The Apple Watch remains the best-selling smartwatch on the planet, and it’s not hard to see why. These wearables, which now include the new Watch Series 10 and Watch Ultra 2, can track your daily exercise, call for help if you fall over, and warn you if your heart isn’t beating properly.
That’s along with letting you answer phone calls, and sending texts without reaching for your iPhone. These are all features you may already know about, but there’s plenty more these devices can do, including keeping an eye on your overall physical and mental health. They can even check your vitals overnight and alert you to any issues such as breathing or changes in your pulse.
If you have an Apple Watch strapped to your wrist, here are five things you may not know.
THE VITALS APP
You’ll find the Vitals app now installed on your Apple Watch with this software keeping an eye on things such as heart rate, respiratory rate, wrist temperature, sleep duration, and blood oxygen levels.
You can launch the application to see if things are within your normal range but it will also pop up automatically with a notification if it spot any major changes. This can help to see if your stress levels are high, you aren’t well, or maybe drinking too much alcohol.
The only thing to note is that you must have your Watch on overnight, so make sure it’s charged before heading to bed.
WRIST TEMPERATURE
The latest Apple Watch models can now spot body temperature from your wrist. This can be really helpful when planning for a family with the device capable of Cycle Tracking. As long as you have an Apple Watch Series 8 or later, you can use wrist temperature data to estimate the likely day of ovulation after it has occurred and improve period predictions.
STATE OF MIND
The winter months can often be a struggle, and if you are not feeling yourself, then there’s a simple way to keep track of your mental health. If you tap on the Mindfulness app, you can easily log your current State of Mind. Just answer some simple questions on the Watch face – such as how you are feeling and what is causing your emotions – and this will then be logged in the Health app.
You can learn how it may correlate with lifestyle factors like time spent in daylight, sleep, exercise, and mindful minutes, so you can make any changes needed.
GET SOME DAYLIGHT
Time in daylight can provide benefits to physical and mental health. The ambient light sensor in your Apple Watch automatically estimates how much time you spend outdoors in daylight each day.
SLEEP TIME
Millions of us suffer from sleep apnoea and have no idea it’s happening. For those not aware, this condition is when your breathing stops and starts while you sleep. It can mean you don’t get a proper night’s rest and can leave you feeling tired and irritable during the day.
The Sleep Apnea Notifications Feature on Apple Watch can look for breathing disturbances while you’re sleeping and notify you if they show consistent signs of moderate to severe sleep apnoea.
Read our full Watch Series 10 review here