Nearly a month after Apple launched the Apple Watch, the Cupertino-based electronics maker is releasing the first update to the Apple Watch's operating system to roll out performance improvements and bug fixes addressing a number of early complaints.
An Apple support page says Apple Watch OS 1.0.1 contains improvements for its intelligent personal assistant Siri and third-party apps, which users have said are sluggish on the first version of the Watch OS. Also included in the update are general accessibility improvements as well as several tweaks to the Apple Watch's fitness tracking features.
The latter include better performance for measuring stand activity, which sometimes notifies the user to stand even if he is already standing, more accurate calculations for counting calories for indoor cycling and rowing workouts, and better distance and pace measurements for outdoor walking and running workouts.
The update also includes support for the new emoji characters that Apple recently rolled out for iOS as well as for seven additional languages, namely Brazilian Portuguese, Danish, Dutch, Swedish, Russian, Thai and Turkish.
To update Watch OS, which is deeply linked to iOS, users will need to have their iPhone nearby. The Apple Watch must be placed on its charger while having at least 50 percent battery life and the iPhone must be connected to Wi-Fi. Both devices must be placed within range of each other for the iPhone to be able to download the update to the Apple Watch.
On the iPhone, users should open the Apple Watch app and go to My Watch, General and Software Update, then enter their iOS or Watch OS passcode if requested. This will bring up an Apple logo with a progress bar running underneath to indicate that the Apple Watch is updating. Once the process is complete, the watch will restart and will run Apple Watch 1.0.1 upon startup.
Most of the features and improvements for the first update of Watch OS are relatively minor, but Apple is working on bigger additions as development of the software moves along. Among these upcoming new features, as reported by 9to5Mac, include a Find My Watch security feature that is similar to Find My iPhone, which lets users track their Watch's location and remotely lock or wipe out its contents if lost or stolen.
Apple is also reportedly thinking of allowing third-party watch face Complications, those small add-ons to the watch face that lets users view information such as temperature, battery life, activity levels, calendar events and the like. Currently, Cupertino's developers are said to be working on Twitter Complications, which will show a list of unread Twitter mentions or a full text of the latest Twitter mention.
Most notably, 9to5Mac says Apple is working on turning the Apple Watch into a remote control for the Apple TV, aside from the "fancier" remote control that will come with Apple's set-top box. The new Apple TV is believed to be unveiled in June, complete with Siri integration and support for third-party apps.
Yasunobu Ikeda | Flickr
