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The Best New Apple Watch Features

Wearing Apple’s aptly-named Apple Watch is like having a fully-featured smartphone strapped to your wrist. Although it’s a mere companion to the iPhone, the device is incredibly powerful. Not only does it monitor your activity, take phone calls and respond to text messages, but it also grants access to a slew of apps like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

RELATED: 8 Best Fitness Trackers and Watches

Despite its standing as one of the premier smartwatches on the market, Apple still rolls out a new model each fall. This year, Apple unveiled the new Apple Watch Series 5, as well as a new operating system, watchOS 6. With it comes a laundry list of new features and functions, some of which were met with open arms while others are just alright.

To help you figure out which ones should take up some digital real estate on your own Apple Watch, we’ve compiled the following list of the best new Apple Watch features. Everything from the widely-loved Always On Display to the new noise detection app show this small yet robust device continues to pull its weight.

Always On Display

Requires: Series 5 only

The Apple Watch’s new Always On Display quickly became one of the most talked-about new features – and for good reason. Now, instead of the display turning on when you lift your wrist, it remains on at all times. The feature is available in two separate modes, dim and full brightness, giving users even more control over just how Always On they want their watch to be.

Note: The Always On Display is native only to an Apple Watch Series 5 running watchOS 6. Despite watchOS 6 being compatible with an Apple Watch as far back as the Series 3, it requires the hardware specific to the Series 5. The same is true for the following features: The Compass and Emergency SOS International Calling.

Compass

Requires: Series 5 only

Another Apple Watch Series 5 exclusive is the inclusion of a new Compass app. With the app open, a digital Compass displays on the watch face, showing a wearer’s bearing, ground elevation and latitude and longitude. The watch doles out haptic feedback when the digital needle crosses over the North notch, as well as every 15-degree increment. You do also need the Compass app downloaded on your iPhone for sure – both are native to the most current operating systems, though.

Voice Memos

Requires: watchOS6 (Compatible with Series 3 and later)

To the joy of journalists everywhere, watchOS 6 brings voice recording compatibility to the Apple Watch. With the Voice Memos app, users are able to both record and play voice memos directly from the watch itself. Memos store directly to the app on the watch, and automatically sync and transfer to any other iOS device or Apple computer.

Emergency SOS International Calling

Requires: Series 5 only

The Apple Watch has already been able to issue emergency SOS calls but the Series 5 brings with it the ability to make those calls from international destinations. When a situation arises where the Emergency SOS function is needed outside your home country, the watch automatically phones a local emergency service. The feature even works on Series 5 watches that don’t have cellular functionality, though an iPhone would need to be nearby.

Noise App

Requires: Series 4 and Series 5 only

Apple’s new Noise App is a prime example of the company solving a problem not many people knew existed: Hearing loss due to constant exposure to loud ambient noise. With the app running, your Apple Watch has the ability to assess the level of ambient noise wherever you are and warn you if it gets to an unsafe level that may lead to hearing loss. It’s even able to give you real-time feedback on your immediate environment, telling you if it's “Loud” or “OK.” The app also has information on how long you’re able to be exposed to certain decibel levels each day.

Memoji and Animojis on Texts

Requires: watchOS6 (Compatible with Series 3 and later)

The inclusion of Animojis and Memojis in iMessage on the iPhone transformed the way people texted each other. Now, instead of resorting to a static cartoon image of yourself, you could have an animated version of you talk, smile or wink at whoever you’re texting. With watchOS 6, both are now able to be added to text messages sent via the Apple Watch by tapping the smiley face emoji button and navigating to the Animoji and Memoji tab.

Music Detection

Requires: watchOS 6 (Compatible with Series 3 and later)

With Apple’s acquisition of the music recognition company, Shazam, it was only a matter of time before the feature would become a native function of Apple’s products. Now, with the release of watchOS 6, any watch running the new operating system won’t hear a song it can’t place. The app works exactly as it does on the iPhone in which you simply activate the listening function and after a few seconds, it generates the name of the song and who sings it, then saves the info to your Shazam library.

Activity Trends

Requires: watchOS 6 (Compatible with Series 3 and later)

Activity tracking features are only beneficial if you can accurately assess your progress over time. With the new Activity app, the Apple Watch keeps running tabs on all your fitness. You’re able to track statistics like how active you are each day, how fast of a mile you run, the distance you travel daily via steps or running or the number of daily calories burned. The app allows you to customize which data you want quick access to and it then creates an easy-to-read, color-coded snapshot of your progress.

Cycle Tracking

Requires: watchOS 6 (Compatible with Series 3 and later)

The watchOS 6 update brought with it a brand-new period-tracking app called Cycle Tracking. As one of the most-wanted features, Apple finally delivered and now women have the ability to track their entire menstrual cycle directly from the Health app. This allows them to see when they should be getting their next period and when their next fertile window is, and also lets them input period length and symptoms. The period windows are predicted entirely based on previously input data, so it’s not always 100 percent accurate. However, Cycle Tracking’s inclusion at all is a welcome sight for the Apple Watch.

App Store Access

Requires: watchOS6 (Compatible with Series 3 and later)

Last, but certainly not least, is the ability to access the Apple App Store directly on an Apple Watch itself (finally!). Now, all you need to do to download and add apps to your Apple Watch is to press the Digital Crown and select the App Store icon from the home screen. From there, you’ll have complete access to everything offered in the marketplace, even if you don’t have it already downloaded on your companion iPhone.

Apple Watch: Starts from $399 at Apple.com

Since a new Apple Watch hits store shelves each year, it’s up to Apple to make each release function better than just a polished version of the previous series. With the release of the Apple Watch Series 5 and watchOS 6, there are plenty of new features and hardware upgrades that make it feel like a true next generation smartwatch. 

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Rick Stella, Khareem Sudlow