Apple didn’t miss a chance to help spice up its Apple Watch lineup, offering up new watch faces along with plenty of new features tied to watchOS 6 and its public launch later this year after the big WWDC unveil.
As is par for the course, Apple carved out some time during its WWDC keynote to talk about the Apple Watch, the new features coming to the latest version of the mobile OS (watchOS 6 in this case), and new watch faces to help spruce things up for a new year. Apple notes this year that the watch faces cover the gamut from “pretty to practical”, with different styles and different functionality to offer up options for everyone.
Pretty In Pink & Big Backgrounds
There is a new gradient option, with the colors shifting along the watch face as the hour and minute hand of the clock turn. Apple sees some of these new watch faces as a way to “splash some fashion” on your wrist, and this new gradient option certainly does the trick. Plus, users will be able to add new complications (and change the color) along the edge to further customize it to their liking.
Or you can choose to go loud, with big numbers in the background:
New Complications
Just because you opt for some fashion doesn’t mean you need to ditch practicality altogether. To that end, Apple is also introducing a variety of new complications that will not only give you more information at a glance, but also allow you to dig in to an app to pick up where you left off or start fresh.
Some of the new complications include a new Voice Memos feature, allowing you to quickly tap the complication to start a recording and take down a note. Users will also be able to see current decibel levels in real-time, and get a feel for how powerful their cellular connection is. If you’ve started an audiobook, you can use the new complication to jump right back in where you left off.
Keeping Track of Time
Even though the Apple Watch is packed to the brim with features, not even including the new ones coming with watchOS 6, it’s still a watch and you still need to be able to tell the time. To help with that, Apple is adding a new feature that will allow the user to configure options to mark the time.
watchOS 6 will allow users to use the Taptic Engine to “silently tap out the hour” on your wrist. Or, if you prefer an audio cue, the software can help with that, too, letting the user set a chime to go off every hour, on the hour.
Want the watch to tell you the time out loud? Just hold a couple of fingers on the Apple Watch’s display and the smartwatch will do just that.
Pretty and Practical
Apple wants users to know that it has built the software to be approachable to just about everyone who might want a smartwatch. To get there, the Apple Watch is packed with features, but it also boasts plenty of options that simply aim to please the visual senses. But the reality is that Apple reaches the “pretty to practical” goal without neglecting either, which is the right way to go about things.
Of course, the question still needs to be asked: should we see Apple lovingly welcome third-party watch faces? What do you think?