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Apple WatchOS 6 gets new features, App Store support at WWDC 19

Apple is placing even more power on your wrist, including App Store access and a host of new features.

Chris Jarrard

June 3, 2019 10:42 AM

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Every year at WWDC, Apple takes the wraps off the newest software features so that developers can build and improve the end-user experience for owners of the company’s devices. For the 2019 edition of WWDC, Apple put a spotlight on the new WatchOS 6, showing off a number of new features, headlined by the addition of App Store support.

WatchOS is the software platform at the heart of the Apple Watch, the wearable companion to the iPhone. WatchOS 6 goes a long way to expand the functionality and usefulness of the Apple Watch, no matter what type of user is wearing it. A variety of new faces and customization options allow the Apple Watch to better fits the needs and wants on the individual user.

Additionally, WatchOS 6 expands on health monitoring features. During the WWDC 19 presentation, a large amount of stage time was devoted to showing off menstrual cycle tracking as well as new health-oriented complications like a spl meter so that users can monitor how loud a given environment is.

Thanks to the addition of App Store support, Apple Watch will be picking up a variety of new apps. The company showed off a few of the apps during the stage demo, including a calculator that has easy tip calculation and bill-splitting. These new WatchOS apps can run independently without the need for having a companion app installed on the paired iPhone. New API support will allow music to be directly streamed to the Apple Watch.

For more information on the latest software announcements and developments out of WWDC 19, keep it tuned to Shacknews.

Chris Jarrard

Contributing Tech Editor

Chris Jarrard likes playing games, crankin' tunes, and looking for fights on obscure online message boards. He understands that breakfast food is the only true food. Don't @ him.