Apple’s watchOS 5 is coming with a long list of health, social and notification improvements

The world’s most popular smartwatch family (by far) is not getting a new member for a few more months, but it’s obviously getting a fifth software release… detailed and previewed today ahead of a likely rollout in the fall.

watchOS 5 primarily aims to consolidate, expand and enrich the health and fitness capabilities of the Apple Watch while also making a point of bringing users closer together. The somewhat overlooked social networking aspect of the platform is being bolstered with competitions between friends, and you get notifications on your progress every step of the 7-day challenges.

Automatic workout detection is coming to make it a lot easier to just run, bike or hike without having to remember to press a button. Speaking of all these different types of exercises, Apple will let you monitor a bunch of new stats and indicators, including swim strokes, the pace and elevation of your hikes, and cadence during long running sessions.

A fun little feature aptly titled Walkie-Talkie will further help Apple Watches stand out as social connecting devices, supporting both Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity to allow almost futuristic wrist communication.

Meanwhile, the always popular Siri watchface is getting third-party apps (huzzah!), as well as sports, maps, and essential heart rate info.

Just like on iOS, watchOS users are looking at enhanced control over notifications, including easier replying to messages. The icing on the cake is probably WebKit support, although you don’t get a full-fledged wrist browser… just yet. For now, certain webpages can be viewed (in optimized form), and we’re suddenly starting to think we may not need phones at all soon enough. Especially with podcasts also supported by watchOS 5.

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Apple’s watchOS 5 is coming with a long list of health, social and notification improvements

The world’s most popular smartwatch family (by far) is not getting a new member for a few more months, but it’s obviously getting a fifth software release… detailed and previewed today ahead of a likely rollout in the fall.

watchOS 5 primarily aims to consolidate, expand and enrich the health and fitness capabilities of the Apple Watch while also making a point of bringing users closer together. The somewhat overlooked social networking aspect of the platform is being bolstered with competitions between friends, and you get notifications on your progress every step of the 7-day challenges.

Automatic workout detection is coming to make it a lot easier to just run, bike or hike without having to remember to press a button. Speaking of all these different types of exercises, Apple will let you monitor a bunch of new stats and indicators, including swim strokes, the pace and elevation of your hikes, and cadence during long running sessions.

A fun little feature aptly titled Walkie-Talkie will further help Apple Watches stand out as social connecting devices, supporting both Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity to allow almost futuristic wrist communication.

Meanwhile, the always popular Siri watchface is getting third-party apps (huzzah!), as well as sports, maps, and essential heart rate info.

Just like on iOS, watchOS users are looking at enhanced control over notifications, including easier replying to messages. The icing on the cake is probably WebKit support, although you don’t get a full-fledged wrist browser… just yet. For now, certain webpages can be viewed (in optimized form), and we’re suddenly starting to think we may not need phones at all soon enough. Especially with podcasts also supported by watchOS 5.

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Apple wants to help you disconnect with Screen Time and App Limits in iOS 12

Who’s copying who now? In all fairness, everyone copies everyone, and no one really copies no one. Google just so happened to talk about the Android P’s “joy of missing out” first, with Apple following suit today at WWDC 2018 by unveiling a series of similar iOS 12 features.

No, improved system performance and predictable AR revisions are not the full story here, with something called Screen Time also in the pipeline. You will be shown not only how long you use each app, but also which apps are sending the most notifications.

A weekly activity summary aims to encourage you to use your phone less by detailing exactly how addicted you are to it, and yes, you can set App Limits to make sure you’re keeping said addiction in check. Unfortunately, you can always ask for more time, although there’s obviously only so much Apple can do to help you disconnect.

“Allowances” will allow parents to enforce stricter controls over what their kids can do and for how long, with Family Sharing setup, and remote management capabilities.

Meanwhile, everybody gets more control over notifications, with Instant Tuning and, yes, grouping options. A new “Do not disturb during bedtime” mode will hide all your notifications while sleeping, although you can also customize the activation time and duration of this feature.

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iOS 12 ‘doubles down’ on performance, coming to all iOS 11-eligible devices

iOS 12 is coming soon... to every single iOS 11-supported iPhone and iPad, vastly improving performance, especially on older devices.

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Here’s how, when and where you can watch Apple’s WWDC 2018 opening keynote

Apple is expected to focus exclusively on software announcements at its WWDC 2018 opening event in San Jose, California, and you can follow all the action live online starting at 10 a.m. PDT.

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Here’s how, when and where you can watch Apple’s WWDC 2018 opening keynote

Apple is expected to focus exclusively on software announcements at its WWDC 2018 opening event in San Jose, California, and you can follow all the action live online starting at 10 a.m. PDT.

The post Here’s how, when and where you can watch Apple’s WWDC 2018 opening keynote appeared first on Pocketnow.

iOS 12, just like Android P, is also about “Digital Health”

New metrics will be accessible to iPhone and iPad users so that they can self-start a road away from being addicted to the services they get on their phones and tablets.

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Apple’s WWDC 2018 to be entirely software-focused, no new iPads or MacBooks in store

No iPhone SE 2, no iPad Pros with Face ID, no refreshed MacBooks, and certainly no Apple Watch Series 4. Still, there's plenty of exciting software stuff reportedly slated for WWDC 2018 announcements.

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$250 Beats-branded Siri speaker tipped as Apple’s only WWDC 2018 hardware launch

Apple is reportedly keen on "advancing its digital assistant ambitions" at next week's Worldwide Developers Conference, both with expanded Siri capabilities and a lower-cost Beats smart speaker.

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