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watchOS 11 Gets 'Check In' Feature That Supports Outdoor Workouts

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Apr 12, 2001
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Apple in iOS 17 added a Check In feature to Messages that allows you to let a loved one know when you've made it back home safely. With watchOS 11, Check In is also coming to Apple Watch, but it's not just in the Messages app that you can activate it.

check-in-workout-watchos-11.jpg

Anyone who has used a Garmin watch will probably be familiar with its LiveTrack feature, which creates a real-time view of your location during an activity, so friends and family can keep tabs on your progress. Strava Beacon offers similar functionality, and now with Check In integration, Apple Watch users can let loved ones know they have successfully completed their workout, too.

Like on iPhone, Apple Watch users can start a Check In from Messages in watchOS 11. But the feature also works within the Workout app. When you start a workout, a swipe right reveals a new Check In option. So if you're walking home after dark or heading out for an early morning run, you can notify someone that you've started out, and Check In will let them know when you return home.

If something unexpected happens and you get delayed, Check In will automatically notify your friend that you haven’t arrived as expected, and tell them your location (if available), the route you took, and your iPhone's battery level and cellular service in case they want to contact you.

There's also a new option in Settings ➝ Workout that lets you turn on Check In Reminders, so Apple Watch can remind you to send a Workout Check In whenever you start an outdoor workout.

Note that watchOS 11 is in developer beta, and some features could always change or be removed before Apple releases the new Apple Watch software to the public in the fall.

Article Link: watchOS 11 Gets 'Check In' Feature That Supports Outdoor Workouts
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/06/19/watchos-11-supports-workout-check-in/
There is one feature that would provide more security than all others combined: force batteries to reserve 5% of the battery to keep Find My running after the device dies, so that friends, and especially parents, can continue to see where you are.
 
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Hopefully it will give Apple watch battery data too for those who have cellular on their watches, and isn't limited to just the iPhone battery life.
 
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MacRumors said:
If something unexpected happens and you get delayed, Check In will automatically notify your friend that you haven’t arrived as expected, and tell them your location (if available), the route you took, and your iPhone's battery level and cellular service in case they want to contact you.
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Now if I take too long on my daily workout of going to Taco Bell during lunch break — maybe I stayed too long to eat dessert — people are going to know? Oh dear. 😔
 
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sflagel said:
There is one feature that would provide more security than all others combined: force batteries to reserve 5% of the battery to keep Find My running after the device dies, so that friends, and especially parents, can continue to see where you are.
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Only if I can turn that crap off and use the whole battery.

I don't even have my location shared with anybody, Find My is for me to use when I misplace my phone.
 
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Victor Mortimer said:
Only if I can turn that crap off and use the whole battery.

I don't even have my location shared with anybody, Find My is for me to use when I misplace my phone.
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It's not like you would even know you had that 5% extra. I am sure the battery has a buffer already you don't know of. The point is that people will run their battery down and having Find My running in the background after an iPhone dies is a safety feature, no more creepy that this Check-In garbage which is 100% useless. If you are such a scarity cat that you want a friend to track your whereabout, just share location until you are planning to be home.
 
Ugh, I hate how people are using "Find My" all the time now to track each other. Many spouses/partners I know are doing it. Even if I was in a relationship, I wouldn't want my partner knowing where I was at every moment. Creepy. We lived just fine without this technology in the 2000s, 1990s, and before. Why is it necessary now?
 
KoolAid-Drink said:
Ugh, I hate how people are using "Find My" all the time now to track each other. Many spouses/partners I know are doing it. Even if I was in a relationship, I wouldn't want my partner knowing where I was at every moment. Creepy. We lived just fine without this technology in the 2000s, 1990s, and before. Why is it necessary now?
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It’s not strictly necessary now. I think it’s just useful when you have, say, your daughter out and about and you have to go and pick her up, or your wife says she’s on the way from work so you can see how far she’s got left, stuff like that. I think one can turn it on every time, but after a while, you just leave it on for good. We never use it to check up, more like check occasionally when they want us to.

This feature gave me the confidence to let my child travel alone all over the city at age 12 already, whereas without it I would’ve been like other parents constantly driving my child everywhere.
 
KoolAid-Drink said:
Ugh, I hate how people are using "Find My" all the time now to track each other. Many spouses/partners I know are doing it. Even if I was in a relationship, I wouldn't want my partner knowing where I was at every moment. Creepy. We lived just fine without this technology in the 2000s, 1990s, and before. Why is it necessary now?
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Amen. For someone who gets the run down of what way I travelled the occasional time I leave the house, or use a credit card within ten minutes of the charge occurring getting questioned by my wife, its just... so, so annoying.

Honey, just in case you're reading this too... Don't you think its just a bit over the top already? Can I have just a few hours of peace? Retail stores and taking the dog for his 2K walk every day can be quite the story, but kind of loses its charm when you're texting me immediately what I'm doing at Home Depot or why I took him to one direction over another.
 
jicon said:
Amen. For someone who gets the run down of what way I travelled the occasional time I leave the house, or use a credit card within ten minutes of the charge occurring getting questioned by my wife, its just... so, so annoying.

Honey, just in case you're reading this too... Don't you think its just a bit over the top already? Can I have just a few hours of peace? Retail stores and taking the dog for his 2K walk every day can be quite the story, but kind of loses its charm when you're texting me immediately what I'm doing at Home Depot or why I took him to one direction over another.
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The problem is that if you refuse to be tracked you would likely be judged as untrustworthy by the significant other who wants to rack you. Catch 22 either way.
 
I go biking at night and only recently have started being prompted to Check In when I get back to the car. My fiance absolutely loves it because she doesn’t need to worry about me.

Being able to easily check in when I start the ride will be a nice extension of that
 
munpip214 said:
So I generally use Find My for everything. What does checkin do that find my doesn’t?
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The people using this may not be sharing location 24/7 and only want to share location while the check in is turned on. It will also notify if not returned by a set time
KoolAid-Drink said:
Ugh, I hate how people are using "Find My" all the time now to track each other. Many spouses/partners I know are doing it. Even if I was in a relationship, I wouldn't want my partner knowing where I was at every moment. Creepy. We lived just fine without this technology in the 2000s, 1990s, and before. Why is it necessary now?
Click to expand...
I agree which is why the check in feature is good because it’s temporary rather than sharing location 24/7
 
sflagel said:
It’s not strictly necessary now. I think it’s just useful when you have, say, your daughter out and about and you have to go and pick her up, or your wife says she’s on the way from work so you can see how far she’s got left, stuff like that. I think one can turn it on every time, but after a while, you just leave it on for good. We never use it to check up, more like check occasionally when they want us to.

This feature gave me the confidence to let my child travel alone all over the city at age 12 already, whereas without it I would’ve been like other parents constantly driving my child everywhere.
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But parents let their children go/travel alone in cities all the time in the 90s and earlier and it was almost never an issue. Sure, there were the occasional cases of abduction, but those happens nowadays, too. I just fail to understand why it feels/seems necessary now.

I mean, I get the need to use Find My for unique reasons, such as finding someone in a crowded place, or if someone feels unsafe and wants someone to track their status home, or something like that, and Check In sounds like a good compromise overall, but I just don't get the reliance on technology these days. Even my friend uses Waze to take a route they have taken many times in the past and should know the route like the back of their hand.
 
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When did we get this concerned with where everyone is all the time?

I have relatives that track each others location and get notifications about it all, endlessly, with Life360

Like -- what are we doing here?

It seems so paranoid
 
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I would love if when it notices you are swimming there was a way to acknowledge and start the tracking with the crown or side button, because without dry hands, the screen soft button is unpressable…
 
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