The Apple watch series 9 review had a new chip and watchOS 10 health updates
State of Mind, a New Feature in the Apple WatchOS 10 Health App Store — and Why Is It a Good Idea?
I said “pfffft” this week after seeing the Watch Series 9. State of Mind is a new feature in the official version of watchOS 10. In the Health app, you can pick how often you want State of Mind to ping you, whether it’s at the end of the day or throughout the day. When prompted, you twist the watch’s crown to scroll through colors on a flower-shaped graphic to dial in exactly how pleasant or unpleasant you’re feeling, then answer a question or two about what the feeling is and why you’re feeling it.
But then I stopped. Who was I? I am not a health care professional. The table had no one coding on it. I wanted to know if the first- grade teacher would ruin his life if we arrived at 7:51 rather than 7:50. No. I logged my state of mind. Then I went to the bathroom. We should stop and take a moment. Maybe a few. I might even finish my cup of coffee before I head to work.
Source: Apple Watch Series 9 Review: New Chip and New WatchOS 10 Health Updates
Keeping Apple Private with the S9 Chipset for Your Health Tracking & Time Management: Early Expectations for the New Watch Series 9
Apple has carved a reputation for itself as a privacy protector despite the occasional stumbles. Beyond going toe-to-toe with agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation to protect its customers’ privacy, Apple has built a suite of products and services that are for the most part safer to use than the competition. When you log your health data in an Apple device, it can only be accessed by you. It is also protected on its way to and from my cloud storage. Adding the ability to log your medications or track your menstrual cycles, for example, is one of the health- tracking features Apple offers with each iteration of its products.
The new Watch Series 9, which is on sale and arrives in stores this week, is built around Apple’s new S9 chipset. The same processor is inside the new watch. The S9 chipset lets both watches process simple Siri commands on the device itself. You can get what you want much quicker with the watch because you don’t have to send your voice commands to Apple’s server. The scheme can potentially make your interactions more private. When you note your mental state, mark down days of your periods, or log your weight on the scale, that level of protection is reassuring.
Double Tap will be available via a software update in October, but Apple sent me a device with Double Tap enabled so I could experience it early for this review. The new feature comes with some limitations. If you’ve set up the AssistiveTouch features that let you pinch or clench your hand to control your watch, you won’t be able to use them with Double Tap. Assistive Touch must be turned off for Double Tap to work. There’s a lot of shaking and hand movement and blood flowing all over the place, you can’t stop a workout mid-run. In my brief experience with the feature I mostly liked using the Double Tap feature to start and stop my music and timers on my HomePod Mini. Other functions, like responding to texts, were a little confusing. I will need more practice.
Reborn: The New Pink Color for the Apple Watch and How to Make It (Meanwhile I’m Not So Kind)
Apple didn’t make these watches for people looking to upgrade. It made them for people who don’t have an Apple Watch already. And it’s still true that the majority of people buying Apple Watches each year are new to the platform. For those folks, these are the latest and greatest. Well, until next year.
There is a new pink color for the aluminum Series 9, and that is all that has changed. Otherwise, you’re looking at the same design and 41mm / 45mm sizes as the Series 8 and the Series 7 before that.
Pink is the new color for the watch and it is the best in years. First, it’s actually pink, unlike the green Series 7, which only looked green if the light hit just right. This year is the year that our queen and Barbie are reborn. Technically, it’s more Millennial pink than Barbie pink, but that’s probably a good thing. Normally, I kvetch about how Apple shies away from saturated color, but the extra subtlety here makes for a more versatile watch. The pinkness can either be emphasized or minimized according to the strap.
It is difficult to tell the Ultra 2 from the Ultra. When I got my hands-on at Apple Park, a representative advised I stow my Ultra in my bag — lest I accidentally leave it behind. The back crystal on the Ultra 2 is just called Ultra instead of the Series watches which always say which Series they are. I used little signs of wear and tear on my original Ultra to tell my watches apart, for the entire week.
More recycled materials are found in the Series 9 and Ultra 2. The Sport loop is made of recycled yarn, up from zero. The Series 9 and Ultra 2 are made from recycled aluminum and titanium. The speckled flecks in silicone Nike straps you’ll see throughout this review are also recycled. The Apple FineWoven strap is made of post-consumer recycled material and is intended to be an alternative to leather. ‘Cause Apple doesn’t do leather anymore.
FineWoven is fine. It is soft and fuzzy. If you grab it with a nail, it will show a scratch. It’s hard to say whether it’ll develop a patina, as I simply haven’t had it long enough, but I wouldn’t recommend working out in it (or in any leather strap, for that matter). I thought my 45mm review unit would be fetching, but it was not, and my co-workers were not happy about it. The majority of people said they weren’t fans, but could not articulate why. I would go to an apple store first if I were you and you were debating getting one.
Source: Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 review: small but smart improvements
How Mahershala Ali nailed Siri: Small but smart improvements [Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 Review: Double Tap Precision Finding Siri]
First off, the improved Neural Engine on the S9 SiP means Siri processing happens on device. That, in turn, purportedly leads to 25 percent better dictation and the ability to issue Siri commands when offline. You’ll be able to ask health-related queries later this year.
With texts featuring Korean words, like bulgogi, an admirable job was done for more mundane words, but still messed up some names of our favorite K-pop singers and actors. It’s not a perfect test, but to me, that means I still have to enunciate clearly when using foreign words in English (aka Konglish). Over the last few years, I use the name of actor Mahershala Ali as a litmus test. Back in 2018 and 2019, Siri would often get tripped up on it. I’m happy to say this year, it nailed it 100 percent of the time.
Source: Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 review: small but smart improvements
How Well Can I Use the App on My Phone to Set a Timer? An Apple Watch Series 9, Ultra 2, and Other Review: Small but Smart Improvements
If you have no internet or cellular data, you can use the phone’s voice-recognition capabilities to do some basic tasks. I was able to use the app on my phone and watch to set workout times and airplane mode to use on my watch. Your laundry room is in the basement, your hands are full with laundry, and you forgot to bring your phone upstairs. You can now ask Siri to set a timer and not worry about it. This won’t work 100 percent of the time when Siri has to pull information from the internet, however. But, if you do get a weather update preloaded from when you had internet, I found that Siri can still give you an update. (Though it may not be the most up-to-date information.)
The S9 SiP also results in greater power savings, but you should already know that Apple’s reinvested that somewhere other than better battery life. Apple decided to make the displays brighter. The Series 9 is now up to 2000 nits, compared to 1,000 nits, while the Ultra 2 is up to 3000 nits. Indoors and outdoors, it’s difficult to tell the difference if you don’t have older models on hand for comparison. And even if you do, as I did, it can still be difficult to tell under certain lighting conditions.
Apple uses much the ambient light sensor. Just because you can change the Series 9 or Ultra 2 brightness doesn’t mean the watch is giving you all it’s got. It is dependent on your environment, to give your eyes a break and save battery. You’re most likely to see the difference outside on a very sunny day.
I am still investigating the battery life. Without any low-power settings, I’ve gotten roughly 25 to 30 hours on both the 41mm and 45mm Series 9 and about two and a half days on the Ultra 2. I will have to get back to training after recovering from some calf strain.
Source: Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 review: small but smart improvements
Double-Tapping the Pinchy Pinch: Importance of Learning to Tap with a Finger and a Thick Pencil
The double tap gesture is an update to the Series 9 and Ultra 2. Or, as my colleague Dan Seifert more accurately describes it, the pinchy pinch. It’s similar to double-clicking with a mouse, except you’re making a pinching motion with your index finger and thumb. It’ll come via a software update sometime in October, but Apple sent us a separate Series 9 loaded with a beta version of the feature so I could give it a whirl.
Say you get a text. If you double-tap, it’ll bring up the ability to reply via voice messages. Double-tapping again will send the message. For a timer, double-tapping once will pause the timer. It will unpause if you do it again. Pinchy pinching stops the timer when it goes off. I’ve also used it to control the camera shutter, control my music, snooze alarms, scroll through watchOS 10’s widget stack, and answer / end calls.
This is a great feature, but not without its quirks. For one thing, it comes with a learning curve. For it to work, you must first do the raise-to-wake gesture. (This is to prevent accidental triggers.) You also have to learn the timing. Too fast or too slow won’t work, and between selecting actions, there’s a slight pause. I was too aggressive when I first tried out demos at Apple Park. Once I got my review unit, however, I got the hang of it relatively quickly.
It isn’t the best at multitasking. If you do not navigate away from the timer, you will not be able to double-tap to pause or restart while it is running in the background. Once it goes off, you can double-tap again since it’s back at the forefront. The same goes for snoozing alarms. You’ll probably have to use Siri — or your other hand — if you’ve got a lot going on at once.
Another thing: I wish it were slightly more customizable. Apple designed this to be intuitive, but not everyone will think double-tap ought to do the same thing. I get why in the Messages app, the gesture will bring up a voice reply. I would love to be able to use it to scroll through quick text replies, select one, and send it. You can tailor the double-tap to do different things, such as music listening and the smart add-ons. You can choose whether the gesture will pause or not. (I prefer the skip function!) You can either scroll through the various Widgets or choose the one with the pinned up top.
I think you don’t have to use your index finger. The feature also works with your middle, ring, and pinky fingers — though it may not work quite as well with the latter two. Even so, it’s great that you have alternatives in the event you lose or break your index finger.
The first gesture-based wristwatch feature was released by Apple. Samsung also has something very similar to AssistiveTouch for its Galaxy Watches. This is a step further and Apple has made it part of the default interface. It’s a powerful example of how accessible design benefits everyone. I hope that other makers follow Apple’s lead and improve on this feature.
Source: Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 review: small but smart improvements
Finding an AirTag with an iPhone 14 Pro Max: How Owen Grove Spent a Day in the Life of a Cellular Analog During the Covid-19 Pandemic
Some of us never misplace our phones. The Series 9 and Ultra 2 won’t work for those people. This is for those of us who ring our phones multiple times a day and lose them in odd places. True story: I once left my phone inside my fridge while dazed, hangry, and confused at the height of the covid-19 pandemic.
Precision Finding on the Apple Watch is similar to how you find AirTags with your phone. At first, you bring up the control panel and ring your phone like normal. Once you’re within range of your phone, you’ll see an approximate distance and some directional guidance. When you’re within six feet, you’ll hear another beep from your phone.
To test the feature, my co-worker Owen Grove sent me on a scavenger hunt in The Verge’s office. He placed an Ultra and an iMac in one area and a Series 9 and an iMac in another. Although I heard the iPhone 14 Pro Max ring first, it was incredibly faint, and I didn’t really have a clue where it could be. After a long time, the Series 9 picked up a signal when I was within 50 feet. It only took about three minutes for me to get to my phone after that. Finding the iPhone 14 Pro Max was trickier since I had to rely on sound — The Verge’s office layout is maze-like, so my Ultra lost connection fairly frequently because of all the walls. It took about double the time to find the 14 Pro Max.
We also tested the feature outside, and this time, the range extended to roughly 80 feet on account of all the open space. That said, it had a hard time getting a precise lock when Owen was actively moving around with the iPhone 15. Instead, an icon pops up, letting you know that the phone is currently in motion. If your phone is not moving, this feature won’t work.
But as much as I love this feature, it requires that your phone also has the new second-generation UWB chip, which means it’s limited to the iPhone 15 lineup. If you upgrade your Apple Watch only, this isn’t a feature you’ll have right away. It only works on your phone, but you cannot use it to find an AirTag with the Series 9 or Ultra 2.
The new watchfaces we did not get to see were a solar analogue and modular Ultra face. The solar analog face is on the simpler side. The light trail behind the second hand has a change in color depending on whether it is day or night. The Modular Ultra face is exclusive to the Ultra and Ultra 2, which is why it is a dream for me. There are six small ones and a large one in the center of the pack. In real time, the bezel can show elevation, depth, or seconds.
Got any lingering questions about double tap, precision finding, Siri, the S9, why they didn’t call this the Ultra Deuce? I’ll be answering your questions in person today at 1:00PM. Just post your questions in the comments of this quickpost.
Every smart device has a set of terms and conditions that you must agree to before you can use it. We can’t read and analyze every single agreement. Most people don’t read agreements like this, and we started counting how often you have to agree to use devices when we review them.
You can only use the Apple Watch Series 9 or Ultra 2 with an iPhone. You have already understood the terms of service and privacy agreements. Using optional services, like Apple Pay, Apple Music, or Fitness Plus, with your Series 8 will also come with their own agreements. Using the Health app also comes with its own terms and conditions.
Source: Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 review: small but smart improvements
Carrier Terms and Determinant Agreement for Cellular Service in a Microwave Radio Retrieval System Using Fibre Channels
If you choose to enable cellular service, you’ll also have to agree to your carrier’s terms. I was asked if I wanted to agree to one mandatory agreement after I activated cellular.
Apple on Monday announced that it has rolled out a new feature in the Apple WatchOS 10 to let users search for health-related items like prescriptions and appointments on the platform. Users can search using the double tap gesture and can access the data within the app. The new feature has been rolled out as an update to the Series 9 and Ultra 2.