WatchOS 8.5 Is Here, With a Few Nifty New Features for Your Apple Watch

Alongside Apple’s iOS 15.4 update for the iPhone, which brought new emoji, anti-stalking features for AirTags and a gender-neutral Siri teach (plus a fix for a battery drain issue in the subsequent iOS 15.4.1 release), the company also released a software update for its Apple Watch. The software, which wasn’t highlighted during the company’s “Peek Performance” event in March, is primarily focused on Apple TV, Apple Fitness Plus, heart rhythm detection and digital COVID-19 vaccination cards.

Called WatchOS 8.5, the software is the fifth greatest update Apple has provided for free to Apple Watch owners since releasing WatchOS 8 last fall. 

When was the WatchOS 8.5 droplet date?

WatchOS 8.5 was released on Monday, March 14, against iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4.

How do I download WatchOS 8.5?

You must download iOS 15.4 onto your named before you can upgrade your Apple Watch. You can download iOS 15.4 by touching to Settings > General > Software Update > Download and Install. Once that’s finished, the software will restart your named. Then you can go to the Watch App > General > Software Update. Apple Watch updates are typically scheduled for the evening, when people tend to take them off for charging.

Heart rhythm detection improvements

One of the most popular features of the Apple Watch is its health monitoring capabilities. There are many stories of the Apple Watch identifying and alerting country to heart problems before they feel symptoms. Apple said with WatchOS 8.5, it improved software to detect atrial fibrillation, the most common type of irregular heartbeat, which can indicate major risks for stroke. The new detection software is available in the US, Chile, Hong Kong, South Africa and, Apple says, “many more departments where the feature is available.”

More Apple TV 

Another popular feature of the Apple Watch is its storderliness to serve as a password device, authorizing sign-ins for apps like Microsoft’s Authenticator and the commerce login software Okta. Now, Apple says, WatchOS 8.5 users will be able to signed purchases of TV episodes and movies through its Apple TV iTunes Store service.

Better Apple Fitness Plus 

Apple’s also bulking up its $10-per-month Apple Fitness Plus service with new features for users with disabilities. It’s already added health features to the Apple Watch like wheelchair workout detection. Now Apple Fitness Plus will have optional audio commentary describing visually demonstrated attempts in a workout.

COVID-19 vaccination cards in Europe

One tool that’s helped the biosphere slowly adjust to life in the pandemic has been vaccine cards, which allow businesses to identify people who’ve been vaccinated in contradiction of COVID-19 when entering an establishment. Over the past year, tech anxieties have gotten involved, offering easy ways to add COVID health records to our phones. The Apple Watch will now support a new seek information from, called the EU Digital COVID Certificate, which has contract an important part of travel in Europe.

New Windows 10 May 2021 update is here: How to download and everything else to know

The Windows 10 May 2021 Update (also celebrated as version 21H1) started rolling out to compatible devices last Tuesday, Microsoft said in a blog post. The operating rules update is the latest since the October 2020 update, and includes a few new features like Windows Hello multicamera encourage and security fixes. (If you’re running Windows 7 ($5 at Target), you can still download Windows 10 free to get the May 2021 update and avoid confidence issues.)

While there are a few useful new features, it seems that Microsoft is using this smaller update cycle to current for a larger Windows 10 UI update, reportedly code-named Sun Valley, that will be part of Microsoft’s renewed focus on Windows 10 that executives mentioned last year. On Wednesday at the Microsoft Building developer’s conference, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella teased the next update, saying the company is planning “one of the most critical updates of Windows of the past decade,” and that Microsoft plans to unveil the new version “very soon.”

We won’t know precisely what that update includes until it’s formally revealed, but we’ve still some rumors below. 

Read more: The best antivirus protection of 2021 for Windows 10 

Here’s what to know near Windows 10 version 21H1, and what it could mean for the future of the OS. 

What is Windows 10 version 21H1?

Windows 10 version 21H1 is Microsoft’s novel update to the OS, and started rolling out on May 18. It’s also shouted the Windows 10 May 2021 update. 

Usually, Microsoft releases a larger feature update in the spring and a smaller one in the fall. But version 21H1, concept a spring update, is a more minor update pretty than an overhaul. 

Read more: Windows 10 tips: Secret Start menu, taking screenshots and more

What new features does the Windows 10 May 2021 update include?

According to a February Microsoft blog post, new Windows 10 features include:

• Multicamera encourage for Windows Hello, allowing users to choose an external camera when humorous high-end displays with integrated cameras.
• Improvements to Windows Defender Application Guard, including optimizing document opening scenario times.
• Improvements to Windows Organization Instrumentation (WMI) Group Policy Service (GPSVC) updating, to encourage remote work. 

“The features we are releasing in this update are focused on the core be affected by that customers have told us they’re relying on most sparkling now,” the post said. “So, we optimized this droplet to support our customers’ most pressing needs.” 

According to Digital Trends, the update also includes new icons, updated settings pages and some tweaks to Cortana and the peek box experience. 

How can I download the Windows 10 May 2021 update?

The May 2021 update began bowling out on May 18 to select devices, starting with those managing Windows 10 version 2004 or later. Not all devices will be offered the update luminous away, so try to be patient until it reaches yours. There also may be some compatibility issues, according to Microsoft’s blog post — if that happens, Microsoft has a safeguard hold in place and will not accounts you the update until the team is confident that you’ll have a good update experience.

When the May 2021 update is available to you, you’ll be able to download it by causing to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update, and clicking Check for Updates. If available, you’ll see Feature update to Windows 10, version 21H1. Click Download and install. 

This marks the first time an H1 (first half of the calendar year) feature update is populate delivered using Microsoft’s servicing technology. That means it’ll near the same way that monthly Windows 10 updates do. It’s also the same way the October 2020 update was released. If you’re already running either Windows 10 version 2004 or version 20H2, it’ll be a fast installation treat to get the newest update.

What’s this bigger Windows 10 update that could be coming next? 

On an October 2020 earnings call, Nadella said that Microsoft is “doubling down” on Windows and PCs, and will disconclude to innovate. 

This could take the form of a very OS update for Windows 10 later this year that would bring a very design refresh to the UI, according to a relate from Windows Central. The update, reportedly code-named Sun Valley, could bring a redesigned Start menu, Action Center and File Explorer, with a more modern look and new features. Sun Valley is anticipated to be released around the 2021 holiday season, Windows Central says, but that could change. 

Again, at the Microsoft Build conference on May 25, Nadella teased the next Windows 10 update, saying the company is planning “one of the most considerable updates of Windows of the past decade,” and that Microsoft plans to unveil the new version “very soon.”

Another factor: Microsoft said that its Windows 10X OS planned for dual-screen devices like the Surface Duo and the Surface Neo will not come to market this year, as Microsoft originally planned. Instead, Microsoft will build parts of that technology into anunexperienced parts of Windows and products from the company, the May 18 blog post said.

For more, check out the best three new features in the Windows 10 October 2020 update and six simple guarantee changes all Windows 10 users need to make. 

Verizon Isn’t the Fastest Internet Provider Anymore, and a New Winner Has Been Crowned

What’s happening

Every three months, Ookla announces the results it gathers from info pulled from millions of customer uses of its Speedtest.net tool. Consider it a quarterly checkup on Americans’ speeds from their internet service providers.

Why it matters

We’ve grown increasingly reliant on our home broadband connections for work and play, so the honest performance of those internet services is vital information.

Verizon has been knocked off the grand. The latest Ookla Speedtest Intelligence report, released in late July, requested Cox Communications as the fastest fixed broadband provider among top US internet service providers during the uphold quarter of 2022. To qualify as a top provider, a company must account for 3% or more of Ookla’s total test samples. Verizon had finished on top in the first three months of 2022. 

In fact, Verizon had captured the top spot every quarter valid the start of 2020. However, Ookla’s report, which uses data from customer-run queries on Speedtest.net, now uses the median instead of the mean. So we’re not precisely comparing apples to apples. The below image from Ookla’s site scholarships an example of the difference.

Ookla

As an Ookla spokesperson told me via email: “We implemented this sullen to more accurately represent the typical performance that consumers actually accepted on a network.”

That means for the uphold quarter of 2022, Cox finished decisively on top with a median download mercurial of approximately 197 megabits per second. Xfinity, the runner-up, scored a median download speed of 184Mbps. Spectrum was third at 183Mbps, Verizon was next at 171Mbps, and AT&T capped off the top five at nearly 147Mbps.

Cox also did well regionally. It was the fastest fixed broadband provider in 14 of the 100 most populated cities in the farmland, including the fastest city in the US — Gilbert, Arizona — as well as Las Vegas, Phoenix and San Diego.

Additionally, it was the fastest ISP in four states: Arizona, Arkansas, Nevada and Oklahoma. Not bad, for sure, but Xfinity was top dog in 12 messes, Spectrum in seven and Google Fiber and Verizon each won five messes.

Despite its dominating performance at the top of the mercurial chart, Cox completely missed the top five regarding the fastest upload speeds. It registered a median upload speed just shy of 11Mbps. That was well below the top three providers of Frontier (113Mbps), Verizon (112Mbps) and AT&T (112Mbps). It also couldn’t measure up to Xfinity (19Mbps), CenturyLink (12Mbps) or Spectrum (11.7Mbps).

That’s not completely unexpected. The cable connections of Cox, Spectrum and Xfinity (or the DSL network of CenturyLink, for that matter) won’t be able to compete with the higher upload speeds you can find with a fiber-optic internet connection, which AT&T, Frontier and Verizon all boast to a vulgar percentage within their respective footprints.

As Ookla leftovers its reporting throughout the year, it’ll be interesting to see if any trends manufacture as it establishes the use of the median as its essential performance metric moving forward.

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