WatchOS 10 Makes Apple Watch The Only Cycling Partner You Need

Cycling is one of the foremost hobbies for long-distance exercise, providing an excellent cardio workout alongside generally convenient transportation. It's for this reason that the wearable tech market has leaned heavily on the cycling scene in recent years, building out new features to make your biking experience a little more advanced. Naturally, Apple is no exception to these interests.

During its keynote presentation at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple unveiled the newest version of its smartwatch operating system, WatchOS 10. Alongside an array of other new and interesting features, such as new hiking safety and mental health apps, the reveal highlighted WatchOS' new cycling-related updates, designed to provide you with up-to-date information on your cycling journey and the health benefits it's providing to you. While previous versions of WatchOS offered cycling features geared more toward safety and consistency, these new features will help you to really maximize your cycling workout and take advantage of its relevant data and metrics.

In addition to its existing cycling-related features, such as automatic fall detection and workout reminders, WatchOS 10 is adding several new nifty updates to really maximize your connection with your trusty bicycle. If your bicycle has a built-in Bluetooth accessory like a speed meter or cadence center, your Apple Watch will be able to connect to it and synchronize its data. With this new connection, your Apple Watch will be able to measure and record valuable fitness information like cycling power and cadence. You can track all of it on the Workout Views feature on your Apple Watch.

Speaking of Workout Views, WatchOS 10 can also be connected to a paired iPhone during a cycling workout to display your Workout Views on its screen. This will display a greater range of information like Heart Rate Zones and Elevation, as well as features like Race Routes, on a larger, more easily-viewed screen.

Besides all of the new and updated cycling metrics, WatchOS 10 has also added a new metric for measuring Functional Threshold Power, or FTP. This is a measure of your highest cycling intensity within an hour, effectively tracking how long you can stay in the zone while riding. Using this information, your Apple Watch can calculate more precise Power Zones, tracking the high points of your journey and helping you to better understand your goals and limits. WatchOS 10 will be released as a free software update this coming fall.