watchOS 10.2
Juli Clover (release notes, security, developer):
The watchOS 10.2 update adds support for using Siri to access and record data in the Health app on the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2. Users can ask Siri questions like “How did I sleep last night?” or “How many steps have I taken this week?”
Health data can be added to the Health app through Siri as well with statements like “My weight is 195.3 pounds,” or “I’ve taken my 6:00 p.m. medications.” This is functionality that Apple announced with the launch of the newest Apple Watch models, and it is limited to these devices as they are the only Apple Watches that support on-device Siri processing.
watchOS 10.2 also reintroduces an option to swipe to change the Apple Watch face, a feature that was removed in watchOS 10 and has been missed by some.
Users can also ask Siri to log:
“Siri…”
- “I took my 8 a.m. medications.”
- “Log that I took my multivitamin.”
- “I weigh 167 pounds.”
- “My period started today.”
- “Log that I have spotting today.”
- “My blood sugar is 122.”
- “Record my blood pressure as 118 over 76.”
- “Log my body temperature as 98.3 degrees.”
Maybe it’s Apple “moving my cheese” again or just a result of actual user feedback, but the three daily annoyances I have since upgrading were likely avoidable:
- Changing the operation and contextual meaning of the crown and side button (it feels like change for the sake of change).
- Changing the springboard/app launcher into a scrollable list (I relied on groupings of things and quick tapping to access often-used apps, and I had to spend a good while re-arranging them to both be on top of the list and still make logical sense).
- Noticeably impacted battery life on my Series 5. I was starting to wake up to the watch telling me it had less than 10% charge, but now I get that warning before going to bed.
The battery issue was probably fixed in the previous release.
Previously:
Update (2023-12-19): Stephen Darlington:
The battery issue was not resolved in the previous version. I have a Series 4 and if I go on a thirty minute run, I have to add some charge to make it to bed time. No such problem with watchOS 9. (The battery has been replaced, but is surely a factor. However, there was a marked drop after I installed watchOS 10.)
The battery life issue definitely was _not_ fixed in the previous release, although it wasn't nearly as bad as on Watch OS 10.0.
Jury still out on WatchOS 10.2 since the problem usually takes a day or two to manifest.