Teen's Apple Watch alerted her of an unusually high resting heart rate. Photo: Apple
A Florida teenager reportedly had her life saved by her trusty Apple Watch after it alerted her to a dangerously high resting heart rate.
18-year-old Deanna Recktenwald was at church when her Apple Watch displayed a warning, noting that her heart rate had hit 190 beats per minute and that she should seek medical attention.
Lumos Helmet now works with Apple Watch. Photo: Lumos
If you want to be seen and safe on the road when you’re cycling, you need a Lumos Helmet. The world’s first smart bike helmet offers more than just protection, with built-in lights, brake and turn signals. And now it’s even better, thanks to Apple Watch.
Lumos today launched its new watchOS app, which lets you control your helmet’s lighting using simple gestures. The company also confirmed that the Lumos Helmet will soon become the first bike helmet to be sold in Apple stores throughout the United States and Europe.
Save big bucks on a new iMac and much more Photo: Apple/Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
In today’s edition of Deals & Steals, we’ve discovered a great deal on a new iMac and much more, as part of Best Buy’s 24 hour Flash Sale. You can also get your hands on the HomePod for a nice discount!
Elsewhere, save big on a bonanza of PC gaming parts and a mounted phone charger.
Note: On some of these deals, Cult of Mac might earn a small commission through an affiliate link. However, we pick our daily Deals & Steals strictly on their potential value to our readers.
Most of these deals are good for a limited time only, so act fast before the prices change!
Tokyo store is the last of Apple's three Apple Watch pop-up shops. Photo: Apple
Apple is closing the last of its remaining Apple Watch pop-up shops. Based in Tokyo, the last of the mini-stores is located in Shinjuku’s high-end Isetan department store. It will shut its door next month.
A message outside the store reads, “This is a notice that Apple Watch at Isetan Shinjuku will close as of Sunday, May 13. Thank you very much for your continuous patronage.”
It’s time to cut the cable and set Apple Watch free Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac
For activity tracking, fitness and notifications, Apple Watch is pretty awesome, and these days, that’s all most people use it for. Which is a shame.
When it launched back in 2015, Apple had a much bigger vision: a wearable computing platform supporting a rich and varied ecosystem of apps. Like an iPhone strapped to your wrist. But the reality has turned out to be rather different. Instagram is just the latest of a series of high profile apps to desert the platform. So what’s up?
I believe Apple Watch’s dependence on iPhone is holding it back, and the time has come for Cupertino to set its smartwatch free. In this, the third and final part of my wish list of watchOS 5 features, I’ll focus on how I hope Apple will improve setup, apps and iCloud to create a badass stand-alone device.
It’s all thanks to the August Smart Lock. Photo: August
If you’re forever losing your keys, why bother using them at all? Now you can unlock your doors using your Apple Watch, thanks to the August Smart Lock.
It’s one of the easiest and fastest ways to get into your home, and you don’t even need your iPhone.
Power up your Apple Watch Series 3 in style with our top picks for best chargers and stands. Photo: Studio Proper
From pocket-size, portable chargers to sleek, modernist stands and cases, Cult of Mac Watch Store has your Apple Watch Series 3 charging needs covered.
We’ve rounded up our favorite stands and docks for Apple Watch Series 3 from some of the best brands on the market — Nomad, Zens, Twelve South, Just Mobile and more. Plus, a number of new brands including Amber and Proper. Whether you’re on holiday, on the go, at work or at home, we’ve got a charging solution to fit your needs. Check out our great lineup below.
Will Apple finally deliver one of our most-requested features for watchOS? Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
A watchOS update could finally add support for third-party Apple Watch faces soon.
Apple Watch fans have been calling for third-party face support since the device made its debut three years ago. A note discovered in the latest watchOS code suggests developers may soon get permission to build the custom faces we badly crave.
An overcharged Apple Watch battery can begin to swell up. If this happens, it needs to be replaced. Photo: iFixIt
The battery in an Apple Watch 2 can fail, and even swell up. This is a rare problem, but Apple will fix the watch if it occurs.
Swelling is a problem that has long plagued lithium-ion batteries from laptops, phones, and other electronics. The only fix is a replacement of the battery.
Apple has been hard at work getting its Workout and Activity apps into shape, with major upgrades rolling out every year. WWDC 2018 should be no exception, but will these Apple Watch fitness features show up? Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
In this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine: When it comes to fitness apps on Apple Watch, sometimes it feels like Cupertino is running before it can walk. Fancy new features like Heart Rate Recovery are very welcome, but a few of the basics remain missing.
Apple could make major strides when it releases watchOS 5. So in the second of three posts about the future of watchOS, I’ll focus on five essential fitness features I’m hoping we’ll see at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference.
Opening a watchOS 1 app on a device running that latest beta of watchOS 4.3.1 gets this warning. Graphic: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
The latest watchOS beta warns that support will end soon for applications that haven’t been updated for years. This is part of an ongoing push by Apple to get all third-party apps that were written for the first-generation Software Development Kit updated to something more recent.
Unfortunately, this drive is instead causing some developers to drop their out-of-date Apple Watch apps.
Will Apple move workouts to iCloud so you can browse them on any device? Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac
When it comes to fitness apps on Apple Watch, sometimes it feels like Cupertino is running before it can walk. Fancy new features like Heart Rate Recovery are very welcome, but a few of the basics remain missing.
Apple could make major strides when it releases watchOS 5. So in the second of three posts about the future of watchOS, I’ll focus on five essential fitness features I’m hoping we’ll see at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference.
Time has flown with the Apple Watch Series 3. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Surprisingly, the Apple Watch Series 3 has been out for six months already. While time has flown by (pun intended), the Series 3 watch has easily become one of my favourite Apple releases of the past year. Although I’ve already done a full review, I wanted to revisit it now that half a year has passed to tell you about my experience with it, what I like, what I don’t and if it’s worth it.
An Apple Watch found on a murder victim provided critical evidence. Photo: Form Function Form
An Australian woman claims her mother-in-law was killed in their home by unknown assilants, but data from the victim’s Apple Watch contradicts that testimony.
An Apple Watch tracks the wearer’s heartbeat. This means it knows exactly when that heart stops, allowing Adelaide police to know precisely when this murder had taken place. And that was far earlier than claimed.
Apple's new displays will likely make their debut on Apple Watch. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple is going all-in on MicroLED displays, a new report claims. The company is reportedly gearing up to use the next-gen displays in future Apple Watches, Macs and even an as-yet-unreleased wearable device, which could be Apple’s augmented reality glasses.
The first MicroLED displays may arrive sooner than expected, too.
People would rather look at Instagram on a Mac than an Apple Watch. Photo: Just Mobile
Apple Watch sells very well, but apparently not strongly enough for some companies. A deadline requiring developers to base their apps on newer versions of watchOS just passed, and some businesses choose to pull their software rather than update it.
Instagram garnered the most attention, but there are surely other examples.
Apple's new iPad is powerful, cheap, and a great deal. Photo: @YSR50
This week on The CultCast: Apple has powered up the new iPad so much, it’s hard to resist! We’ll tell you why we’re so excited. Plus: What you need to know about iOS 11.3; everything Apple revealed at its “field trip” event; a reliable report says Apple Watch Plus is incoming; and you asked, we answer — from the best Home apps, to our Mac mini predictions, to Commando versus Predator, we answer your most burning questions.
Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. It’s simple to accept Apple Pay and sell your wares with your very own Squarespace.com website. Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10 percent off any hosting plan.
How Apple could give watchOS a tune-up. Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac
In the three short years since Apple Watch debuted, Cupertino has massively improved its smartwatch. Remember the early days, when Glances took ages to load, only to show out-of-date information? When the Fitness app refused to stay in the foreground during a workout? Or when the side button launched a doodling app?
Since the launch, Apple has rolled out big upgrades to watchOS every year at its Worldwide Developers Conference. But there is still loads more that could be done to really unleash Apple Watch’s full potential.
With this year’s WWDC confirmed for June, here’s my wish list of the all the new watchOS stuff I’m hoping will be announced in San Jose, California. It’s a pretty long list, so I’ve broken it down into three separate posts, starting with usability. In followup posts, I’ll focus on fitness, apps and setup.
Springtime comes to Apple cases and bands with fun color options. Photo: Apple
Celebrate spring with new iPhone and iPad cases, plus new Apple Watch bands, all now available in seasonal colors. Yellow, blue and pink are everywhere, with leather, silicone and nylon as materials.
Your wardrobe changes with the seasons, and your phone, tablet and watch can bust out in brighter colors, too, now that winter is behind us.
Raise to wake might finally be coming to an end. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple Watch isn’t just growing in sales — it’s about to grow in size, too. At least, that’s the prediction of an analyst with long track record for accuracy.
A larger display would make room for a bigger battery. Apple likely will build new health features into its updated wearable as well.
Spotify hired Andrew Chang, creator of a third-party Spotify app for watchOS, last April. Photo: Snowy
Spotify will finally deliver its first Apple Watch app this year, according to a new report.
It could get an official reveal at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June alongside “StreamKit,” a new framework for watchOS 5 that will boost the cellular Apple Watch’s standalone capabilities.
This week, you can get the Apple Watch Series 1 sport model in both sizes at all-time low prices. You can also take advantage of discounts on Apple Watch and iPhone stands, an iMac and iTunes gift cards.
Apple Watch alerts user of irregular heart rhythms in sleep Photo: Apple
Apple Watch can accurately detect atrial fibrillation, a serious heart condition that is a leading cause of stroke, and could also help identify if you’re at risk of aapple watch heart attack.
This advanced feature remains in testing. However, a new medical study offers proof that wearables can do far more than simply track fitness. In fact, they could actually keep the wearer alive.
That Apple Watch band you wanted may be gone. Photo: Apple
Spring has sprung, and there’s a whole bunch of new Apple Watch bands to celebrate. They sport “vibrant colors and unique designs,” Apple says — and they’ll be available to purchase from select stores and carriers around the world later this month.
MicroLED could eventually replace OLED displays on Apple devices. Photo: Apple
Apple reportedly operates a secret manufacturing plant in California where it produces MicroLED displays, a new type of screen that could make future gadgets “slimmer, brighter and less power-hungry.”
Right now, the company is said to still be in the testing phase, manufacturing small quantities of the displays. The tech likely won’t arrive for years. But by developing its own custom displays, Apple could further differentiate its devices from rival products.