watchOS 8 is available today

September 20, 2021

UPDATE

watchOS 8 is available today

New cycling and wellness features, fresh watch faces, more access with Wallet, and a redesigned Home app arrive for Apple Watch users

Apple today launched watchOS 8, bringing powerful features to help Apple Watch users stay connected, be more active, and better understand their overall health and wellness. New workout types, updates to cycling, and the new Mindfulness app expand support for physical and mental well-being, while enhanced capabilities with the Wallet and Home apps enable users to more seamlessly use Apple Watch on the go and at home. The redesigned Photos app, new watch faces, and tools in Messages provide customers with more ways to connect with loved ones.

Workout Updates

watchOS 8 introduces two new popular workout types that are beneficial for both physical fitness and mindful movement: Tai Chi and Pilates. These new workout types are supported by powerful, validated, custom-built heart rate and motion algorithms to provide users with accurate calorie metrics.

The update also adds new features for anyone who rides a bike. Apple Watch uses advanced algorithms to analyze GPS, heart rate, accelerometer, and gyroscope data to detect when users begin a ride, and prompts them to start an Outdoor Cycle workout if one was not initiated.¹Cycling workouts now have auto-pause and resume so metrics more accurately reflect time spent moving versus stationary, like waiting at a stoplight.

Apple Watch more accurately measures active calories when riding an e-bike, with an updated cycling workout algorithm that evaluates GPS and heart rate data to better determine when users are riding with pedal-assist versus leg power alone. New voice feedback through the built-in speaker of Apple Watch, or through AirPods or other Bluetooth headphones, will automatically announce workout milestones and Activity ring status, helping users stay focused during activities like running or HIIT.

Fall Detection Update

With watchOS 8, fall detection algorithms are updated and optimized for detecting falls during workouts — including cycling — and have been tuned to recognize the unique motion and impact of falls from a bike and other workout types.²

A New Approach to Mindfulness

The Breathe app is now the Mindfulness app, featuring an enhanced Breathe experience; a new session type, Reflect; and guided Meditations for Fitness+ subscribers. Reflect offers a mindful intention to focus on for as little as a minute that can be done anywhere and at any time, and each session welcomes the user with a unique, thoughtful notion to consider that invites a positive frame of mind.

Starting Monday, September 27, new guided Meditations will be uploaded each week in audio form in the new Mindfulness app on Apple Watch for Fitness+ subscribers, in addition to being available as an immersive video experience on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. These can be played directly from Apple Watch when paired with AirPods or other Bluetooth headphones, so users can experience guided Meditation at their convenience. Users who want to practice meditation while moving will also be able to track their activity with the Workout app.

Sleeping Respiratory Rate

Apple Watch helps users meet their sleep goals by establishing a pre-bedtime routine, and tracks metrics like time asleep, heart rate, and blood oxygen. watchOS 8 provides users even more insight into their overall wellness by tracking sleeping respiratory rate — the number of breaths per minute. This information can be viewed, along with trends over time, in the Health app on iPhone.

More Access with Wallet

With watchOS 8, Wallet brings even more contact-free ways for users to access the places and things they care about seamlessly, safely, and securely. Ultra Wideband support arrives for digital car keys,³and Apple Watch users can securely unlock their car from a distance and start it from the driver’s seat. Additionally, users can add home and hotel keys as well as corporate badges to Wallet, and tap their Apple Watch to unlock.⁴

Beginning with Arizona and Georgia, and followed by Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Utah, users will be able to add their driver’s license or state ID to Wallet, and present it at select TSA checkpoints and lanes.⁵

Redesigned Home App

The redesigned Home app offers more convenient control for accessories and scenes, as well as the ability to control accessories by room. Users with a HomeKit-enabled camera can view who is at the door directly on their wrist. Apple Watch users can also tap Intercom to quickly broadcast a message throughout the home or to individual rooms via HomePod mini.

New Apple Watch Faces

The new Portraits watch face brings to life stunning portrait photos shot on iPhone with an immersive, multilayered effect, intelligently recognizing faces in photos and cropping in to highlight the subject. The classic World Time face, based on heritage watches and ideal for travelers, tracks the time in 24 time zones around a double dial.⁶

Messages

Communicating on Apple Watch is even easier with new tools in Messages. Users can combine the use of Scribble, dictation, and emoji all within the same message, and for dictated messages, they have the option to edit the presented text. To easily add even more expression to a message, users can simply enter a word or phrase and select from hundreds of trending GIFs.

Focus

Focus is a new way to help reduce distraction by filtering notifications from people and apps based on what a user is currently doing. Apple Watch automatically aligns with any Focus set on iOS, iPadOS, or macOS. Users can set automations to turn on Focus at relevant times, like the Fitness Focus when starting a workout.

Additional watchOS 8 Features

Availability

Press Contacts

Nikki Rothberg

Apple

nrothberg@apple.com

(408) 974-4427

Lance Lin

Apple

lance_lin@apple.com

(408) 974-5036

Apple Media Helpline

media.help@apple.com

(408) 974-2042