Apple WatchOS 9.4 Beta Running-Focused Changes!

Here's what runners need to know about the latest WatchOS 9.4 version coming soon to a wrist near you!

Apple has quietly made a pretty substantial change to how and when running power is calculated in the Apple Watch, which will impact ultra and trail runners the most. Thankfully, this is a good change.

This change is part of a handful of other changes being made as part of the most recent Apple WatchOS software, currently in public beta as 9.4, which will likely release in the very near future. Apple has confirmed these changes are planned.

In total, there are basically three running-specific changes made in this version and the version prior:

1) Running power now includes “walking” periods (in the Outdoor Run profile specifically)
2) Running track mode will now ‘snap’ to 100m sections if within 5m of that point (just like Wahoo RIVAL does)
3) Running track mode now shows a new summary at end of the workout with per-loop times (in 9.3)

In addition, while not actually part of 9.4, note that Apple also concurrently rolled out Running Track mode support for a number of additional countries. I outlined all those here.

#AppleWatch #WatchOS #Running