The Apple Watch 7 finally gets cycling right

Date:
Tue, 21 Sep 2021 10:59:35 +0000

Description:
The new Apple Watch might not be groundbreaking, but its new tools make it ideal for casual riders and commuters.

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In the weeks leading up to the launch of the Apple Watch 7 reveal, the internet rumor mill was hard at work churning out theories about its new health and fitness features. It would have a radically different design, theorists suggested, and be capable of measuring blood pressure , blood glucose , blood alcohol all non-invasively.

Looking back, its no surprise that these turned out to be overly ambitious. Apple has registered patents for blood pressure tracking using actuators embedded in a watchs wristband, but theres nothing more concrete so far. Some smartwatches and fitness trackers (such as the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2
) can estimate changes in blood pressure using the same optical sensor that tracks your heart rate, but its only a rough guide and cant replace a conventional monitor and cuff.

Theres promising research that suggests blood glucose monitoring could come
to smartwatches eventually using either spectroscopy (which uses lasers to identify different chemicals), or a method pioneered by UK company Nemuara Medical that uses a mild electric current to draw molecules through the skin, but again its not yet ready to be implemented in a commercial device.

In fact, the Apple Watch 7s new health features are very modest but nonetheless very interesting, particularly to casual cyclists. Saddle up and ride on

One of these new tools is fall detection during cycling activities. The Apple Watch 4 and later can already detect hard falls and alert the emergency services if you dont tap the face to indicate that youre OK.

With the Apple Watch 7, the same thing will happen if you fall off your bike. If the watch detects that youre moving after you take a tumble, it will wait for you to respond to the alert on-screen. If youre immobile for a minute, it will call the emergency services automatically, then send a message to your emergency contact.

Its a feature youll already find on sports watches from the likes of Garmin and Coros, but its good to see it being extended to more general-purpose smartwatches for the safety of more casual riders. This feature also goes
well with the watchs new face, which is topped with more crack-resistant crystal, and is rated for resistance to dust as well as water. The Apple
Watch 7 offers more accurate calorie calculation for e-bike rides (Image credit: Blix)

The Apple Watch 7 also offers improved calorie calculation for e-bikes. Were not yet sure exactly how this will work, but we expect it will use a combination of your historic heart rate during workouts, resting heart rate, current heart rate, and pace to work out how much effort youre putting into your battery-assisted ride.

E-bikes are increasingly popular, particularly for city riding, but most smartwatches and fitness trackers assume that all cycling happens on a conventional bicycle. The Apple Watch 7 acknowledges that e-bikes are a valid form of exercise, and more accurate calorie counts may help encourage owners to saddle up rather than hopping in their cars for short journeys.

There are lots more tools Apple could add to help cyclists, such as more workout tracking options and fitness tests, but for commuters and weekend riders, the Apple Watch 7 could be the perfect choice. We've ridden and rated the best e-bikes



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/the-apple-watch-7-finally-gets-cycling-right/


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