Apple launches watchOS 7.3 with Unity Watch Face, extended ECG availability and more

Apple today released watchOS 7.3, the third major update to the watchOS 7 operating system released in September. watchOS 7.3 Comes More Than A Month After WatchOS 7.2, An Update That Brought Apple Fitness + Support

‌‌The watchOS 7.3 update can be downloaded for free through the dedicated Apple Watch app on iPhone by going to General> Software Update. To install the new software, Apple Watch must have at least 50% battery power, it must be placed on a charger, and it must be within range of the iPhone‌‌‌‌‌‌.

watchOS 7.3 adds a “Walk Time” feature for Apple Fitness + subscribers, adding an audio experience to the Workout app where those doing a walk workout can listen to inspiring stories while on their walks. Time to Walk features stories from musical artists, athletes, and other influencers that Apple Watch owners and Apple Fitness + subscribers can listen to as they walk.

Each episode is 25-40 minutes long and features guests such as country music star Dolly Parton, musician Shawn Mendes, actress Uzo Aduba, and NBA player Draymond Green. Speakers share “lessons learned, meaningful memories, deliberate thoughts and gratitude, moments of levity and other thought-provoking topics.” Time to Walk is available for Apple Fitness + subscribers. Apple technically released Time to Walk prior to watchOS 7.3, but it’s listed in the update release notes and is considered an addition to watchOS 7.3.

With the watchOS 7.3 update, ECG functionality is expanding to Japan, Mayotte, Philippines and Thailand, while irregular heartbeat notifications are coming to Japan, Mayotte, Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand.

The update adds a new Unity watch face inspired by the colors of the Pan-African flag (black, red, and green), with shapes that change throughout the day with movement. The face also has black, red, green and yellow color options as well as a black / gray color option.

watchOS 7.3 also includes a bug fix for an issue that could prevent Control Center and Action Center from unresponsive when zooming is enabled, with the full release notes below:

watchOS 7.3 includes new features, improvements and bug fixes, including:

– Unity watch face – inspired by the colors of the Pan African flag, shapes change throughout the day as you move around, creating a face that’s unique to you
– Time to Walk for Apple Fitness + subscribers – an audio experience in the Workout app where guests share inspirational stories as you walk
– ECG application on Apple Watch Series 4 or later in Japan, Mayotte, Philippines and Thailand
– Irregular heartbeat notifications in Japan, Mayotte, Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand
– Fixed an issue where Control Center and Action Center may not respond when zoom is enabled

To learn more about everything that is included in the ‌watchOS 7‌ operating system, we have a dedicated roundup of watchOS 7.