watchOS 11 is coming to Apple Watch with Training Load, a new Vitals app and a better Widget Stack
Apple has announced watchOS 11 during its WWDC 2024 keynote presentation (you can follow all the announcements as they happen at our WWDC 2024 live blog), and there’s lots to dive into, including improved features from watchOS 10, such as a more intelligent widget stack with live activities, and brand new ones, such as the Training Load feature and the new Vitals app.
watchOS 11 has debuted with a raft of new features, including a new Training Load score. By using metrics such as our resting and average heart rates, along with stats like age and weight, Apple’s algorithm generates an ever-changing Training Load score, which can help athletes that use the best Apple Watches for activity tracking calculate how much they’ve been training over a given period of time.
If you’ve been training too hard, Apple will be able to let you know, while also flagging new metrics such as “weekly running distance” to ensure you remain on track to hit your goals (or understand when you need to take a break).
Apple is also debuting a new Vitals app, which is designed to help understand how well your body responds and recovers to stress. Developed with data from Apple’s Heart & Movement study, Apple will look at heart rate, respiratory rate, sleep and other metrics and compare them to your average range. If multiple metrics are flagged as unusual, your Apple Watch will let you know. Your Health app will prompt you to review aspects of your life, such as your sleep schedule, exercise levels and alcohol consumption.
Elsewhere, the widget stack receives an overhaul with Live Activities. Widgets are no longer static: you can see when your Uber is scheduled to arrive on the home screen widget without opening the app at all, or use Apple’s Check-In feature (formerly only available on iPhone) to let friends know when you’ve made it home. Apple also flags up a Baby Monitor application, and we’re sure more developers will bring in interesting new features to be interacted with directly from the widget stack.
Apple didn’t directly mention which Apple Watches will support watchOS 11, but early reports claim Apple will cancel support for Apple Watch Series 4, Series 5 and the original Apple Watch SE.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated with more information…
Apple has announced watchOS 11 during its WWDC 2024 keynote presentation (you can follow all the announcements as they happen at our WWDC 2024 live blog), and there’s lots to dive into, including improved features from watchOS 10, such as a more intelligent widget stack with live activities, and brand…
