With Apple Intelligence for the iPhone getting all the attention, it’s easy to overlook all the new features and tools that are available for your Apple Watch in WatchOS 11. Most of the updates come in the form of new health, fitness and safety tracking tools. There’s a new sleep apnea notifications feature, which can indicate signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea when you wear the Apple Watch Series 10, Series 9 or Ultra 2 to sleep. There’s also a new Vitals app and you can finally pause your activity rings.
WatchOS 11 is compatible with any Apple Watch from the Series 6 and later, and the second-gen SE. To try out WatchOS 11.2, you need to have iOS 18 on your iPhone paired to the Apple Watch. To start the installation process, go to Watch > General > Software Update. Once you’ve installed the update, these are our favorite features that you should explore.
Watch this: What’s New in WatchOS 11 05:53
Sleep apnea notifications
The Apple Watch Series 9, Ultra 2 and Series 10 can check for signs of potential sleep apnea, a potentially serious condition where you stop breathing throughout the night. It’s estimated that 1 billion people around the world may have the condition.
Using the accelerometer, the Apple Watch tracks a new metric called breathing disturbances by monitoring for small movements at your wrist. You’ll be able to see this metric in the Health app after each night of sleep, listed either as elevated or not elevated. A notification will be sent if the watch notices consistent signs of sleep apnea. The feature has received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration in the US, and will also be available in over 150 countries.
The Apple Watch Series 10 can detect signs of sleep apnea. Lisa Eadicicco/CNET
Camera Remote controls
One of the sleeper apps on the Apple Watch is the Camera Remote which lets you control your iPhone’s cameras. A new addition that Apple added in WatchOS 11.2 is the ability to pause video recordings. iOS 18 brought the ability to pause and unpause video recordings on your iPhone, but it’s nice to see the feature added to the Apple Watch now, too.
Change your Activity Rings
In WatchOS 11 you can finally adjust your activity rings and take a rest day if you’re sick. In the Activity app, tap on the three rings and then tap pause rings. You can pause for the day, week or month, or you can set a custom target.
Another great new option is being able to change your goals for each ring: Move, exercise and stand. If you know that a 30-minute exercise goal isn’t right for you, that can be adjusted up or down.
Adjusting your Move ring in WatchOS 11. Celso Bulgatti/CNET
Individual days of the week can also be adjusted. Go to the calendar icon at the top right then press schedule and adjust accordingly. I know my Tuesdays are usually pretty low on workouts as I’m in the office, so I set that target to be lower, then up my weekend goals as I’m out and about a lot more.
The Vitals app tracks your health overnight
When you wear the Apple Watch to track sleep, it’s also recording other key metrics like heart rate, respiratory rate and wrist temperature. The Vitals app surfaces these metrics in the morning so you can see them on your wrist, rather than pulling out the Health app to dig into the menus. Use the screen or the crown to scroll through the metrics.
One helpful view is the past seven days view, which tells you if any of your vitals fall outside of your range of normal and highlights it in pink. You’ll also get notification on your wrist if two or more vitals are off.
The Vitals app. Celso Bulgatti/CNET
Training Load helps you keep an eye on your workouts
Training Load is a way to measure the intensity of your workout routine, so you can keep on track if you’re working towards a marathon or the like, or want to avoid over-training.
Open the Activity app and find a new icon in the top right. Tap the chart symbol and the white line shows your 28-day weighted average of activity, with your past seven days compared against it. You can scroll the digital crown to go back through your last week’s workouts. They’ll be categorized as anything from
WatchOS 11.2 Adds Surprising Health Features to Your Apple Watch. Download It Now
