Apple’s WWDC event is less than a week a way, where it is expected to release big upgrades to its family of operating systems. The youngest Apple platform, watchOS, got some serious improvements in watchOS 3. With the fourth interaction, Apple is expected to squash some of the biggest problems while breathing life with new features too.
Full details on watchOS 4 still haven’t been revealed, but we’ve got some ideas of our own that we’re really hoping made the cut this year.
This is what we want in watchOS 4:
Third party watch faces
Photo: Cult of Mac
One of the biggest gripes of most Apple Watch users is the inability to set custom third-party Watch faces. Maybe Apple hasn’t opened the floodgates so the Face Gallery isn’t inundated by some low-quality Watch Faces, but wearers need more options.
Creative developers could come up with some beautiful Watch Faces that make Apple Watch feel more personal. If third-party Watch faces don’t come out, hopefully Apple will at least create more Special Edition Watch faces. In line with the Mickey Mouse and the Minnie Mouse watch faces, Apple should collaborate with other companies for new faces. Batman, anyone?
Offline Siri and voice feedback
Photo: Cult of Mac
Offline Siri has secured a place in our iOS 11 and macOS 10.13 wishlist already, so it only makes sense to hope it comes to watchOS 4 too. With the limited screen real-estate on the Apple Watch, relying on Siri as an input device increases ten folds. Therefore, it’s necessary more than ever for Siri to be accurate.
Offline Siri could be helpful at times when you have a spotty connection. Instead of being powered by the Apple Watch processor, Apple could run the processes on your iPhone.
Oh and how about some audio feedback on Siri? The Apple Watch already has a built in speaker but you have to read what Siri says. Make things easier for us Apple by bringing Siri’s voice to your watch.
Always-on display
Photo: Cult of Mac
The Apple Watch “intelligently” turns on the display when you raise your wrist and turns it off when you put it down. But, one of the much-sought features is the ability to have an always-on display like most other smartwatches do.
The main reason Apple Watch doesn’t come with such a feature is it would probably kill battery life way quicker. But, there are some users who would gladly trade a little bit of battery life for an always-on display.
Offline podcasts and notes
Photo: Cult of Mac
Although Apple did a great job of creating watchOS apps for their iPhone counterparts, a few of them are still missing. Notable missing apps include the Podcasts the Notes apps. The iOS version of both apps should be able to sync data from your iPhone onto your wrist.
Asking Siri on watchOS to open Podcasts or add a new note requires you to continue on your iPhone, which kind-of defeats the purpose. Why stop with just Notes and Podcasts though. The Compass and and Voice Memos would also be great to have on watchOS.
Enhance the Find my iPhone functionality
Photo: Cult of Mac
The Find my iPhone functionality on the iPhone lets you locate your iPhone, Mac and your Apple Watch. Locating all your Apple devices quickly from your Apple Watch could make it even more convenient, though. As of now, the watchOS features a Control Center toggle that helps you locate your iPhone by playing a sound on it, but that’s about it. The Apple Watch could greatly benefit from a Find my iPhone functionality.
Also, while we’re at it, the Find my iPhone feature lets you find your other Apple devices, too. So, it could use a more precise name maybe?
Improved health-related features
Photo: Cult of Mac
The Apple Watch is already great at tracking workouts and other activities like cycling and running, but there’s a lot of scope for improvement. New activities like snowboarding and skiing are being tested in the Activity app, according to a report by Gizmodo. Native sleep tracking functionality is also believed to be in the works. Syncing the workout data to the iCloud so it can be accessible from anywhere would be another great addition.
Other tiny fixes
A number of other small fixes need to be made, like adding customizable alerts and vibrations for calls, removing storage limits for photos and music, adding music controls in the Control Center, more complex Watch face complications, and granular notifications control. Also, with SiriKit coming to the Apple Watch in watchOS 3.2, we’re hoping that more developers get on board so we can use Siri with other third-party apps.
What’s on your wish list?
So that was our wish list of the things we expect from Apple’s next big update for its Watch series. We shall know which of these rumors and expectations come to fruition at Apple’s WWDC event on June 5.
Now it’s your turn — tell us what’s on your watchOS 4 wish list? Tell us about the features you’re looking forward to in the comments below.
Abhishek Kurve is a tech blogger and a digital marketer. He embraces any new tech with inhuman enthusiasm. He also runs KeepKop, a tech media company that reviews and recommends best tech gadgets.
Connect with him on Twitter @Abhishek_kurve.
15 responses to “watchOS 4 Wish List: 7 features we’d love to see”
The ability to get a sound/notification on both the watch and phone without having to disable wrist detection.
Bigger Screen 45 mm should be nice. Look at Samsung Gear 3, its fabulous and sporty.
Coming soon, Huawei watch which acts like a phone with sim card build in. Its cool.
The Gear 3 is illogically round and way too big for most people. The Huawei is also illogically round.
Whilst these are more iOS features I would like to be able to ping the Watch from the phone to make finding in the house easy.
Being a business user ( personal and work phone) I would also like two iPhones allowed to be linked to one Watch simultaneously – or if that’s not possible the ability to send notifications from one iPhone to another so the “master” iPhone can relay all notifications to the Watch.
I am hoping that they soon have glucose monitoring on the Watch.
I want to delete multiple text messages at once! Or… How about an option you can set in the watch app on the phone that tells it to delete the message on the watch when it’s deleted on the phone. It’s so annoying swiping three times for each message on the watch to clear them out.
I sold my gen 1 in hopes that we get a brand new apple watch this year. I want a refreshed product. The watch is now cycles old, and news to be round, flatter, and longer lasting. Hope we get some of those things!
Why would you want an illogically round smartwatch?
Location aware watch faces! I have different watch faces for travel, gym, work, etc.
DIdn’t they announce the lost connection feature in WatchOS 2? And then I think it got cut for some reason before the release?
Improved Sleep Tracking and Auto Do Not Disturb when tracking sleep
Honestly any features I’d want added to the Apple Watch require new hardware like new health sensors and things like that. Also why would you want an always on display? It doesn’t make sense to me. Your iPhone screen isn’t always on.
Always-on display isn’t a software feature. It’s a hardware requirement. Not happening until Series 3 at least. I’d like sleep tracking. I do it with apps already but wearing it to bed isn’t a problem if you charge for 30 minutes on each side of the night. I’d love my watch not to randomly shut off multiple times per day as well… especially during workouts.
I would like alway-on-mode when in nigthstand.
Not a fan of Siri as it makes for unnecessary chatter in public places.