Two Convenient Features from Apple Watch’s watchOS 26 Update!

The new watchOS 26 update has just gone live recently, bringing a lot of new stuff to compatible Apple Watch models. Sure, you’ve got the visual “Liquid Glass” uplift and some more Apple Intelligence shenanigans for your Workout App but the more useful updates have come to its Health app and features.

That’s because watchOS 26 has now introduced Hypertension Notifications and Sleep Score to its latest update.

Note that you’ll need an Apple Watch Series 9 and above or an Apple Watch Ultra 2 or later with the latest version of the OS installed in order to access these features. And if you want to access these metrics on your iPhone, then you’ll need an iPhone 11 or later with the latest version of iOS.

Hypertension Notifications Added

Ever wonder if that shortness of breath or sudden chest pain is already a sign of something worse? While the best course of action is to check with your doctor, you can also set up your Apple Watch so that it gives you notifications if it’s detecting signs of hypertension with its optical heart sensor.

With Hypertension Notifications enabled, the watch will identify patterns of hypertension every 30 days, starting from the day you first set up the feature. From there, it works passively in the background; basically set it and forget it.

By identifying these signs early, Apple hopes it can remind users about this so they can bring it up during their next checkup in case users will need to make changes to their lifestyle before the condition leads to more serious problems later down the line.

Apple does want to make it clear that even with watchOS 26, your Apple Watch cannot detect heart attacks. If you suspect you might be having one, it’s still better to call emergency services immediately.

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Sleep Score Added

The other feature is “Sleep Score”. With sleep tracking basically being a staple of health for these smartwatches, the Sleep Score is intended to give users a more intuitive look at how well they’ve slept and even make some recommendations to get more out of its restorative effect.

The score is based on three key metrics which are: the time you went to bed, how long you’ve slept, and if there are any interruptions that occurred during that time. All of this, you can view on the Sleep App on your Apple Watch or the Health App on your iPhone.

Sure, it doesn’t seem as massive as the previous feature but with more concerns surrounding things like sleep apnea cropping up, this is definitely a useful feature to have on a device that’s already by your side at all times.

Rollout of both features appear to be staggered however, and they’re not available for some regions yet. Upon checking last, neither of them are available for something like the Apple Watch SE here in the Philippines but that might change some time in the future.

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