Why Apple Watch’s new Watch OS6 operating system needs the iPhone less than before

Jun 5 , 2019

Sumbul Desai, Apple’s vice-president of health, speaks during the keynote address at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in San Jose, California on June 3, 2019. Photo: AFP

The Watch will have Apple apps that were previously left off – like the App Store, Calculator and Voice Memos – and additional health-related features

The newest upgrade to the Apple Watch is making it more of a stand-alone device – meaning it will be less reliant on a nearby iPhone to be useful.

At its annual developer’s conference on Monday, Apple introduced WatchOS 6, the newest operating system for the company’s line of US$400-plus smartwatches. The Watch will now have Apple apps that were previously left off – like the App Store, Calculator and Voice Memos – and additional health-related features.

The new WatchOS will roll out to Apple Watches in the autumn, though we do not yet have an exact date.

Here are all the new features available on the Apple Watch, coming this autumn:

On Monday, Apple announced the latest Apple Watch update, WatchOS 6. The new system will stick to Apple’s usual cadence of releasing new updates in the autumn.

Apple’s vice-president of technology, Kevin Lynch, presenting at WWDC 2019. Photo: Apple

The latest update adds a number of new watch faces to Apple’s relatively limited selection – at least, limited in comparison to the number of choices on Android smartwatches.

The new options range from super minimalistic with a simple design, to faces that show more information, such as weather and cell signal strength.

The new watch also features the option to turn on a “taptic chime” that notifies you at the top of each hour. If you enable the feature, you can choose to be alerted with a little buzz on your wrist, or, if you leave your sound on, a chime.