The release of Apple watchOS 7 is timely for handwashing policies instituted by health agencies as it helps users determine if they have washed well.
The handwashing feature of Apple watchOS 7 is among the best features of the update as it is timely in the sense that it alerts users if they can properly comply with the handwashing policies recommended by government health agencies. According to an Apple official, the feature received "very positive" feedback from many Apple Watch users who found it very helpful.
In a recent interview with Hodinkee Radio podcast, Alan Dye, the VP of Human Interface Design at Apple, spoke at length about watchOS 7 and how its release coincided with the handwashing policies instituted by government health agencies. He also talked about how Apple design engineers conceived the idea and integrated it in the latest watchOS update.
Dye said that since they launched the new Apple Watch Series models on September 15 and its operating system the following day, Apple has received a lot of good feedback from its users. Dye said that the release of watchOS 7 was timely in a sense that different health agencies have put in place handwashing policies that help protect people against the coronavirus infection. The VP said that they are keeping a close watch on such things at Apple. "It is great to hear a lot of positive feedbacks from software updates to hardware to all the work we have been pouring on watchOS 7," said Dye.
The VP of Human Interface Design also noted that most users say they "especially love" the new watchfaces that came along with Apple watchOS 7, and they are thankful for additions like the handwashing feature which comes in handy with the handwashing policies put in place by health agencies. When asked during the interview were they get their ideas and features, Dye said most of it comes from shipping software and from users themselves. "Most of the time, it takes our software getting out to the world, in order for it to reveal some of these things, or even just notice different patterns or trends or methods that people actually use in a manner that was not anticipated," the VP said.
In what he called "a wonderful Apple soft of way," Dye revealed that there was already talk among the team of integrating a handwashing feature into a watchOS update a couple of months back. He said the team showed a "deep understanding" of how to gauge if a person is washing their hands properly through motion data and sound. When watchOS 7 came out, Dye said he saw that the feature can indeed complement the handwashing policies put in place by government health agencies.
He also admitted that much of the work with the handwashing feature of watchOS 7, which comes handy with handwashing policies put in place by government health agencies, did not come from users or consumers but from Apple design engineers themselves. "We at Apple saw what was happening in the world and we put our head together to come up with a UI and experience that would encourage users to wash their hands for at least 20 seconds." Dye says he is very proud of the Apple design engineers' response to the problem.
