Apple Watch owes its popularity to some of its key features. Popular features in the Apple Watch Series 9, which came out in 2023, include the following:

• Apple Pay. Users store their credit, debit and prepaid cards on their watches and double-click the Digital Crown when holding the watch over a sensor to make a purchase. Apple Pay is considered by some experts to be the best digital wallet.
• Customization. Apple Watch offers several different ways to customize the device. These include the choice of stainless steel or aluminum models, different ways of arranging the watch face, and different colors and styles of armbands, such as a sports band that is more durable and comfortable for physical activity.
• Digital keys. Users can replace physical keys with digital versions that let them get into their homes by simply placing their watch onto their lock’s sensor. Digital keys can be shared with family and friends who have Apple Watches.
• Family Setup. An Apple Watch plan lets users give watches to family members, including children and grandparents, even if they don’t have iPhones. This lets children message and call their parents and lets parents track the location of their kids, give them their allowance, approve who they contact and restrict access to apps at certain times of day with the Schooltime mode.
  

  

• Fitness tracker. This feature monitors a user’s heart rate during workouts, as well as workout and activity duration among other data. Users can set activity goals, compete against their best saved times and access personalized coaching through Fitness+, which includes audio-guided exercises.
• Health monitoring. Sensors monitor ECG, blood oxygen and heart rate data and notify users when it detects abnormalities, making it useful to users with atrial fibrillation. Watches can also be used to track body temperature and menstrual cycles.
• Maps. Users can access the maps feature even when their phone isn’t in range. It helps users who are running or cycling a route they don’t know and is useful when riding public transit.
• Notifications and messaging. Apple Watches can send and receive any type of message that iPhones, Mac laptops and other devices they are synced with can handle. This includes texts, calls, emails and social media instant messaging. To write, users can use voice dictation or Scribble, which transforms words written by finger on the touch screen into text. There are also notifications specifically designed for the watches, such as reminders to wash hands or take medications.
• Siri. Apple’s digital assistant works like it does on other Apple devices. Users dictate commands, such as asking for directions or crafting a message, and Siri responds or carries out the direction.
• Sleep tracking. This feature tracks users’ sleep and wake times, as well as sleep stages, such as rapid eye movement sleep. The watch uses these metrics to help users create healthier bedtime routines.
• SOS and emergency detection. Apple Watches detect when a user has fallen or been in an accident. If a user has been immobilized, the watch automatically contacts emergency services, provides them with the user’s location and contacts the user’s emergency contacts. Users can also access emergency services at any time by pressing and holding the Digital Crown.
  

  

• Syncing. This lets users use multiple Apple devices interchangeably for the same task, such as messaging, listening to music, and accessing photos and video in the cloud. Users can also access the Find Devices app to locate lost Apple devices, and they can unlock a Mac laptop simply by wearing their watch next to it.