watchOS 8 for Apple Watch Brings Health Sharing to Families / Doctors, Always-On Display Upgrade, Mindfulness App, New Watch Faces, more



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The next major version of Apple Watch software arrives today with the release of watchOS 8. Now, users can choose to share health information with family members and doctors, take a moment to take a break from health. new Mindfulness app and turn Portrait Mode photos into watch faces. .

How to update

First, update your iPhone to iOS 15. Software update is available for iPhone 6s and later versions from today. Then look for the watchOS 8 update in the Watch app on iPhone. You can find it in My Watch> General> Software Update in the Watch app. watchOS 8 supports Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch Series 3 and later.

Health sharing

watchOS 8 and iOS 15 introduce a new way to securely share health data with family members and doctors of your choice. Health sharing is completely optional, the information is always saved on the device and not on a server, and you can revoke the sharing at any time.

Health sharing is available in the Health app on iPhone with iOS 15, and health data collected from Apple Watch can be found here and shared with your permission:

With iOS 15, users can choose to securely give a loved one visibility into their health and wellness data, allowing them to have more meaningful conversations and provide assistance, even from a distance. when it tracks alerts and important changes over time.In the Health app, a new Sharing tab allows users to privately share their data with a trusted partner or caregiver. Users have full control over what data they share and with whom, whether an elderly parent who shares their activity or heart health data with a family member, a partner who chooses to share information about the fertility window or a person with Parkinson’s disease who wishes to share their mobility data with a physiotherapist. For the person receiving this information, the shared data is presented with important information and trends highlighted.

mindfulness

Apple Watch already offers the Breathe app to help you follow guided breathing exercises, and now the app is expanding and being renamed Mindfulness. The new version continues to add guided breathing sessions as well as new visual meditation sessions. Apple Fitness +, Apple’s subscription-based workout service, also integrates with the Mindfulness app with guided meditation sessions.

New watch faces

Apple Watch Series 4 and later will get two new faces: Portraits and World Time. Portraits is a very attractive digital watch face that uses the depth data in Portrait mode photos taken on iPhone to create a new style of photo watch faces. World Time is an analog watch face with a digital clock option that shows local time around the world.

Permanent display

Apple Watch Series 5 and later have an Always-On display that dims rather than turning off the screen when your wrist is down. Always-On supports every watch face as well as the Workout app right from the start, and now more Apple apps and all third-party apps can run without a fuzzy digital clock taking over the screen .

Much more

watchOS 8 offers new and updated apps and other features that you can try out with your Apple Watch starting today:

  • Photos app now shows highlights of featured photos and memories
  • Photos can now be shared from Messages and Mail
  • The Home app has been revamped with a much improved version
  • Focus Mode enhances Do Not Disturb with automatic notification behaviors while training, sleeping, and more
  • Sleep tracking now includes respiratory rate
  • Training now follows Pilates, Tai Chi and further improvements to bike training
  • Timer app now supports multiple tagged timers
  • The Contacts app is available for the first time
  • Find My Devices is now available with AirTag support and more

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