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Apple readies first significant Apple Watch updates, ’TVKit’ SDK for Apple TV

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Nearly a month after the release of the first-generation Apple Watch with Watch OS 1.0, a proven source has disclosed a collection of upcoming Apple Watch software and hardware updates. Currently in development, the features seek to enhance Apple Watch security, connectivity with other Apple devices, health and fitness features, Wi-Fi capabilities, and integration with third-party applications. Additionally, Apple is also priming major updates for the Apple TV in both the hardware and software departments, including Apple Watch integration. Below, we detail what users can expect from Apple Watches and Apple TVs in the future…

First, Apple has been working on a feature dubbed “Find my Watch” for the Apple Watch, which as the name implies will allow a user to track a Watch’s location, as well as lock or remotely wipe it if it is lost or stolen. The premise of the feature is very similar to Find my iPhone for iOS devices and Find my Mac for OS X computers. Apple was developing the feature long before the Watch shipped, but implementing it for an iPhone-dependent device forced the company’s engineers to consider more novel connectivity solutions.

Given the Apple Watch’s reliance on an iPhone, Apple plans to implement Find my Watch via what’s currently known inside the company as “Smart Leashing.” According to a source, the Watch will use its wireless signal to establish its location relative to the iPhone, and will optionally be able to notify a user if the iPhone is accidentally left behind. “Apple wants to give [a user] a tap or a light notice if it thinks [he or she is] accidentally leaving [the] phone somewhere,” according to the source. The source cautioned that the Find my Watch and Smart Leashing features could be farther off than others in development, as they may require a more capable and independent wireless chip in a next-generation Watch.

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Health and Fitness

Apple is also making progress on updates to the Watch’s health and fitness apps. Using the current-generation Watch hardware, the company is currently experimenting with a way for the heart rate sensor to notify a user about an irregular heart beat. However, our source warns that this feature might never ship due to potential liability concerns and governmental regulation.

Multiple sources indicate that Apple has created a roadmap of health features that it wants to add to the Apple Watch over the next several years, but settled on initially including only a heart rate monitor after other functions, such as as an oxygen saturation monitor, did not work precisely. Apple hopes to add a blood pressure monitor and sleep tracking features in the near future, with glucose/blood sugar sensors scheduled for the longer term.

Complications

Third-Party Apps

Besides working on allowing developers to build native, full-speed apps for the Apple Watch, Apple is working on allowing third-party watch face “Complications,” according to our source. Complications are the small widgets indicating activity levels, battery life, alarm clocks, upcoming calendar events, and the current temperature on many of Apple’s included Apple Watch clock faces. Our source says that Apple is currently testing a new version of Watch OS that notably includes a set of Twitter Complications. For example, a small Complication could display a count of unread Twitter mentions, while a larger view could show the text of a recent Twitter mention.

Apple TV

Apple plans to market the current Apple Watch as a primary input device for the next-generation Apple TV, in addition to the “fancier” remote control that will be bundled with the new device, according to sources. In line with earlier reports, our sources indicate that the new Apple TV box will be unveiled in June with deep Siri integration and third-party application support. Our sources add that a new version of Xcode, known as “MuirTrail” internally, includes a new feature called “TVKit” for developers to build third-party Apple TV apps.

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As expected, the new box will also integrate with Apple’s upcoming “Live TV” cable-replacement service, but it appears that the service will launch after the hardware. Current next-generation prototype Apple TVs are still loaded up with cable subscription-dependent apps, according to a source. Sources who have used internal next-generation Apple TV development units say that prototypes are about “twice as large” as the current Apple TV box, but the shipping product is expected to be slimmer than the current puck-like version. Internally, the new Apple TV hardware is said to be codenamed “J34,” and the operating system is known as “MonarchTide.”

While there is no clear indication as to when any of these software features will debut, some of them could make their way into Worldwide Developers Conference announcements in June. Besides new versions of Watch OS and the new Apple TV, Apple is preparing to announce iOS 9 (codenamed “Monarch”), OS X 10.11 (codenamed “Gala”), and iOS 8.4 alongside the new “Apple Music” streaming service based on the acquired assets from Beats Music.

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Comments

  1. minieggseater - 9 years ago

    I hope that watch versions of the podcast app and new iBooks app for audio books appear with this update

  2. That gold Apple TV concept is kinda making me orgasm. I need it, NOW 😨😨

    • incredibilistic - 9 years ago

      Gold iPhone 6, gold Apple Watch, gold (new) MacBook, gold Apple TV

      Gold-asm.

  3. I would really like to see Apple roll out health updates soon. I feel that the Watch is really limited right now, especially since it doesn’t commuicate fully with third party apps like Run Keeper (no heart rate data in Run Keeper). With the new update I’d like to see the current apps load quicker. Weather, Twitter, and EPSN are delayed most of the time, among others.

    Finally, it will be a welcome addition to have third party complications, but third party watch faces are what I’m really looking for. I might’ve missed it in the article, but I don’t remember seeing any mention of that.

    • PMZanetti - 9 years ago

      We all know third party watch faces and complications are coming. Give it time.
      And I think the health feature set on  WATCH is great right now as it is. It needs polish, but that will come with 1.1 and after devs have had a chance to use the watch with their own apps.

      • rogifan - 9 years ago

        I could see complications being added before watch faces. And if Apple does allow 3rd party watch faces I expect them to be highly curated. One, Apple wants to protect the brand and two, doesn’t want to deal with the headache of policing watch faces for copywrite violations.

    • Ty Martin (@tymrtn) - 9 years ago

      App and glance loading time and consistency is the most important feature they could push out next. Between the first-party fitness app bumping my third-party fitness apps out of memory, and loading times approaching infinity (obviously something is getting stuck), it’s basically unusable for activity tracking at this point.

  4. PMZanetti - 9 years ago

    Awesome. Just the kind of updates I want to see this year.  TV is one of my favorite Apple products, and the first round of updates to  WATCH is very exciting.

    • srgmac - 9 years ago

      Same here; I use my ATV3G every single day…I purposely got the “non smart” version of my Samsung LED TV because I knew no matter what functionality it had it would be nothing close to the Apple TV. ATV 3rd party apps is great, but it’s long overdue…hopefully sling box will make an app, and I’d also like to get a browser for it too (maybe native safari? That would be neat!). I see the ATV as having so much potential for games and other entertainment content as well especially since it has Bluetooth support, it’s been too long used / marketed as an AirPlay box that does nothing else.

  5. tikielite - 9 years ago

    Sleep tracking is going to be really hard while the watch is on the charging stand each night.

    • roguedog - 9 years ago

      Well you may find this interesting, After the initial weeks of playing with my watch, and finally coalescing into a “normal use” mode, for the last 2 days I started my day at 04:00, went to bed at 22:00 wearing my watch which showed 65% battery power available, awoke at 04:?? with 60% battery, put the watch on the charger while shaving, showering etc. removed watch from charger with 100% battery after approximately less than 1hr on charger, out the door before 06:00…. this portends to be my ongoing & future watch behavior. Much better than advertised or expected.

      • If you wake up at 4 am to check the battery on your watch, then you have a problem :) You’re worse than I am ;)

    • acslater017 - 9 years ago

      No one says you can only charge it when you go to bed :)

    • Jeff Fields (@baritone) - 9 years ago

      No, it won’t be hard at all. I currently get all the charging time I need, about 35-65 minutes per day, while sitting at my desk in the evening. I then put the Watch back on, once battery is topped off, and wear it all night.

      There is absolutely no need to charge the Watch all night.

      Similarly, for anyone who commutes in a car, you could easily get all the charge time you need by charging it while you’re driving. There are various other strategies that will work well.

  6. cameroncovington - 9 years ago

    I’m ready for some Apple TV refreshes!

    • rogifan - 9 years ago

      Me too, so long as the new TV box and remote looks nothing like those mockups. Who wants a TV box and remote with highly polished chamfered edges?

      • Why not? We don’t have to settle for gray or black plastic boxes in our living rooms.

      • godofbiscuits - 9 years ago

        agreed. You don’t want anything reflective that might distract from the actual program on the TV.

      • Agreed. Every component in my whole home theatre rack is black. My current ATV3 fits in very nicely. That white mockup would stand out like a sore thumb.

  7. AppleLion - 9 years ago

    How about the speed? I heard that the Watch has some “lag” around the Glances and some animations!
    I’ve no idea if this is true, but I also saw it in some reviews! :o

    • Dan Perez (@dperez82) - 9 years ago

      I’ve had it for a week, and there has been no lag with glances and animations. The only time I have to wait is loading up third party apps.

      • AppleLion - 9 years ago

        Thank you! Guess this will be fixed soon :D

    • Lag on the Apple Watch is from communicating data from the iPhone to the Watch, not the Watch itself.

    • Unlike the other commenter, I’ve experienced lag in glances during the near-month I’ve owned the Watch. Dark Sky, Water Minder, ESPN, Weather, and Maps all are slow to appear and update on the Watch glances. There’s no way around it, the Watch is laggy on key points. Even certain button presses don’t give you an immediate response. I’ve experienced this on music somtimes, but not every time.

      The other commenter stated that the lag is from communicating data from the iPhone. This is partially true. Some of the lagginess also comes from the Watch itself. I’m going to assume it’s the processor being scaled back to save battery. The Watch definitely could and should be zippier.

  8. gosh, WWDC cant come soon enough

  9. bennynihon - 9 years ago

    excited for the new Apple TV, but feel we’ll be let down with another device that doesn’t even support the native 24 Hz frame rate of film. All the jazzy remotes in the world don’t mean crap, if you can’t even play a movie properly.

  10. How is a watch supposed to track blood pressure? Is there technology available to track BP without firmly compressing your arm? Because I can’t imagine anyone would want to wear a bulky inflatable or mechanical compression cuff as a watch band, let alone have it squeeze your arm every 10 minutes throughout the day.

    • roguedog - 9 years ago

      Oh yeah buddy there is! Check out SCANDU. it’s basically a medical tricorder, no joke! You take the small hand held device, place it against your left temple for a few seconds, it measures EKG, Oxygen, BP, Heart rate, and several other functions and then Xmits the data to your phone app! Supposed to be offered at $199.00.

      • For one thing, the SCANADU thing you’re talking about doesn’t exist yet – its just an idea they are crowdfunding. And the description on their website is pretty sketchy, with no technical information provided as to how it exactly measures BP without compression. My guess is that it “estimates” BP based on other measurements, like heart rate and temperature, which are very poor indicators of BP for someone with essential hypertension (high blood pressure when resting). There are lots of apps in the App Store which claim to “measure” BP which actually just guess BP, and have small “for entertainment purposes only” disclaimers.

        Even if it did measure BP without compression, you’re talking about a separate piece of equipment. I see no technological way that BP can be measured from the Apple Watch as-is, let alone in an updated version, without putting a bulky compression cuff into the strap and dealing with annoying and uncomfortable wrist compressions all throughout the day.

      • rk (@funkydonkeys) - 9 years ago

        Scanadu does exist – I have had one since february. Based upon my tests (against a cuff device with high reviews for accuracy), it’s pretty accurate. However, I have normal blood pressure so you may very well be right about the device not working well with hypertension.

        It was a hassle actually getting the Scanadu – everyone with one is actually part of a consumer health study – this to allow FDA approval to send to consumers.

    • roguedog - 9 years ago

      There’s also an app called instant BP available now for iPhone, not sure of other platforms, it allows the user to place phone against chest and take a BP reading, not sure how accurate it is, but it suggests there is tech in the works for this type of usability.

      • The BP apps for iPhone which supposedly measure BP with just the phone sensors (camera and mic) are totally bogus: http://www.imedicalapps.com/2014/07/iphone-health-app-patient-harm/
        You need some kind of pressure sensor in order to measure blood pressure. Most of the bogus BP apps in the App Store just “guess” your BP based on your heart rate, which is widely known in the medical field to a very poor predictor of actual blood pressure.

        Go to even the highest-tech hospital, and you’ll still see blood pressure cuffs being used to take BP. Using LED light to measure heart rate (as the Apple Watch does) is easy – the technology has existed in “clip on” finger sensors in clinics and hospitals for a long time. But if Apple invented a cuff-free BP measurement technology, that would be a big deal. You could theoretically put it in the band, but it would kill battery life if it had to mechanically inflate or compress, not to mention be uncomfortable (as taking BP usually is).

    • The SCANDU Scout is a real device, developed via crowdfunding and not yet approved as a medical device. However, it works pretty well, and iPhone integration is simple. I took mine for a recent physical, my doctor couldn’t believe it measured BP, he had me use the device and then measured my BP the traditional way. They were very close (as BP changes all the time, close is good) and my Scout measurements map very well from what is measured in my various doctors offices. The device and iPhone app are not perfect, but they are pretty good, and I expect will only get better. So yes, it appears one CAN measure BP without a compression cuff…….

    • I have the same doubts about a Watch reading blood sugar levels. How could that be possible?

  11. Omar Sharif - 9 years ago

    This WWDC is going to be really interesting
    No details on iOS 9 and OS X10.11 ?

    • rogifan - 9 years ago

      Sure. But it’s all about the slow drip. Mark won’t release it all at once.

      • Lhunar (@lhunar) - 9 years ago

        Well I think It’s time for OSX 10.11 news, because info about other things has been given, no matter it’s really small info…

  12. Richard Due - 9 years ago

    “. . . and the operating system is known as “MonarchTide.”

    MonarchTide. Hm. Sounds like a gaming OS to me.

  13. Mojdeh (@MojdehMarashi) - 9 years ago

    Many positives here and some TBDs of course.

    To have a device that monitors your health, even if it is half way there, I think is a huge benefit. Sure, software/hardware make mistakes but don’t our hospitals and doctors make them too? And yes, I do get that there is a chance some of us might get super tense by reading a “wrong” number on our watches. But every good thing needs time to mature. Adding the feature and educating the public that it may not always be right might work the same way that many drugs work by simply mentioning their possible side effects?

    I do have to say though that “Complication” seems like a strange name for third party apps and… I hope we find a better name.

    • Jeff Kenyon - 9 years ago

      For what it’s worth, “complications” with regards to a watch *isn’t* a word Apple came up with. According to Wikipedia:

      “In horology, the study of clocks and watches, a complication refers to any feature in a timepiece beyond the simple display of hours and minutes.”

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complication_(horology)

    • godofbiscuits - 9 years ago

      Complications are NOT the 3rd party apps themselves, but rather the items on the watch face that allow you to get to the apps.

  14. htisch76 - 9 years ago

    I have 3 Apple TV s already, is it possible to link them all together? Such as settings on one mirror the settings on the other two. It’s a pain to deal with each individual box. User and password is the same on all 3 as is all being on the same network.

  15. You guys are awsome. Really nice to see that one more time it’s 9to5mac providing some fresh, insider rumors. Plus, I love that you’re not posting any crazy funboy staff – just true, objective news, reviews and opinions. I’ve deleted all the links to other apple-news websites from my fav tabs :)
    Thanks a lot! Keep it up.

  16. anyone notice that https://appleseed.apple.com/sp/betaprogram/ is down at the minute? I reckon they are going to release the next beta… Or rather I hope :)

  17. incredibilistic - 9 years ago

    Maybe we’ll finally see this “I cracked it” TV interface that Jobs alluded to before he passed.

    I still can’t help but think that a wrist-worn device was at least an idea Jobs had. A remote you don’t have to fish out of the couch cushions that also receives text messages, makes/takes phone calls and can control your home may be what he always envisioned.

    My only concern is if you’re using the “Hey Siri” command to interact with it. If you’re wearing an Apple Watch wouldn’t that interfere or does she only respond if you’re holding your arm up like you’re checking the time? And even if that’s the case if you do raise your wrist and say Hey Siri will the Apple TV stop playing and wait for a command? If Hey Siri is part of the new Apple TV hopefully they’ll have a setting that ignores that command if you have an Apple Watch or your iPhone nearby (and plugged in).

    Either way I’m really excited for the future of Apple TV. As it stands the current interface is laborious to navigate and manage and there’s no universal search.

  18. hodar0 - 9 years ago

    Price on the new AppleTV? I doubt they will increase the capabilities this drastically, while leaving the cost of entry at the low $69 price point.

  19. netelligence - 9 years ago

    I think web apps should be possible :- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmqz2_Kwtso

  20. EinfachBloggen - 9 years ago

    I like this Apple TV thing – Great stuff !

  21. Michael (@PatientGeek) - 9 years ago

    Nice scoop!

    Would be interested if next Apple TV OS and apps will allow universal search which as always been missing. Also hoping for a way to get a “whats on now” program view that would need to cross multiple apps (what is on now on CBS, HBO, Disney, etc). These, combined with Siri and other new features would be killer!

  22. Being an ATV3 owner, the ONLY possibility of me buying an ATV4 is if it ends up supporting 3rd party apps from the likes of Synology, so that we can access the media on our DiskStations like we should. But Tim is very unlikely to do us this “favour”. It’s too sensible a move (from a customer’s perspective) for him to allow it.

  23. rnc - 9 years ago

    “Find my iPad” would be nice

  24. Eugene Evans - 9 years ago

    Interesting speculation about Watch as compliment to TV. I hear people talk about Siri or touch on the phone as control but what about gesture? This would work really well because you don’t have to look at the Watch screen. Your arm movements let you manage your TV. Could be interesting.

  25. petercampanelli - 9 years ago

    Super excited for TVKit! If they open up AppleTV to developers, will they allow games? What if the new AppleTV has a gaming controller? … You never know!

  26. mick129 - 9 years ago

    You think that both iOS 8.4 and 9.0 are coming soon? That’s a bit unusual. I guess they could release 8.4 generally while giving 9.0 betas to developers.