Five years after it was first announced, the Apple Watch is finally getting a native sleep tracking app.
This is according to an alleged snippet of code from Apple’s upcoming iOS 14 software leaked to 9to5Mac. The code details a sleep-tracking feature for the Apple Watch and its Health app, along with a new watch face with a tachymeter complication.
Further new features expected to appear in the watchOS 7 software include the ability to share custom watch faces with friends, set sleep goals, share photo albums from the watch, and a tool called Schooltime helping parents manage the apps of their child’s Apple Watch.
All of this is expected to be included in watchOS 7 for the Apple Watch and iOS 14 for the iPhone, both of which will likely be made available to the public in the autumn. This is also when the 5G-equipped iPhone 12 and new Apple Watch Series 6 are expected to be announced.
Also included in the allegedly leaked code is a feature for tracking the wearer’s blood oxygen levels, and improvements to the existing ECG app, helping to make the Watch’s electrocardiogram function more accurate at higher heart rates.
For now it isn’t clear if those upgrades will be rolled out with software, or if they require the improved hardware of a next-generation Apple Watch.
Furthermore, iOS 14 code seen by MacRumors includes references to a new exercise app from Apple. Codenamed Seymour for now, but expected to be called either Fit or Fitness when rolled out to the public, the app is said to track the wearer’s exercise while they follow a new collection of workout videos on their iPhone, iPad or Apple TV.
As such, it looks like Apple is getting into the home exercise game, with a collection of workout guides offered through the Apple TV set-top box.
We would normally expect to see official news on iOS 14, watchOS 7 and tvOS 14 at Apple’s annual WWDC developer conference, which takes place in June. However, with Santa Clara county temporarily banning events of more than 1,000 people to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Apple is unable to host such an event in its native Cupertino, California.
Apple might well hold an online-only event instead, but production of new models of Watch and iPhone in China for a September launch could also be delayed.
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