WWDC24: Here are the latest features on the visionOS, watchOS, and tvOS

During this year's Apple developer conference, several software upgrades were announced for the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, and Vision Pro.

Techloy has a roundup of what's new in its major software operating systems – iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS 15. If you're keen to learn about the key updates to the visionOS, watchOS, tvOS, then this article is for you.

WWDC24: Everything we know so far

The WWDC24 set to be held from June 10-14 is only going to focus on software announcements and updates.

TechloyHenry Chikwem

visionOS 2

With the latest version of the software that powers the Vision Pro, Apple's revolutionary mixed-reality headset which debuted in February 2024, the tech giant has taken the headset's groundbreaking spatial computing experiences up a notch with visionOS 2.

Here are the key updates in visionOS 2:

• Vision Pro is now available in more countries including China mainland, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore from June 13 for pre-orders, while Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom will begin pre-orders starting June 28.
• With visionOS 2, the Photos app on your Apple Vision Pro gets a cool new feature. You can now turn any flat photo you already have into a 3D Spatial Photo, adding depth and making those old memories come alive. Photos with Spatial Personas in the Photos app become a social experience, letting you virtually view them together with friends and family.
• With VisionOS 2, navigating your Apple Vision Pro gets even more intuitive. Simple hand gestures like opening your hand and tapping take you right to the home screen, while a flick of the wrist reveals your battery level.

• Mac users would soon be able to extend their Mac desktop into a massive, curved ultrawide view on their Vision Pro, more like having two 4K monitors seamlessly connected.
• With Guest User, friends and family can try out your device for 30 days. Their eye and hand settings will be saved for a full month, making it feel like their own personalized VR experience.
• Now you can watch any online video, including those on YouTube and Netflix, in a customizable Environment within Safari. It's like having your own personal cinema wherever you go.

• With VisionOS 2, you can put your favorite apps right at your fingertips. Just drag and drop them in your personalised Home View for a more efficient workflow.
• With the new multiview feature on Vision Pro, you can watch multiple sports games side-by-side on your massive virtual screen, thanks to the integration with Apple TV.
• You can now easily cast movies, shows, and more from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac using AirPlay without the need for extra cables or downloads – just seamless streaming to your VR headset.

watchOS 11

Available from September 2024, your Apple Watch can better understand your daily health status using your overnight vitals, and you will be able to see how workouts may impact your body over time.

Below are the key updates in watchOS 11:

• A new Vitals app on the Apple Watch will track your wellbeing and provide data about your key health metrics, including heart rate, breathing rate, sleep duration, and even wrist temperature. You can get insights and context to help you understand what's going on. Plus, if something seems off, like an unusual spike in heart rate, you'll get a notification so you can take action.
• For expecting mothers, the Apple Watch has now become a helpful tool and a valuable companion throughout their pregnancy journey. With the Cycle Tracking app, pregnant moms can see their gestational age right on their wrist, log any pregnancy symptoms you experience, and set reminders to take a monthly mental health assessment. With the Walking Steadiness feature, users can also be alerted to increased fall risk.

• watchOS 11 will now use factors like aesthetics, composition, and even facial expressions to suggest the best photo options for your watch face based on your photo library. You can also customize it with different sizes, layouts, fonts, and more. Also, the double tap gesture on the Apple Watch can be used to scroll through apps. 
• With Check In on the Apple Watch, your friends or family can know that you're starting your run or hike, and they'll get a notification when you finish safely. You can also translate text right from their wrists with the Translate feature.
• Apple Fitness+ now has personalized For You tabs, Explore and Library tabs, search features, and enhanced awards.
• The double tap API is now available for third‑party apps, so if you're a developer, you can tap into double tap.

tvOS 18

If you own an Apple TV, there are key updates to give you a better experience on the streaming service such as the new InSight feature, an upgraded Enhanced Dialogue feature, subtitles, support for 21:9 formatting, and Live Captions when FaceTiming.

• With the new InSight feature on tvOS 18, you can instantly see details like the names of actors you recognize or the title of a soundtrack playing in the background, without pausing the movie. While you're watching your favorite Apple TV+ show or movie, simply tap your Siri Remote to activate InSight. And when you use your iPhone as a remote, all the InSight details will appear right on your phone, too.
• Subtitles are now smarter than ever on Apple TV. With tvOS 18, they automatically appear when you need them most – when the language doesn't match your device settings, when you mute the sound, or even when you rewind a scene.
• Apple TV 4K's Enhance Dialogue now lets you hear every word loud and clear, even during action scenes or when music swells. It can equally adjust dialogue volume so it stands out from background noise and music automatically.
• On FaceTime, you can now use Live Captions for English, if you're in the US and Canada, providing you with real-time text transcriptions of your conversation.