If you have an Apple Watch you may be looking forward to heading about the new version of the watchOS later today when WWDC starts. You don’t have to wait though! We are already hearing about some of the about new apps coming to the Apple Watch.
Apparently the Contacts app, and the Tips app will get a Watch variant and a brand new Mind app will also arrive on the Watch (and on other Apple products).
The app will probably address mental health. It may supplement, or even replace, the breathing application on the Apple Watch.
We know of the existence of the app because Apple published the App Store manifest a little too early. This manifest contains identifications for app files that are intended for watchOS 8. It was found by an iOS developer of the financial app Robinhood.
Looks like someone deployed the new profile for App Store too early? Want to guess what “ https://t.co/nhhpJFmZbJ.Mind” is on watchOS? pic.twitter.com/BarzoJtovq
— Khaos Tian (@KhaosT) June 5, 2021
The Apple Watch and watchOS have so far focused on physical health and fitness, but many feel that it hasn’t met its potential. For example, the sleep app does not so much offer sleep monitoring as encouragement for a better routine before bed. There are already smartwatches on the market that can judge stress level, such as Fitbit Sense, which measures the electrodermal activity on the skin. To put it simply: if your sweat secretion change over time it can determine if you are stressed.
Later today we will find out how Apple’s Mind app will work. For electrodermal measurements, such as those found in the Fitbit Sense, Apple will need to build new sensors into the Apple Watch, and for that we will have to wait until the autumn to find out whether or not new sensors are coming to the next generation Apple Watch.