The Apple Watch Could One Day Save Your Life

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) kicked off on Monday with some big software developments. While the conference wasn't centered on new products, the updates that Apple is rolling out are big enough to make you feel like you're using a new device altogether. Some of the updates for iPhone and Mac computer include changes to Siri and Emojis, but a new feature coming to Apple Watch serves an important purpose. The Apple SOS Watch feature can save lives in a medical emergency.

Apple Watch's SOS feature allows its user to make their medical details available on their watch's display in case of a medical emergency, as long as they have logged the information in HealthKit. The display will share the user's Medical ID, including their name, date of birth, age, and any medical conditions they've logged, allowing the user to quickly and easily make the information available to medical help in case of an emergency. The SOS feature, as noted by TechCrunch, can come in handy if an individual loses consciousness before medical help arrives.

The feature can also easily and promptly connect the user to 911, by pressing down and holding the watch's bottom button. The screen will display a countdown, and once it reaches zero, you can connect with a 911 dispatcher. The SOS feature reaches 911 either through cellular data or WiFi and automatically alerts the individual's emergency contacts at the end of the call.

There are a few more big developments for the Apple Watch, including a software update that will open apps much faster than previously, and a new health app. The app — called Breathe — facilitates relaxation with breathing exercises and also guides users through the activity even if their eyes are closed, according to The Verge. Most of the Apple Watch updates are focused on health and wellness.

One of its other new features allows the user to share their exercising habits and activities with friends who also use the app. The app will allow you to keep tabs on your friends' activity, and share information with one another about progress and health-related exercises, with the purpose of staying motivated and keeping your friends motivated as well.

The watch has also updated how you keep track of your daily steps with a new and colorful display to keep tabs on.

These new Apple Watch software updates — along with many others — will be available in fall 2016 when the new watchOS 3 operating system is released.