Apple's new watch update is the missing piece of the puzzle the Apple Watch needed, and Fitbit should be worried - Business Insider

Hollis Johnson

• The Apple Watch will get better at tracking health trends over time with its watchOS 6 update, which represents a key area in which Apple's smartwatch was lacking as a fitness tracker.
• Among the new features coming in watchOS 6 are capabilities that Fitbit has long offered, such as providing more insight around a user's VO2 max reading and menstrual cycle tracking.
• Apple is one of Fitbit's biggest competitors in the United States. With Apple adding more robust fitness features to the Apple Watch, it's getting increasingly difficult for Fitbit to differentiate its own products. 
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Apple and Fitbit have long offered similar features when it comes to fitness tracking, such as the ability to track workouts, calories burned, and provide notifications that remind wearers to move if they've been sedentary for too long. But Fitbit, being a company with its origins in health, has previously offered more comprehensive native fitness tracking than the Apple Watch.

However, that looks like it's on pace to change in the near future as Apple continues to expand the health-tracking capabilities of its smartwatch. Apple has edged even closer to Fitbit in recent years when it comes to the variety of fitness-oriented features it offers, and the company's watchOS 6 update arriving this fall will make the company's smartwatch an even more thorough fitness tracker than ever before.

When the update rolls out later this year, the Apple Watch will gain a couple of key features that Fitbit devices have long provided. Most importantly, the Apple Watch is going to get better at tracking fitness trends over time, an area in which Apple had been lacking compared to dedicated fitness trackers until this point. With watchOS 6, Apple Watch owners will be able to view key metrics over the last 90 days and compare them against the last year to get a sense of whether they're improving over time.

Metrics that users will be able to track over time include the stand, move, and exercise metrics measured in the three rings on the Apple Watch's Activity-themed watch face, as well as walking pace, running pace, and your cardio fitness level. If wearers are trending downward in any of these metrics, Apple will provide guidance to help set users on an upward trajectory.

The Apple Watch already tracks users' VO2 max, a key metric that refers to the maximum rate at which your body can deliver oxygen to your muscles when exercising. It's said to be a great indicator of longevity, in some cases even more accurate than how often a person exercises, according to Runners World. But with watchOS 6, the Apple Watch will be able to analyze how that metric is evolving over time. It will also provide more information about what your VO2 max reading should be for people in your age range.

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https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-watch-watchos-6-update-why-fitbit-should-be-worried-2019-6

2019-06-05 16:53:34Z
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