Apple’s Smartwatch Gets a Dramatic Makeover: A Closer Look at the Changes
The Apple Watch’s face is already appealing, and users can customize it to their liking. With the introduction of watchOS 10, the watch’s new operating system, even more impressive and practical changes can be made to the interface.
Apple’s widgets, which are already familiar to iPhone users, are expected to become a central part of the Apple Watch interface, according to the well-known Apple analyst Mark Gurman from Bloomberg.
Gurman refers to the Apple Watch widgets as a combination of the Glances system, which used to be a part of the Apple Watch, and the widgets currently found on the iPhone. Rather than having to open apps to retrieve information, users can see a stack of widgets displaying data related to the weather, stock market, the user’s calendar, and more. On a compatible Apple Watch model, the widgets can be layered onto any watch face selected by the user.
Gurman further explains that this feature is similar to the widget stack, a characteristic of iOS and iPadOS that enables users to stack multiple widgets together and scroll through them. The expert also notes that Apple’s move shows that they have realized that the iPhone’s app-centric platform does not work as efficiently in a watch, where users want to quickly access the latest information without wasting time searching for it.
Apple is reportedly testing changes to the functions of the buttons on the Apple Watch. For instance, pressing the digital crown may activate the new widgets view, rather than navigating to the usual home screen. However, it is anticipated that the new user interface may be optional due to the significant departure from the current application-centric experience familiar to Apple Watch users.
According to Gurman, watchOS 10 is expected to be one of the most significant software updates for the Apple Watch since its introduction. As only minor hardware updates are expected for Series 9 models later this year, this update is expected to be the most significant change to the Apple Watch in 2023. The watchOS 10 update will be unveiled at the upcoming Apple Developer Conference (WWDC 2023), which commences on June 5.
