Apple Watch gets much smarter and more useful with watchOS 2

I own an Apple Watch, and I like it, but like so many Watch owners I appreciate that this is a device whose future is coming, but isn’t quite here yet. In my first impressions review I said "What it can do right now is great, but what it will be able to do in the future will be amazing", and it seems as if the future might be coming sooner than I expected.

At the WWDC 2015 keynote Apple revealed watchOS 2, and to say it’s impressive is an understatement. With the upgrade Apple is seriously improving the usefulness of its wearable.

New watch faces, which were sorely needed, are coming, including a face called Time-Lapse that shows iconic locations around the world shot over a 24-hour period. Time Travel will display information like temperatures and upcoming events, and you can go backward and forward in time by up to 72 hours.

If you prefer you can add your own photos to the watch, so you’ll see those when you raise your wrist to check the time.

See Also: 24 hours with Apple Watch [First-impressions review]

There’s also a cool Nightstand mode which shows the time in a sideways view while the device is charging, and it includes a gentle alarm to wake you up in the morning. The digital crown is used to snooze the alarm, and you can turn it off altogether using the side button.

Apple CEO Tim Cook also revealed that the latest version of watchOS will be able to run apps natively, so they'll load faster (hooray) and enjoy better performance and additional features. The "logic" for watch apps that used to only run on your iPhone can now move to the watch, making it much more useful.

You’ll be able to see information from third-party apps on the watch face, and also use Siri to show Glances for apps.

You’ll be able to watch short videos on the watch as well.

You can now use multiple colors when sending sketches to friends, and if you know a lot of people who own an Apple Watch (I don’t), you can add many more people, and sort them across multiple screens.

Fitness apps can contribute to the Activity rings on the Watch, making the feature far more worthwhile, and you can use Siri to start and stop a workout by saying something like "Hey Siri, start a 30 minute run". Activity and workouts can be shared via Facebook and Twitter and there are new 3D achievements to unlock.

One of the more useful features is the ability to reply to emails directly from your wrist, and you can have FaceTime audio chats now too.

Anyone worried about the weakness of Watch's security, will be pleased to know watchOS 2 includes a new feature called Activation Lock. Activating your watch will require your iCloud Apple ID and password, so should your watch get stolen or lost, your personal data will remain safe.

Apple says a month after launch there are already thousands of apps that will work with Watch, but hopefully the new watchOS will result in many more, and better apps in the future. Developers will have much greater access to Watch hardware features via WatchKit, including elements like the Taptic Engine and Digital Crown, microphone, speaker, accelerometer and video. Apps at the moment aren't great, but they will definitely get better as a result.

The watchOS 2 update is due to arrive this fall.