While iOS 11[1] may have gotten all the attention with its release on September 19, watchOS 4[2] launched on the same day and it’s just as significant for those who have an Apple Watch. watchOS 4 is not a minor update that fixes some of the things Apple[3] may have gotten wrong with previous iterations of the Apple Watch[4]. In fact, this update shows that Apple now knows what people want from the watch and it is focusing all of its energies on that.
The Apple Watch is a good smartwatch, but it is one of the best fitness watches - if not the best fitness watch - in the market. The Series 2[5] (Review[6]) in particular, with inbuilt GPS and swim-proof hardware, targets fitness enthusiasts. Most of watchOS 4’s big improvements are for people who workout with their Apple Watch and that is great news.
How Apple Watch Series 2 Became the Perfect Smartwatch for Me[7]
When we installed watchOS 4, the first thing we noticed is a renewed focus on heart rate monitoring. The company highlighted a new Apple Watch feature that lets people know if they suffer from Arrhythmia[8] during its September 12 event[9] (available to users in the US at a later date to start with) and the watch asks you to opt in if you try to check your heart rate.
However, the best thing in all this is that the Activity app on the iPhone now shows a heart rate graph for all of workouts you logged with the Apple Watch. This includes workouts logged before watchOS 4 came along, which is very nice...