that comes with the Apple Watch has also designed a new interface. Taking photos as an example, your memories and selected photos will be synchronized to Apple Watch and displayed in a brand-new mosaic grid. Compared with the display interface of watchOS 7, it looks much better.
WatchOS 7 on the left and watchOS 8 on the right.
Other applications have also been optimized. Compared with watchOS 7, it is more intuitive to watch and has more comprehensive functions.
Timer app comparison, watchOS 8 on the right.
Text input adds the functions of expression input and sliding up to switch graffiti language, and watchOS 8 is on the right.
The map application has been redesigned.
In terms of the most important sports function of Apple Watch, watchOS 8 has launched two new sports, Pilates and Taiji. You can start the corresponding exercise during the exercise and record the heart rate, calories and other data during the exercise.
Here, I would like to mention some updates to the iOS 15 "Health" app. First of all, the trend of the "Health" app homepage has a more intuitive display form, and it is clear at a glance whether the recent sports state is rising or falling.
It can be seen that the health update of watchOS 8 mainly focuses on "breathing", and the sleep monitoring function added by watchOS 7 goes further than that of watchOS 8, which can monitor your breathing frequency during sleep. A brand-new sleep gadget allows you to see the recent sleep situation on the home screen.
Here, I would like to mention some updates to the iOS 15 "Health" app. First of all, the trend of the "Health" app homepage has a more intuitive display form, and it is clear at a glance whether the recent sports state is rising or falling.
In addition, even if there is no Apple Watch, as long as you put the iPhone upgraded to iOS 15 in your pocket, it can automatically record your walking stability, so as to infer your fall risk in the next 12 months.
Other applications have also been upgraded. The first is the sharing function. You can share the photos you are watching and the music you are listening to with your friends through email and information.
The timer can be set multiple times to meet your multiple timing needs such as 3-minute instant noodles and 20-minute mask.
WatchOS 7 on the left and watchOS 8 on the right.
The text input mode has also been optimized. On watchOS 8, where information, mail and other words can be entered, the cursor position can be accurately moved by rotating the crown. Previously, the function of changing text through the scroll wheel needed to be activated by first clicking on the text.
On watchOS 7, you need to click to open the function of inputting text through iPhone, and it has also become fully automatic on watchOS 8.
Sharing the pictures and music you are watching with your friends is a connection between people, and taking Apple Watch as your housekeeper is a connection between people and home-this housekeeper will not only control the smart home.
When the doorbell rings, Apple Watch will remind you to open the door or turn on the light at the door. You can also control all home cameras in the app, support various aspect ratios, and click it to display it in full screen.
At the same time, watchOS 8 will also allow you to access home scenes more quickly according to your usage habits; The status of all devices is displayed at the top of the home app, so you can see their current status intuitively and conveniently.
If you are using Apple Watch S6 or are about to buy Apple Watch S7, you can use the ultra-wideband technology of the watch to store the digital key in your wallet, open the doors of your car, home and hotel room, and connect you with the outside world.
Let's take a look at the "health" app. There is a brand-new column in the "Health" app of iOS 15: * * Enjoy. With the * * * sharing function, you can share your health data with your family and friends, and then pay more attention to your health information. At the same time, you can call your family, send text messages and make FaceTime video calls at any time in the information enjoyed by * * * to connect you and your family.
As a system that "knows" our physical condition best and has been with us for the longest time, watchOS 8 takes a long time to discover its intimacy. After three months of testing experience, we found that it has the following functions worth upgrading.
On watchOS 8, the search function is divided into three apps, namely, finding items, finding devices and finding contacts.
The function of "Find Contacts" is the same as that on watchOS 7. You can get the location of a contact through the application, and turn on or off the reminder when he leaves or arrives at a certain location. The two applications "Find Device" and "Find Item" are used to find Apple devices with the same Apple ID and AirTag or other items with built-in "Find" technology. When you are far away from these devices, Apple Watch will inform you that the device has been lost and display the lost location. You can also turn on the lost mode with one button on the watch.
Find the device app interface.
Search project application interface.
The stunt of forgetting things may really be lost.
After the "health" app had widgets, I used it together with AutoSleep's widgets, only to find that the sleep data recorded by Apple Watch was not so accurate compared with AutoSleep.
The "health" app can synchronize the data of AutoSleep, so as long as it is not the first time to see the sleep quality, the data will not be problematic. The display form of sleep data in the "health" app is as intuitive as other health data, and you can see the recent sleep state at a glance.
For example, I stayed up all night on the night of the Apple conference.
At the same time, with the help of breathing frequency, sleep heart rate and other data, you can restore your recent sleep situation.
As the biggest update of the "health" app, the health trend display mentioned above is really practical. There is no need to analyze whether the recent exercise is in place between different data every day, and two straight lines can clearly see the recent trend.
If you are losing weight or gaining muscle recently, knowing the change of health trend at a glance can definitely be your good helper.
"The latest watchOS 8 and the latest Apple Watch S7 can give full play to their respective strengths"-I believe many friends have the same idea as me, so what are the upgrade points of Apple Watch S7, which are worth starting with?
Although Apple officials did not provide specific parameters, we can first look at the upgrade points of Apple Watch S7 compared with Apple Watch S6 according to the contents of the conference:
In addition to hardware upgrades, watchOS 8 on Apple Watch has many new features. First of all, it is also a dial. In order to better show the comprehensive effect of extremely narrow borders, Apple Watch S7 has two exclusive dials: a dynamic contour dial and a newly designed modular dial.
At the same time, the app that comes with Apple Watch has also been fully optimized to make full use of more screen space. It is also the first time to realize full keyboard input, which can be clicked or slid.
Apple Watch S7 is more like the perfection of Apple Watch S6. If you are a user of the Apple Watch S6, the Apple Watch S7 is not worth upgrading unless you have a strong desire for the new dial or input text of the Apple Watch. If you are a user of Apple Watch S3 or Apple Watch SE, the upgrade of all-weather retina screen, blood oxygen monitoring and other functions, coupled with the new experience of watchOS 8 on Apple Watch S7, is still worth upgrading.
In general, watchOS 8 is one step closer to the health of "breathing". At the same time, we are striving to become a hub connecting relatives and friends, smart homes and hotels. From function to design to detail optimization, watchOS 8 is still worth upgrading.
Finally, it should be noted that whether you want to upgrade the existing Apple Watch to watchOS 8 or buy an Apple Watch S7 with watchOS 8 pre-installed in the factory, you must use it with iOS 15. If you don't want to upgrade your iPhone to the latest system, you won't be able to experience watchOS 8.