The next WatchOS will bring Assistive Touch to Apple Watch, and will allow you to control the functions of the smartwatch without even having to touch the screen.
Imagine the scene: you are cooking, and just as your hands are dirty with dough, your Apple Watch starts ringing and vibrating to signal that the timer you set has expired. Until WatchOS 7 and Apple Watch 6, you would have had no choice but to mess around the digital crown or screen of your Apple Watch with your finger to stop the timer, and smudge it again to set a new timer.
From the next WatchOS 8, however, everything will change thanks to one feature announced in our opinion a bit too muted at WWDC 2021: Apple will bring Assistive Touch also on Apple Watch. The service, mainly designed to allow people with disabilities to use Apple products smoothly, has over the years proved to be a valid ally even for those who do not belong to the primary target for which it was designed.: it is not uncommon to see users who use the virtual home button on the iPhone to overcome hardware problems with the physical buttons, or simply to access functions such as triple tap with one hand more quickly.
But let's get to the point, why Assistive Touch on Apple Watch will make you feel like Tony Stark: thanks to the numerous sensor sounds and the accelerometer, the Apple smartwatch will be able to "read" the movements of the user's hand and wrist tendons, translating them into commands given. to the clock. In the example of the timer we mentioned at the beginning, therefore, you just need to open and close your fist, or join your thumb and index finger to select the virtual keys on the screen and press them without having to physically touch the screen. This solution, combined with Siri - which can always be used to issue voice commands and launch applications without having to physically interact with the device, will certainly open up many possibilities both to users with disabilities and to those who want to interact alternatively with their Apple Watch.
When you can see in the video above, released a few days before the WWDC, it has been confirmed by users who are currently testing the first Beta of WatchOS 8.
