3 Impactful Changes Coming to Your Apple Watch
The upcoming software update is going to change the way you use your Apple Watch.
watchOS 27 is set to be released within the next two weeks. And with it, some important changes and new features are coming to your current Apple Watch. We've been trialing them thanks to the public beta for a little over a month.
Here's what you need to know.
Meet the Dynamic App Grid
The Dynamic App Grid is a new app navigation screen that you'll be greeted with every time you touch your Apple Watch. - Credit: Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol
The biggest change in watchOS 27 is a new display that appears every time you use your Apple Watch. Apple is calling it the Dynamic App Grid .
To date, when you've wanted to open an app, you've pressed the Apple Watch's Digital Crown and then navigated to it via the List View or Grid View. But that can be a bit tedious.
When you use your Apple Watch running watchOS 27, you're first greeted with the Dynamic App Grid, which gives you quick access to your most frequently used apps. There's also an icon at the bottom to access the app honeycomb or scrolladex (the Grid View or List View, respectively).
Basically, it makes it easier and faster to get the apps you use most often.
A better, unified Find My app
The Apple Watch on the left is running the public beta of watchOS 27 and, as you can see, as the new, unified Find My app. The model on the right is running watchOS 26, which has three separate Find My apps. - Credit: Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol
For the first time, the Apple Watch will have one unified Find My app . To date, there have been three separate Find My apps on your Apple Watch: Find Devices, Find Items and Find People. With watchOS 27, they are all lumped into a single Find My app, just like it is on your iPhone.
Additionally, the Apple Watch's new Find My app will let you use Precision Finding to more easily locate newer devices (like iPhones, AirPods Pro 3 and second-gen AirTags) right from your wrist.
Also, iOS 27 and watchOS 27 introduce a smarter way to track with Find My for Apple Watch users. When you leave your iPhone at home but you're wearing an Apple Watch, Find My is now smart enough to know this, and it'll start sharing your Apple Watch's location instead.
It's a simple but important upgrade, as it gives people you share your location with a more accurate way to track you.
Introducing Proactive Battery Extension Notifications
If your Apple Watch discovers you aren't using some battery-sapping features, it'll automatically turn them off. - Credit: Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol
watchOS 27 will also introduce a new battery-saving feature called Proactive Battery Extension Notifications . It works in the background to monitor your Apple Watch usage and which features you aren't using. It then disables them to help extend the smartphone's battery life.
One standout is Raise to Speak, a gesture feature where you bring your Apple Watch near your mouth and it automatically triggers Siri. Another one is Start Workout reminders, which asks if you want to start a workout during specific parts of the day (based on your previous workout data and usage).
If you constantly use features like Raise to Speak or Start Workout reminders, your Apple Watch will keep them turned on. However, if you don't use them, you'll get a "battery extension notification" telling you that a feature is being disabled. At that time, you can also choose to keep it enabled.
About the Author: Tucker Bowe has been on Gear Patrol's editorial team since 2014. With a passion for consumer tech and hi-fi, he tracks everything from headphones and turntables to smartphones and wearables. If it lights up or makes noise, he probably covers it.
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