Apple may often be at the cutting edge of technology but they also have a tendency to miss out on certain trends entirely. Despite starting much of the smartwatch craze that we have at the moment, the company has surprisingly never introduced any form of sleep tracking, a feature that is commonplace on many smartwatches these days, even if not entirely accurate. Sleep tracking is possible through a variety of other apps, but not something which the device tracks natively. At least for now.
According to a new 9to5Mac report though, it looks like this might finally change with Apple’s next OS update, watchOS 7, likely to introduce sleep tracking to the devices. The report is based on leaked iOS 14 code, and watchOS 7 is said to include a new personalized sleep goal in the Health app on an iPhone that will also be used to improve sleep duration and quality, trying to lure wearers to not just walk and run further but sleep more too. Of which I’m certain we will see people find many ways of gaming that particular system to somehow feel better about themselves without actually doing the necessary work (or in this case rest).
The sleep tracking is undeniably the biggest possible feature in the new watchOS given how so many rivals already offer it, but there are also other possible features teased in the leaks with the likes of photos-based watch faces, watch-face sharing with iOS, a tachymeter, parental controls for kids and possible change to watch apps themselves so that they’re no longer based on extensions. There is even another rumour that claims Apple could be looking at measuring blood oxygen levels through its watch, which would be an incredibly powerful feature if true, though not one that I am sure can necessarily work reliably without access to the blood itself.
These are just all pure rumours for now, given that it’s based off leaks and Apple has yet to announce anything official themselves. Apple is expected to make these announcements at their Worldwide Developers Conference which is supposed to be taking place in June, though the company has yet to announce an official date with the current concerns around COVID-19 still prevalent.
Last Updated: March 11, 2020
