For some time now, Apple has adopted a way of launching news about its systems more spaced out in time. iOS 17 is a good example: we had to wait for the arrival of iOS 17.2 to see the new features promised at WWDC such as the Diary application.
This also happened with the Apple Watch, and we were recently able to verify it. This wasn’t announced with much fanfare, but Apple quietly released everything reportedly promised for watchOS 10 in June 2023. Let’s see all the changes.
Everything that quietly arrived in watchOS 10.2
The new features were rolled out with the arrival of watchOS 10.2, so to take advantage of them you must have updated your Apple Watch to this version. It must also be said that several of these new features are reserved for the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2.
One of these new features is the double tap gesture that we can do with the thumb and index finger of the hand on which you have the watch. Thanks to this gesture, if our hands are busy or dirty, we can perform basic actions like taking a call or viewing widgets on the new watchOS 10 smart sphere.
Next, we have the arrival of NameDrop on the Apple Watch: iPhones will no longer be the only devices that can share information by moving closer. We’ll be able to Access an Apple Watch to an iPhoneor two Apple Watches will move closer to each other and contact information will be shared automatically.
We also have something that I have already been able to verify through my own experience: being able to give orders to Siri without needing to have the iPhone nearby or connected to the Internet. It works with health data and some basic functions, like turning on the flashlight while you walk a dark path without your iPhone within reach. This is exactly what I was able to do a few days ago.
And while we’re on the subject of exercise: if you’re an Apple Fitness+ subscriber, you can adjust the volume of the coach’s voice in relation to the music in the background in case you have difficulty hearing it. Perfect for street workouts.
HomePods and Apple Watch, more friends than ever
Other features that appeared in watchOS 10.2 are directly related to HomePods: we can now bring our Apple Watch Series 9 or Apple Watch Ultra 2 closer to the speaker and see on the screen what is playing. And if nothing works, we will receive recommendations to listen to content from Apple Music or Apple Podcasts.
Until now, this was only possible with an iPhone, but the latest Apple Watch models make this interaction possible. Of course, you need to have a HomePod 2 or HomePod mini. The original first generation HomePod is not compatible with this new feature.
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