Your Apple Watch Will Soon Be Able To Function Like A Walkie Talkie

During Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) keynote on Jun. 4, the company took some time to show off its new Apple Watch update, watchOS 5 — and based off the features it revealed, the update is definitely worth boasting about. If you're not already an Apple Watch kind of person, you'll definitely be soon! And, you'll also be asking yourself what Apple Watch's new watchOS 5 update is, because you're about to become a watch person for sure.

The latest operating system takes the Apple Watch from accessory status to necessity status. Other than just being faster and more dynamic than ever, the new watchOS 5 includes a few applications that will make the Apple Watch hugely helpful in the productivity, activity, and connectivity arena. From new life-saving services to a Walkie Talkie no-call features, you're going to start relying on your Apple Watch for everything.

First things first: Some of the features from iOS 12 will be making their way to watchOS 5. For instance, the new Shortcuts features that are new to the iOS 12: On your Apple Watch, with Shortcuts, Siri will learn to anticipate what information or features you might need based on what time you're looking at your home screen, coupled with your location and your calendar. As soon as you raise your wrist, your watch will come to life and give you a list of suggestions: For instance, if you're near your local coffee shop and Siri knows you generally stop there every morning, Siri will likely suggest you order your morning coffee straight off your Apple Watch so it's ready for you when you arrive.

Yep: That's a lot of power for a tiny screen. Siri is watching you (in a non-creepy, totally helpful way, don't worry there are new privacy features, too) and she is constantly keeping up with your engagements to make sure that she can offer useful shortcuts to minimize the amount of tapping an searching you have to do.

Shortcuts aren't the only new feature coming to watchOS 5. In previous Apple Watch operating systems, users didn't have the ability to preview website content in emails and/or attachments in text messages, which essentially meant you'd have to run to your phone to see the message if it was important. This kind of defeated the purpose of having a watch that let you really leave your phone at home. What's the point of going on a run with just your watch if there's a chance you could get an important work email with a link that you can't even open on the go?

Well, good news: The new update will let you get a preview that's been tailored to the small Apple Watch screen so that you can actually rely on your watch without having to have your phone nearby all the time.

A few other awesome updates you're going to be stoked to use? You no longer need to say "Hey Siri" to alert Siri to listen to you on your Apple Watch any more. Instead, you can just raise your wrist and start talking to your digital assistant! Additionally, the Podcast app will now be synced to your Apple Watch, because let's be real, some of us prefer to listen to NPR at the gym rather than Apple Music. Oh, and get this, student ID cards can now be presented via Apple Watch, so the days of losing your card and having to buy a new one every semester are gone. Simply raise your wrist and gain access to participating food halls and school buildings.

The new Apple Watch operating system will be available in September 2018, and it will be totally free — and totally worth it.