Apple Releases Fourth watchOS 11 Public Beta With Vitals App and More

[MacRumors]

Apple today released the fourth beta of watchOS 11 to public beta testers, allowing non-developers to give the new features a try ahead of when the software launches this fall. The fourth beta comes two weeks after the third beta.

watchOS 11 can be downloaded after signing up on Apple's beta software website and upgrading your iPhone to the public beta version of iOS 18. You'll need to open up the Watch app on iPhone, go to General, select Software Update, and choose the watchOS 11 Public Beta option under Beta Updates.

With watchOS 11, Apple added a new Vitals app that can be used to give you a daily overview of your health metrics, letting you know if anything is out of the ordinary. It compares information collected at night like heart rate, sleep, respiratory rate, and oxygen level to your levels over the previous weeks.

Smart Stack has new widgets like Translate and Shazam, plus it's smarter because it is able to suggest widgets based on time, date, location, and daily routine. Interactive widgets let you access app features from the Smart Stack, and it also supports Live Activities.

Training Load is a new way of measuring how the intensity and duration of workouts impact the body over time, with Apple providing an effort level for cardio-based workouts to help you know when to rest and when to push harder.

You can now customize your Activity Ring requirements for different days of the week, and Apple added support for rest days. Taking a break from activity will no longer ruin a streak because you can pause for a day, a week, a month, or more.

Other new features include more workout types, Check In for Messages, a revamped Photos watch face, improvements to Double Tap, and more, with additional information available in our watchOS 11 roundup.


Article Link: Apple Releases Fourth watchOS 11 Public Beta With Vitals App and More

 

[Alwaysfindsaway]

I get the reason why vitals uses night time data, so it has a baseline to check against. But it seems really restrictive and like it COULD use daily data instead. They just don’t want to do that. Now I’m not complaining too much, I have an Apple Watch Ultra 2 that lasts like 3 days so I can wear it. But my last watch was a series 6 and my wife has an SE, there is no way we could have worn those watches at night without a charge before bed. So I feel bad for anyone that doesn’t have a new watch. It wont go well for them to use this feature.

 

[Ctrlos]

I assume the ‘smart’ stack is still limited to 3 widgets? They all share an underlying codebase; why not allow us to set 2x2 iOS Widgets as fullscreen faces to swipe between instead?

 

[Alwaysfindsaway]

I assume the ‘smart’ stack is still limited to 3 widgets? They all share an underlying codebase; why not allow us to set 2x2 iOS Widgets as fullscreen faces to swipe between instead?

I’m not sure I follow? I have 8 widgets in my stack. That seems to be the limit for now?

 

[CloneBB]

Will I be able to install 11 on my watch 4?

 

[sgreen314]

Will I be able to install 11 on my watch 4?

SE 2nd gen, S6 and above and Ultras get 11. https://www.apple.com/watchos/watchos-preview/

 

[Eric_WVGG]

I was impressed to see the Vitals app mark a decrease in my respiration when I got strep throat last week. Took a bit of digging to figure out exactly which vital was "off", though.

 

[DrRadon]

in a month we should know all about the new watch. I wonder if we will actually get gluecose and blood pressure (two major ones in a year?!) to also play their part in this vitals app.

 

[therunningman]

Interesting that the Vitals app shows SpO2 in the promotional screenshots. Sure hoping this means that blood O2 monitoring is coming back in some form.

 

[jblank]

in a month we should know all about the new watch. I wonder if we will actually get gluecose and blood pressure (two major ones in a year?!) to also play their part in this vitals app.

My understanding is that glucose and BP monitoring are quite a ways off.

Apple Watch Blood Glucose Monitoring Likely Still 'Three to Seven Years' Away

Blood glucose monitoring technology designed for the Apple Watch is unlikely to launch for several years, Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman believes. ...

www.macrumors.com

 

[ericg301]

how's the battery life been on the betas?

 

[Lepton]

I can’t figure out the vitals watch complication

 

[Ctrlos]

I’m not sure I follow? I have 8 widgets in my stack. That seems to be the limit for now?

The swipe-up widgets on the Apple Watch are limited to 3, or at least they are on my Series 4.

 

[DrRadon]

My understanding is that glucose and BP monitoring are quite a ways off.

Apple Watch Blood Glucose Monitoring Likely Still 'Three to Seven Years' Away

Blood glucose monitoring technology designed for the Apple Watch is unlikely to launch for several years, Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman believes. ...

www.macrumors.com

Gurman sure has enough opinions to be right sometimes. For this years Apple Watch, unlike in the old thing you linked, he claimed blood pressure measurement is a thing. Sleep apnea to I guess, but that one only matters if you actually would die so it’s less of a “I need to have that” and more of a “it’s good I had that” feature to the hand full of people it will actually get saved.

the question is rather what else would there be. Last years watch was a spec bump. doubt they want this year to be only another hand gesture that “is only possible with the power of the new chip”.
especially if there is no new form factor (tech YouTuber are already collecting tear fluids) there sort of needs to be something that makes it seem like a relevant upgrade. I guess ai stuff on the chip. But would that not be the alleged non exact blood pressure measurement that is able to accurately determine your trends in pressure? What could there be that is not in the watch os beta and only comes/unlocks with the new model?

 

[msackey]

I get the reason why vitals uses night time data, so it has a baseline to check against. But it seems really restrictive and like it COULD use daily data instead. They just don’t want to do that. Now I’m not complaining too much, I have an Apple Watch Ultra 2 that lasts like 3 days so I can wear it. But my last watch was a series 6 and my wife has an SE, there is no way we could have worn those watches at night without a charge before bed. So I feel bad for anyone that doesn’t have a new watch. It wont go well for them to use this feature.

I also hate wearing my watch while I sleep. I have tried and I can manage it for a couple of days, but inevitably I find it irritates my wrist.

 

[DrRadon]

I also hate wearing my watch while I sleep. I have tried and I can manage it for a couple of days, but inevitably I find it irritates my wrist.

I’d assume with the alleged slimmer form factor they are trying to make it more doable for all people. Also I have to say the only bands I love to use are the nylon bands. Sometimes I will throw on a Milanese for an event or whatnot. But for sleeping especially there is nothing more snuck than a soft nylon band adjusted to where it feels most comfy.

 

[CarAnalogy]

Just give me back the Dock. That’s all I want.

 

[StaceyMJ86]

I can’t wait to try out the Vitals App on my Ultra. I have zero issues wearing my Ultra to bed, and I’m already tracking a lot of my health metrics through the health app and with my watch, so the more the better.