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We’re about six months away from the unveiling of the next version of watchOS. We haven’t heard any rumors yet, so all of these ideas are based on guesswork only. But at the end of the day, there are plenty of ways to improve watchOS. From more detailed health data metrics to even more visible information, Apple has many opportunities to make watchOS more powerful.
At the heart of this concept is the emphasis on adding new applications and transforming existing system components into stand-alone applications. Perhaps the most important feature of Apple Watch is its vast array of health sensors. At the moment, each basic health feature has its own app. But there’s really no way to go through previous health data or get a more comprehensive overview.
Health app
Apple really should add the Health app to watchOS in order to transform the watch into a more powerful and independent health device. Every existing app to measure different health metrics would still exist, but to view historical health data or all of today’s data in one place, you can use the new health app.
You will be able to see the highlights that normally only appear on your iPhone, as well as each category and each health metric. This means that you will be able to view data that you currently cannot directly on your watch.
Solar applications and astronomy
Two of the most beautiful Apple Watch faces are also very powerful. In fact, they basically work as stand-alone apps. But neither is very discoverable. These two sides also do not leave much room for complications and are therefore not used very often.
Apple could split them into two new individual apps. The Solar app could present an easy way to see the sun’s place throughout the day using the exact same graphic design as the Solar Graph watch face. The Astronomy app could allow you to visualize the current lunar phase, the position of the Earth, and play with the orbit of the solar system.
These two watch faces would stick around, but by adding two new apps with these features, more people could use them more often.
Apple offered something called “looks” in the first two versions of watchOS. Originally, they were intended to quickly display important information from third-party applications. But once the developers were able to create more powerful native apps, and once the watch had a more powerful processor, they were no longer needed. Apple chose to replace them with a single Control Center overlay. They left information quickly searchable about complications and applications in your dock.
IOS 14’s small widget size class is a perfect candidate for the Apple Watch. Apple should consolidate the Control Center into a single non-scrolling page and add horizontal scrolling between various widgets. The UI bears a striking resemblance to the looks, but these widgets are said to be much more powerful and much faster on reloads.
Apple might even allow you to simply wear your existing iOS 14 widgets on the watch without a standalone app. Data can sync from the web or your iPhone. It might help get more third-party software on the watch with interest in developing full Apple Watch apps in a lull.
New funny faces
Apple TV + has really exploded over the past year, and some of its characters have become particularly popular. A new incentive to sign up for the service could be a new “TV +” face that brings characters from your favorite shows to life on your watch. Snoopy could float around your dial, Ted Lasso could give you a smile, the characters in Central Park could sing, the possibilities are endless. It could also display quotes and affirmations from these characters via a custom complication.
I would fully expect a Ted Lasso watch face to be a huge hit among Apple fans. And paired with its upbeat quotes, it could be a really lovely new dial.
Batteries application
One of the best widgets in iOS 14 is the battery widget. It beautifully displays the current battery level on your connected devices. While this is great on iPhone, it could be even more useful to have on Apple Watch.
To make it even more powerful, it could allow you to remotely activate things like low power mode. It would simply be a great way to keep tabs on your connected devices. Additionally, iOS 14’s more powerful battery widget could be added to the new Control Center.
Hiking app
With a world increasingly quarantined, it’s important that we spend time exploring the great outdoors and getting some fresh air. With the new hiking app, you can learn about the trails and places you visit, find guides to new places, and track your location while hiking.
There are plenty of other ways for Apple to power watchOS with this year’s release. But they seem to be focusing on very specific, smaller feature subsets with every major release lately. What do you think of these ideas? What ideas could you have for watchOS 8? Let us know in the comments below!
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