Apple officially unveiled watchOS 11 at WWDC 2024, and there’s no shortage of notable improvements to share, starting with smarter Smart Stacks and support for the Translate app on the Apple Watch.
However, one update in particular had Tom’s Guide’s collective Apple Watch-wearing group jumping up and down for joy, especially me: Now you can, finallytake a day (or days) off from closing the wellness rings in the Activity app, without fear of breaking a streak.
This, of course, is not the only health-related update. watchOS 11 also introduces a new Vitals app for health monitoring, improved pregnancy tracking, additional training metrics, and more. Get all the details below.
Pause your activity rings
The Apple Watch Activity app is a great motivational tool for maintaining an active lifestyle. As someone who spends a lot of time in the office, I appreciate the extra encouragement to get up, move around, and exercise more often. And while Closing My Rings makes fitness fun, the challenge can also be somewhat exhausting when you have a strong string of trophies/achievements at stake.
Not longer. Now you can finally take a day off. Do you need more than just one day? Go ahead and take a week or a month. Doing so will not affect your activity line. Better yet, users can now adjust their Ring goals by day of the week.
Monitor health with the Vitals app
The top Apple Watch models like the Ultra 2 and Series 9 are packed with health monitoring technology. However, until now, important health data has been scattered across many different applications. With watchOS 11, users can monitor their essential vitals in the new, aptly named Vitals app.
Not only can you view your current heart rate, breathing rate, skin temperature, and more, but the app constantly compares current health metrics to previous ones, and monitors for anomalies.
When multiple metrics are out of control, users will receive a notification. The Vitals app can also monitor lifestyle changes that may impact health, such as increased altitude, alcohol consumption, and illness.
New training load scale
The Vitals app also introduces a new training load metric to help users better understand their performance and not overexert themselves. More specifically, training load analyzes how the intensity and duration of workouts affect the user over time. It’s a feature similar to those found on some of Garmin’s best watches, which puts Apple’s devices in closer competition.
Each exercise is individually rated on an intensity scale ranging from one to ten. To track intensity, the app analyzes heart rate, GPS, and elevation data. In addition, it takes into account the user’s age, height and weight. Users can also manually note whether stress or pain has affected exercise performance.
After the 28-day period of analysis, you will see your training load report as one of the following: much lower, lower, flat, higher, or much higher. Incidentally, this metric can be viewed across all Apple health and fitness apps.
Other improvements in watchOS 11
Other health-related watchOS 11 improvements include the ability to customize the Fitness app’s summary tab with the information that’s most important to you, like Apple’s newly introduced metrics for cycling, hiking, running, and mindfulness.
Improved pregnancy tracking is also part of the watchOS 11 update. When you log your pregnancy in the Health app, Cycle Tracking will display your gestational age and let you record and track common pregnancy symptoms. The app also sends helpful reminders about your heart rate and mental health.
Finally, the Check In feature on Apple Watch now works from within the Fitness app, making it easier to notify a friend or family member before heading out for a run, walk, hike, or bike ride. You can now also view your check-in status from the Smart Stack.
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