WatchOS 6: Apple Watch software overhauled in latest update, with new health features and App Store

Kevin Lynch, Vice President of Technology at Apple, speaks during the keynote address at the Apple World Wide Developers Conference at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California (EPAEPA/MONICA DAVEY)

Apple has released a wide-ranging new update for the Apple Watch, including new features to allow its wearers to be healthier.

The company has revealed new features intended to let people track their hearing health, their period cycles and their fitness more generally.

WatchOS 6 also comes with re-designed watch faces to update the look of the watch.

The Watch will now also include a "Noise" app. That will use the Watch's microphone to listen for when its wearer is somewhere loud enough that might damage their hearing health, warning people if they are subjecting themselves to prolonged sound.

That also comes in the form of a complication, which can show on the Apple Watch's home face. That means people can see how loud the environment is at any given time.

It also has a new "Cycle Tracking" which allows wearers to track their period and fertility. It lets people receive notifications when their period is about to begin as well as letting them enter data.

That same app will also come to the Health app in the iOS. Apple said it had done so to ensure that as many people as possible can use the tracking tools.

The update also comes with a re-design of the Health app, which is intended for people to track the data being generated from their Watch on their iPhone. It will show summaries of the data it has collected, and uses machine learning to try and understand what it is that users would want to see.

At the same time, Apple announced it would release new summer colours for the Apple Watch bands, as well as special Pride edition, which comes with a devoted face so the watch will match.