Bento breakdown: what Apple wants you to know about watchOS 11

watchOS 11 bento graphic

Apple usually sums up its operating system updates via a single graphic called the "bento." This graphic is named after the food container because of its compartments, and it lists many key features that users can expect when the OS officially launches.

Here's what Apple showcased in its watchOS 11 bento during the WWDC 2024 keynote.

Check In

A new Check In feature automatically notifies friends or loved ones when you arrive at a destination. You can start a Check In from Messages when you enter your destination or arrival time.

Pause Activity rings

One of the Apple Watch's most loved and hated features is its Activity Rings. While they encourage you to stay active and reach your goals, there's a certain level of anxiety some people feel when they know they could break their streak.

Now, if you need to take a break, you can put your rings on pause for a day, week, month, or more and keep your award streak.

Live activities

Live Activities are now supported in watchOS 11 and appear in the Smart Stack. This allows you to stay on top of the latest sports scores, keep an eye on sketchy weather, or know when your Uber is about to arrive at a glance.

Redesigned Photos face

The redesigned Photos app uses machine learning to search your photo library, select the best images, and create watch faces featuring your favorite people, pets, and places.

Enhanced ticketing

You will now find more information about your tickets in your Wallet, including directions to the parking lot, show times, and more. Events will also be displayed as Live Activities in your Smart Stack.

Effort rating

After completing most cardio-focused workouts in the Workout app, you'll see a new effort metric in the summary, indicating exercise intensity, pace, elevation, heart rate, and personal data factor into each rating.

You can adjust estimated ratings, input your own for non-cardio workouts, and submit ratings from third-party fitness apps.

Vitals

While you sleep, the Vitals app establishes a typical range for health metrics like heart rate, respiratory rate, wrist temperature, blood oxygen, and sleep duration.

If any of these metrics are outside your typical range, you'll receive a notification with contextual information about possible factors, such as medications, elevation, alcohol, or illness. This can help you understand when paying closer attention to your body is a good idea.

Training Load

Monitoring your training load helps you understand how your workouts impact your body over time.

It compares the intensity and duration of your workouts over the last seven days to the previous 28 days, classifying your current training load to help you gauge the strain on your body and make informed decisions about your exercise regimen.

Double Tap API

Developers now have access to the Double Tap API for third-party apps.

Interactive widgets

Widgets are displayed based on time, location, and more. New widgets include severe weather alerts, Training Load, Photos, Distance, and Shazam. You can now easily access your three most recent workout types or songs played.

Custom Workouts for Pool Swims

The Apple Watch can now automatically guide you through timed work and recovery intervals in the pool. It even includes haptics to tell you when to move to the next interval.

Translate

Translate is a great way to stay in touch with others wherever you are. It supports 20 languages, allowing you to see translations by typing or dictating a phrase. You can also play the translation aloud and slow it down if needed. Additionally, you can use the Translate app on your watch by downloading a language.

Turn-by-Turn hiking navigation

The Apple Watch Maps app will feature topographic maps with detailed trail networks and hikes, including all 63 U.S. national parks. Users can save maps to their Apple Watch to access them offline with turn-by-turn voice guidance.

New views for pregnancy

When a pregnancy is added to the Health app, Cycle Tracking shows the gestational age and tracks the pregnancy across health charts. It provides recommendations and notifications for health during pregnancy, such as reviewing the high heart rate threshold and receiving alerts for increased fall risk in the third trimester.

Users can also receive reminders to check on their mental health more often, as pregnancy and post-pregnancy increase the risk of conditions like depression.

More intelligent Smart Stack

The updated Smart Stack feature automatically displays relevant Widgets based on time, location, and other factors. Live activities are also included in the Smart Stack, providing important information such as the arrival time of your Uber or the likelihood of rain.

Distance and route maps for more workouts

Enhanced GPS positioning lets you see distance and route maps for more workouts, including paddling.