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Apple Watch

What’s New in Version 4.2

Apple made a handful of changes in watchOS 10.2, necessitating some changes to this book:

• After removing the feature in watchOS 10.0, Apple reinstated the capability to swipe the watch face to switch faces. However, you now need to enable the feature. See “Activate a Face.”
• Also in watchOS 10.0, Apple implemented an additional confirmation step when you ended a workout. Now, that’s turned off by default, but you can enable it if that’s helpful (I’m guessing it’s to prevent accidentally finishing workouts). See “Work the Workout.”
• On the Apple Watch Series 9 or Ultra 2 models, you can now ask Siri for health data, such as how much sleep you got the night before. I noted this in “Stay Healthy with the Apple Watch.”
• With watchOS 10.2, moving a watch near a HomePod (2nd generation) or HomePod mini that’s playing media brings up the Now Playing app. Previously this was limited to the Series 9 and Ultra 2. See “Now Playing.”
• You can turn on Audio Focus during a Fitness+ workout to make either the trainer’s voice or the music more prominent. See “Work Out with Apple Fitness+.”

What Was New in Version 4.1

Following the release of watchOS 10.1, I made a few updates:

• Delayed at launch, Double Tap is now available on Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2.
• NameDrop, a way to share contact information by bringing two watches together, is also now available.
• I added a new sidebar, “Share Your Location via Satellite,” after my watch alerted me on a hike recently.

What Was New in the Fourth Edition

watchOS 10 brings a few fundamental changes to the Apple Watch experience plus several new features and a visual overhaul throughout much of the system. Here’s what was new in the fourth edition:

• The biggest change for most people in watchOS 10 is the rearrangement of some key gestures to get to Control Center, recent apps, and the new Smart Stack feature. See “Big Changes in watchOS 10” for a summary.
• It’s now easier to switch between the Home screen’s Grid View (which is slightly improved in watchOS 10) and List View. See “Switch to the App List View.”
• Double Tap is a new feature for taking actions using just two fingers.
• Another new feature, NameDrop, lets you share contact information with someone by bringing watches close to each other.
• The Smart Stack introduces widgets to watchOS, which appear based on the context of what you’re doing. See “Use the Smart Stack.”
• The Dock is gone, and in its place is a way to access recent apps by double-pressing the Digital Crown.
• When exercising, it’s not always convenient to look at your watch. Now you can view cycling metrics on your iPhone.
• Apple has added a new Mental State logging capability to help you be more mindful.
• The Stopwatch app looks and behaves different from previous versions. See “Use the Stopwatch App.”
• Apple made a lot of changes to the Maps app, which are now reflected in “Use Maps and Directions.” That includes a way to explore your surroundings using the new Walking Radius feature, and the ability to download offline maps for when you’re out of network coverage.
• You can now edit calendar events on your watch. See “Create and Edit Calendar Events.”
• The Music, Podcasts, and Audiobooks apps have all been overhauled, and therefore so has “Listen to Music, Podcasts, and Audiobooks.”
• Added Live Speech and Personal Voice to the “Accessibility” section.
• Added a new section, “Run Shortcuts,” about how to take advantage of Apple’s automation features.
• Expanded the “Recharge the Watch” section with more information on charging, Low Power Mode, and more.