Ahead of the Apple Watch launch on Friday, Apple has published a new support page going over the Watches heart rate monitor. We know that the Apple Watch tracks your heart rate when you’re doing a workout and every periodically throughout the day. Using the Heart Rate Glance, the user can check their heart rate as many times as they please. The Watch is also capable of determining the amount of calories burned per day using intensity data recorded during workouts.

The support document notes that the Apple Watch will be recording your heart rate every 10 minutes. This data will be recorded in the in-house Health app for viewing this data at a later date and for third-party iPhone app support.

The Watch has incredible software features, but the hardware is just as great. Apple also has a diagram of how the Apple Watch should be worn for the best accuracy.

The function on the Watch isn’t perfect either. To get an accurate reading, Apple recommends having the Watch close to your skin. Obviously, other aspects of the human body can negatively effect the Watches reading of the heart rate, as Apple claims.

A fancy way of describing how much blood flows through your skin, skin perfusion varies significantly from person to person and can also be impacted by the environment. If you’re exercising in the cold, for example, the skin perfusion in your wrist may be too low for the heart rate sensor to get a reading. Motion is another factor. Rhythmic movements, such as running or cycling, give better results compared to irregular movements, like tennis or boxing.

Will you be able to reliably trust the Apple Watch reading your heart rate? Continue reading this post ->

According to BGR, Apple is planning to release iOS 8.2 on Monday, during the Spring Forward event. As noted by BGR editor Jonathan Geller, Apple’s decided to push a second gold master (GM) release to testers and employees. To see the full release notes, please click on the following link. Continue reading this post ->

Apple has begun seeding the second beta to iOS 8.3 to its developers on Monday. iOS 8.3 brings the next logical evolution to CarPlay on iOS by having a dedicated button on the automotive mobile. Currently, users who want to use CarPlay are required to plug in their devices via USB. This new beta also allows the user to wirelessly connect. The beta firmware will be available through Apple’s iOS Developer Center.

The software also includes initial support for Apple Pay in China. Partnering up with China UnionPay network, Apple Pay is rumored to launch in the Chinese market later this year.

Considering Apple usually seeds iOS betas to developers on Monday or Tuesday, this comes as no surprise. We’re not sure what’s new in the firmware, because we’re downloading the betas ourselves at the moment. If you do notice any changes, please leave a comment below.

This release is interesting, as Apple is currently seeding iOS 8.2 beta 5, which brings initial Apple Watch support. Furthermore, the last time the company has gone pass a iOS x.1 release was in iOS 4. Continue reading this post ->

According to BGR, Apple is planning to push the public version of iOS 8.2. in March. The iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch software is scheduled to be pushed in the second week of March. The software, as previously noted in betas, the update will contain Apple Watch support. Otherwise, we are expecting bug fixes and stability improvements. The Apple Watch Companion App was previously revealed in the iOS 8.2 betas. As noted before, the Apple Watch is slated to ship in April. Continue reading this post ->

Apple seeded their fourth beta of iOS 8.2 yesterday. Alongside the beta, we were able to discover that the wearable device will come with a companion app. On Tuesday, 9to5Mac has a report showing us what this Companion app is capable of.

According to the report, the companion app will be capable of managing Apple Watch apps, as well as settings for the device itself so users will be able to customize how the device talks to iOS. The application will be able to manage apps on the home screen of their Apple Watch and the layout of the wearable. They can also customize the Clock app, adding a monogram, a badge for notifications and default stock symbol.

For messages, users will be able to choose between voice dictation (voice-to-text) or audio messages as their default reply method and customize notifications. Similar settings are there for various other applications such as Maps and Fitness. The companion app will also be able to show details about the device itself. Ranging from storage capacity of their Apple Watch, the number of songs, apps, and photos on board.

Announced only in September of last year, the Apple Watch is expected to launch this March with a starting price of $349. Continue reading this post ->