The Apple Watch is part fitness tracker, part mini iPhone.
The Apple Watch is more than just wearing notifications on your wrist
The Apple Since its release, the Watch has slowly transformed from a half-baked fitness tracker that displayed iPhone notifications on your wrist to a full-featured fitness companion with cellular connectivity and health features that were previously only available on high-end medical devices.
But the Apple Watch is more than just a tool to keep track of your health. You can install apps, talk to Siri with just a lift of your wrist, check race scores, send messages, and even categorize your inbox from the small screen. Even if you're not utilizing the Apple Watch to its full potential, it's crazy to think about how powerful it is.
Let's change that. Like making sure its software is up to date, how to feel like a spy with its calling features, and learning more sophisticated functions like doing an electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) to make sure your heart is healthy.
The basics
Update your watch. After unpacking your watch and pairing it with your iPhone ($900 on Amazon), you'll need to make sure it's running the latest version of WatchOS so you can take advantage of the latest features.
Notifications are a key feature of smartwatches, and you'll want to learn how to tame it. With your wrist beeping and vibrating with every Facebook like or Instagram direct notification, notifications in this case can be breathtaking. Learn how to manage your Apple Watch notifications.
Your watch is waterproof. You can take the latest Apple Watch ($349 at Best Buy) for a swim, but if you're going to take your watch swimming - especially in saltwater - it's a good idea to learn more about what you need to do.
Use the theater mode. Ever notice the control center button with two masks on it? That button activates Theater Mode. When enabled, your Apple Watch is silent and your watch won't light up until you tap the screen. As its name suggests, Theater Mode prevents your watch from lighting up when you're watching a movie in a theater, but it's also helpful for those who use sleep apps or have meetings when you don't want to be distracted.
Health
Fitness first. Starting with WatchOS 5, the Apple Watch can now automatically detect specific workouts, track yoga workouts, and store workout music from your favorite streaming service on the watch. Here are five of the best new fitness features in WatchOS 5.
Heart health. When you wear your Apple Watch throughout the day, it constantly tracks your heart rate. There's a dedicated app to track your heart rate or do on-demand reading. Read this article to learn how to get the most out of your Apple Watch's heart rate feature. Also, check out why tracking your heart rate is important for reaching your fitness goals.
Install the ECG app. You'll need to have an Apple Watch Series 4 running WatchOS 5.1.2 or later and an iPhone running iOS 12.1.1 or later to install the new ECG app.
Hearing Health.WatchOS 6 was released in September and adds a new Hearing Health feature that monitors the noise level of your surroundings to let you know if you're at risk of hearing damage. Here's what you need to know to use it.
Cycle tracking. Women's health tracking hasn't gotten the attention it deserves, but that's changing with the addition of cycle tracking to the Apple Watch and the Apple health app. Using these new tools, women can track their periods, keep an eye on symptoms and more.
Additional features
Detection. The Apple Watch Series 4 has a built-in fall detection feature that recognizes when it thinks you've fallen, and after a few seconds of immobility, it calls emergency services on your behalf. Fall detection is a feature you'll need to enable, but hopefully never have to use.
Want to turn into a gadget? Then learn how to use the Walkie Talkie app. Using the app is simple: raise your wrist, press and hold a button, speak, and then let go. Just remember that your contacts can reach you at any time, so marking yourself as "unavailable" is key to avoiding embarrassment.
Unlock your Mac while you're wearing your Apple Watch. As long as you have a password set up for your Apple, and a fairly recent Mac (2013 or newer), you can use your Watch to log in to your Mac. On your Mac, go to System Settings > Security & Privacy and next to the checkbox that allows your Apple Watch to unlock your Mac. When prompted, enter your Mac password. The next time you wake up your Apple computer, your Apple Watch and Apple computer will talk to each other and let you log into your computer. It's pretty cool.
Check the battery status of your AirPods ($169 at Amazon). You've no doubt opened the AirPods charging case next to your iPhone and checked the battery level. As it turns out, you can also check the battery life of your AirPods on your Apple Watch