Apple has launched the Apple Watch Series 10 and a black version of the second-generation Apple Watch Ultra, both of which come with the operating system. Watch 11 Pre-installed. watchOS 11 includes updates to the Workout and Activity rings, the Biometrics app, new watch faces, and more. Here are 25 features and improvements to Apple’s new smartwatch software, most of which you may not have noticed. Keep in mind that watchOS 11 requires an Apple Watch Series 18 or later, and an iPhone XS or later with iOS XNUMX.
Use the Digital Crown for notifications
Previously, you had to swipe down on the Apple Watch face to view notifications indicated by the red dot at the top of the screen. That still works in watchOS 11, but you can now rotate the Digital Crown down to quickly view and swipe through notifications.
Verification feature
Verification lets you automatically notify a friend or loved one when you arrive at your destination. Apple introduced this feature on the iPhone in iOS 17, but it wasn’t available in watchOS 10 last year. Now, you can initiate verification in the Messages app by entering your destination or arrival time using the plus (+) button. You can also initiate verification when you’re working out outdoors, which is helpful if you’re going for a run after dark.
Pause activity rings
Apple Watch now lets you pause your Activity goals when you need a break. Tap the main Activity Rings screen on your watch, and you’ll see a new “Pause Rings” option that pauses training and goal tracking while keeping your Move streak. So if you’re looking to stay on track and something unexpected happens (like getting sick), you can pause tracking without losing your progress and start over. Pause options include: For Today, For a Week, For Next Month, or Custom (you can pause your rings for up to 90 days).
New watch faces
The Photos interface has been redesigned in watchOS 11, and can now search and analyze your photo library using machine learning to choose the best compositions, frames, and photo quality for your watch. You can also customize the time size, layout, and other complications, and choose your favorite font.
watchOS 11 also includes two additional watch faces: Flux and Reflections. The Flux face changes colors as a horizontal line representing the seconds hand moves across the screen, and the numeral pattern changes with each new minute. The Reflections face can be switched between two styles: full screen or circular, with only the circular style supporting widgets, or complications.
Sync maps with watch
In the iOS 18 update, the Maps app includes detailed trail and trip networks, including all 63 US national parks. When you add a trail, trip, or custom route to your Maps library and download it to your iPhone for offline use, you can choose to sync it to your Apple Watch, where you’ll get turn-by-turn navigation directions.
Quick menu for action button
Through Settings, you can customize various functions for the Action Button, but in the watchOS 11 update you can also do this by long-pressing the Action Button.
This will bring up a menu that includes: Workout, Stopwatch, Waypoint, Reverse Tracking, Dive, Flashlight, Shortcut, Voice Memo, Translation, Accessibility, and Music Recognition. When you select a specific function, it will automatically be assigned to the button so that it will work the next time you press it.
Exercise effort level
After completing most cardio workouts in the Workout app, you’ll be prompted to rate your effort or adjust your effort estimate, indicating how hard the workout was. Factors like your speed, elevation, heart rate, and personal data like age, height, and weight are factored into each rating. The effort metric is used to calculate your training load over time. If you don’t want to rate your effort, you can turn off the Effort Reminder switch, located in Settings → Workout.
Training Load
The new Training Load feature compares the intensity and duration of your “stress-calculated” workouts over the past seven days with what you’ve done over the previous 28 days. It then rates your current training load on a scale from “much lower” to “much higher,” to help you understand the relative stress level on your body and determine whether it’s sustainable.
Your training load is also matched to your nightly vitals readings to give you a better idea of whether you’re undertraining or overtraining. You can review your training load in the Activity app.
Music recognition
Shazam now comes pre-installed in the watchOS 11 update under the name “Music Recognition,” which lets you identify songs playing in your surroundings and access previously recognized songs that are synced across your iPhone. There’s also an option to enable Music Detection in your Smart Collection, which will make Music Recognition a suggested tool when there’s music playing in your surroundings.
Tide app
The new tide app lets you check the status of over 115,000 beaches around the world for the next seven days. You can slide your finger on the tide gauge to navigate to the next day. You can check high and low tide, as well as weather, wind speed and direction, sunrise and sunset times, wave heights, and wave intervals. There’s an option to open the tide location in the Maps and Weather apps, as well as a tide widget that you can add to your smart collection.
Get out of sleep faster
In previous versions of watchOS, you had to press and hold the Digital Crown for about three seconds to get out of sleep mode. That delay felt like a lot in the middle of the night. Fortunately, in watchOS 11, all you have to do is press the Digital Crown and your regular watch face will be displayed immediately.
Add missing workout minutes
If you pause a workout and then continue the workout but forget to resume it on your watch, the Workout app will now ask you if you want to resume, and will even suggest adding the minutes you missed.
Swimming exercises in the pool
watchOS 11 includes new dedicated pool workouts. You can now customize:
100 yard individual medley, 800 yard freestyle, 1200 yard pyramid workout, 800 yard swim and kick, 800 yard timed laps, 1200 yard speed workout.
Apple Watch will guide you through specific time slots for work and rest in the pool, with tactile alerts to let you know when it's time to move on to the next slot.
Additionally, a new “Next Workout” interface for all custom workout types shows what’s left in the current period and provides a glimpse into the upcoming period. And thanks to GPS improvements, the Workout app now offers more workout types that can track distance, including soccer, football, Australian rules football, outdoor hockey, lacrosse, downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, skateboarding, golf, outdoor rowing, and more. You’ll also see maps of your routes for more workouts than ever before.
Change activity objectives
The Activity app on Apple Watch now lets you schedule custom activity goals for different days of the week. When you tap the (+ or -) button while viewing your Move, Exercise, or Stand goals in the app, a new “Change Goals” option lets you schedule goals for individual days of the week, or just for the day.
This means you can, for example, set custom workout goals Monday through Friday, with fewer goals over the weekend. This schedule can also be managed through the Fitness app in iOS 18. The Move, Exercise, and Stand activity summaries include the same (+ or -) button that lets you adjust the goal for just the day, or adjust your schedule for each day of the week.
Installing timers
The Timers app now lets you pin timers you use regularly to the top of the app interface. Simply swipe down to the bottom of the timers, tap Edit, and then tap the pin icon on any timer to pin it to the top.
New double-click actions
You can now use the double-tap feature to scroll through navigable content in any Apple app, including Weather and Messages. You can even use the double-tap to close a timer that has expired. Apple has also made double-tap available to developers through a new API, so expect to see support from third-party apps soon.
Customize Fitness Summary
In the Fitness app on iOS 18, if you long-press on any card (except Activity Rings) in the redesigned summary interface, you’ll see an Edit option. Tap on it, and Vibrate mode will be enabled. This lets you choose from a range of available sizes and data display types for the selected card, similar to how widgets work on the Home screen.
You can also arrange the cards under the activity rings in the way that suits you, as well as add cards using the add button. The same customization screen can be accessed via the “Edit Summary” option at the bottom of the interface, where you will also find the “View All Categories” option to directly access the data you want.
New widgets
watchOS 11 brings several new smart widgets to the Smart Watch, including Vitals, Tidal, Music Recognition, Verification, Translate, and Photos.
vital signs
Apple has enhanced the Apple Watch’s sleep tracking capabilities with the launch of the Vitals app. The app displays important nighttime health data including heart rate, respiratory rate, wrist temperature, blood oxygen levels (where available), and sleep duration. One of the app’s key features is its ability to set personal typical ranges for each health metric collected during sleep, allowing you to quickly assess your current metrics against your usual patterns.
The app sends notifications if multiple measurements fall outside your usual range. These alerts come with contextual information, highlighting potential factors that could be affecting these readings, such as medications, changes in altitude, alcohol consumption, or illness.
Translate phrases
With the Translate app in watchOS 11, you can now see a translation on your wrist by typing or dictating a phrase. You can play the translation out loud and even slow it down. You can use the Translate app on your watch without your iPhone when you have Wi-Fi or cellular, or by downloading a language for offline use. According to Apple, the Translate widget will automatically appear in your smart collection if you’re traveling in a location where a different language is spoken.
Redesign of the current operating interface
In previous versions of watchOS, the current playback interface took up the entire screen, preventing you from quickly checking your watch face. In watchOS 11, it’s been moved to the top of the Smart Cluster, accessible by swiping up the Digital Crown, keeping the time and your widgets front and center. To return to full-screen media playback controls, simply tap the widget.
Play audio through Apple Watch headphones
If you have an Apple Watch Series 2 or Apple Watch Ultra XNUMX, you can now choose your watch’s speakers to play audio through. If you have music or podcasts downloaded to your watch, even if you don’t have AirPods or an iPhone, you can listen to them from your wrist. To switch from iPhone to Apple Watch, in the audio output menu (accessible via the icon in the top right of the current playback screen), simply tap Control other speakers and TVs, then tap Apple Watch.
New Modular Ultra Frame
The Modular Ultra watch face gets a new bezel option that displays training load and vitals readings. Vitals must collect seven nights of sleep data before anything is displayed (you need to turn on sleep mode to collect the full data set). Training load is based on your exercise effort over the past four weeks.
Change alarm tones
In Settings → Sounds & Vibrations, you'll notice new options to choose the ringtone and text message tone your Apple Watch emits, as well as the ability to customize individual alerts for new mail, calendar, reminders, and defaults.
Live activities in the smart group
Last but not least, watchOS 11 brings Live Activity support to Apple Watch. So if you have an ongoing Live Activity on your iPhone, it will also appear seamlessly at the top of your Smart Stack, allowing you to track your activity progress right from your wrist.
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