watchOS - page 6

Apple has quickly become the world’s biggest watch company and based on its latest competition from Android smartwatch maker LG, the company’s not in danger of losing its title anytime soon.

LG’s new Watch W7 was unveiled today with a hybrid design that makes it half smartwatch, half mechanical watch. The watch face has mechanical hands so that you can always see what time it is. To keep them from blocking the display, LG put a little feature in it that makes the two hands fold horizontally but the execution of the idea is quite atrocious.

Look at how dumb this thing is:

Apple isn’t wasting time getting out the next versions of all its operating systems. Yesterday, it introduced fresh betas of iOS 12.1, macOS 10.14.1, and tvOS 12.1 just for developers, and today these are all available to the general public.

This is the second round of betas of all this pre-release software. It comes two weeks after the initial round.

Apple Watch Series 4 is now available to preorder ahead of its official launch on September 21. It’s packed with new features, but considerably more expensive than its predecessors, with prices starting at $399.

Last year’s Apple Watch Series 3 is also still available. It’s not quite as impressive as the latest model, but it’s now more affordable at $279.

Which one should you buy? Find out right here in our 2018 Apple Watch comparison.

Two years ago, my partner and I launched an Apple Watch app to complement our iPhone fitness app. Little did we know that our embrace of Apple’s smartwatch would threaten the very existence of the gym app we’d been developing since 2012.

Each year since we launched Reps & Sets, we updated it to keep up-to-speed with all the cool new features Apple rolled out at its Worldwide Developers Conference. That all changed last year, though. That’s when we discovered that, by adding support for Apple Watch, we had inadvertently taken a poison pill that could effectively kill our iPhone app.

It doesn’t have to be this way. With a few key changes, Apple could turns things around and reinvigorate the Apple Watch app ecosystem.

Apple’s efforts to encourage developers to use in-app subscriptions continued this week with a new video published to its developer portal.

“Developer Insights” highlights the benefits of a subscription model with reoccurring payments, and features testimonials from app makers who are already enjoying a subscription model. Apple has already held meetings with developers to warn them that one-time purchases are dying.

The annual Apple event we’ve all been waiting for is right around the corner.

On September 12, the company will host a special keynote from the Steve Jobs Theater in Apple Park, where it will reveal all the hardware it has planned for this fall.

We’re expecting a slew of big announcements, including updates for the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. Here’s our roundup of everything Apple is likely to deliver at its “Gather Round” event.

You can now sign into your Microsoft account using your Apple Watch.

Microsoft’s free Authenticator app, which brought password-free logins to iOS last year, has made the leap to watchOS. It’s in beta testing for now, but it’s easy to sign up for early access.

iOS and macOS developers received a fresh batch of new beta updates from Apple this morning as the company prepares to launch its new software this fall. And the general public got a new iOS beta too.

macOS Mojave beta 9 and iOS 12 beta 11 can be downloaded from the Apple developer center immediately. The updates bringing a host of bug fixes and performance improvements to the iPhone and Mac.

Instapaper has become the latest big service to ditch its Apple Watch app.

The most recent Instapaper app update removes the Apple Watch component, and there are apparently no plans to bring it back. One Instapaper developer explains that it didn’t prove popular enough to warrant a required rebuild for watchOS.

Apple warns us that its beta releases should not be installed on our primary devices. Until just a few years ago, it only allowed registered developers to download them. But that doesn’t stop keen Apple fans from updating early to get their hands on its latest features.

You won’t believe how many people are already running the next versions of macOS, iOS, tvOS, watchOS months before their public debut.

Mix up your training and leave your iPhone at home with the new Nike Training Club app for Apple Watch.

With more than 180 workouts on offer, there’s always something new to try, whether you’re into strength training, yoga, endurance, or something else. It’s also completely free to enjoy.

Apple dropped a big batch of new beta software on developers this morning, including new builds for macOS Mojave, tvOS 12 and watchOS 12.

The new betas come just two weeks after Apple unveiled its new software at WWDC 2018, bringing a bunch of changes to the Mac, Apple TV and Apple Watch.

It may not have been action-packed, but this week’s WWDC was bursting with great stuff. Don’t miss our WWDC 2018 reactions on this week’s episode of The CultCast. Then stick around for our list of all the best new iOS 12, watchOS, and macOS features announced at the keynote.

Our thanks to Casper for supporting this episode. Learn why Casper makes the internet’s favorite mattress, and get $50 toward select mattresses at casper.com/cultcast.

Amazon has not launched an Alexa app for watchOS, but new third-party software lets you sideline Siri on your Apple Watch should you prefer the voice of Alexa.

The app, Voice in a Can, will also work on iPhone and iPad, though the voice assistant won’t do all the things it does on the Amazon Echo.

It’s been a tight ship over there at Apple, so for the first time in a long time, we know almost nothing about what will be announced at an Apple Keynote. But we think there’s a good case for new hardware come Monday, and on this week’s CultCast, we’ll tell you why. Plus, we’ll tell you everything we think we know about iOS 12, and stick around for our ears-on, gaping-jaw review of stereo HomePods.

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Apple still has a bunch of new devices up its sleeve for 2018 — not including the new iPhone lineup — but we won’t see any of it at WWDC.

A new report claims we can expect refreshed MacBook and MacBook Pro models, a more affordable machine to replace the MacBook Air, a new iPad Pro with Face ID, and a new Apple Watch. However, we’ll have to wait until later in the year to get our hands on them.

The Apple website has today been updated to highlight the accessibility features of iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. The change is in celebration of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, a yearly event that promotes digital access and inclusion for those with different disabilities.

Developers received a big batch of updates this morning as Apple dropped the third set of betas of its upcoming software updates for iOS, macOS, tvOS and watchOS.

iOS 11.4 beta 3 was made available to developers today, bringing a host of bug fixes and performance improvements to the iPhone and iPad. The new update adds a number of features that were missing from iOS 11.3 while also adding some crucial new goodies.

If you want to be seen and safe on the road when you’re cycling, you need a Lumos Helmet. The world’s first smart bike helmet offers more than just protection, with built-in lights, brake and turn signals. And now it’s even better, thanks to Apple Watch.

Lumos today launched its new watchOS app, which lets you control your helmet’s lighting using simple gestures. The company also confirmed that the Lumos Helmet will soon become the first bike helmet to be sold in Apple stores throughout the United States and Europe.

If you’re forever losing your keys, why bother using them at all? Now you can unlock your doors using your Apple Watch, thanks to the August Smart Lock.

It’s one of the easiest and fastest ways to get into your home, and you don’t even need your iPhone.

A watchOS update could finally add support for third-party Apple Watch faces soon.

Apple Watch fans have been calling for third-party face support since the device made its debut three years ago. A note discovered in the latest watchOS code suggests developers may soon get permission to build the custom faces we badly crave.

The latest watchOS beta warns that support will end soon for applications that haven’t been updated for years. This is part of an ongoing push by Apple to get all third-party apps that were written for the first-generation Software Development Kit updated to something more recent.

Unfortunately, this drive is instead causing some developers to drop their out-of-date Apple Watch apps.

Apple Watch sells very well, but apparently not strongly enough for some companies. A deadline requiring developers to base their apps on newer versions of watchOS just passed, and some businesses choose to pull their software rather than update it.

Instagram garnered the most attention, but there are surely other examples. 

Apple Watch owners can finally download the first big software update of 2018 for Apple’s wearable. watchOS 4.3 launched to the public this morning, adding a bunch of small new features and performance improvements that make the Apple Watch tick better than ever.

In the three short years since Apple Watch debuted, Cupertino has massively improved its smartwatch. Remember the early days, when Glances took ages to load, only to show out-of-date information? When the Fitness app refused to stay in the foreground during a workout? Or when the side button launched a doodling app?

Since the launch, Apple has rolled out big upgrades to watchOS every year at its Worldwide Developers Conference. But there is still loads more that could be done to really unleash Apple Watch’s full potential.

With this year’s WWDC confirmed for June, here’s my wish list of the all the new watchOS stuff I’m hoping will be announced in San Jose, California. It’s a pretty long list, so I’ve broken it down into three separate posts, starting with usability. In followup posts, I’ll focus on fitness, apps and setup.