Apple Watch is getting a major fitness facelift

Your Apple Watch is about to get even better at fitness tracking.

Apple announced a host of new features for watchOS 9 during its WWDC 2022 event, including improved running tracking, heart-rate zone tracking, and custom workout creation.

Runners will be especially pleased with this update. The Apple Watch will be able to track running metrics like stride length or ground-contact time. It will also automatically track your most common routes and let you race against yourself, alerting you as to how you can beat your best time. It'll also let you set a goal for your run, so your watch will keep on pace with alerts and metrics as you go.

Apple Watch will track your run as you go and help you keep your pace. Credit: Apple

For those of you who don't love to run, Apple announced a bunch of other updates for all kinds of workouts. For triathletes, for instance, the Apple Watch will use motion sensors to automatically change how it tracks each kind of activity — running, swimming, or cycling — then give you a detailed, specific readout at the end of the workout.

Or if you're a big swimmer, Apple Watch will be able to give you a SWOLF score, which is a stroke count combined with the time it takes to swim the length of the pool. Or, let's say you're very concerned with how hard you're working out: The heart-rate zone tracking feature will help you track intensity. If you've ever taken a class at Orangetheory Fitness, this is a very familiar concept. But, effectively, it can be used to build a difficult and well-rounded workout.

Along with the fitness updates, Apple announced a number of health updates to the Watch, including more detailed sleep tracking and AFib tracking.

Watch users will able to track things like REM, core, or deep sleep in the Sleep app, as well as detailed info like time asleep, heart rate, and respiratory rate. The Health app will even create charts tracking this info over time. The Apple Watch will also now be able to track a user's AFib history. Apple Watch's ECG app and irregular rhythm notification system can alert folks to risk of AFib, which is a condition that can lead to a stroke.

For a full breakdown of Apple Watch updates, like a system for tracking medications, you can go over to Apple's website.