**watchOS 26: New Health Features for Apple Watch**
watchOS 26 debuted this fall, unveiling important health features: hypertension alerts and a sleep score. These features are designed to improve user health tracking and awareness.
### Hypertension Notifications
Hypertension influences nearly 1.3 billion adults globally and often goes undiagnosed, resulting in serious health hazards like heart attacks, strokes, and kidney disease. The new hypertension alerts in watchOS 26 may be among the most vital features of the Apple Watch.
This feature employs data from the optical heart sensor to evaluate how blood vessels react to heartbeats. It functions in a passive manner, analyzing data over a 30-day duration, and notifies users if persistent signs of hypertension are identified. This early detection enables users to implement possibly lifesaving lifestyle adjustments or pursue medical help.
To activate hypertension alerts, users need to go to the Health app, tap their profile icon, choose Health Checklist, and then select Hypertension Notifications. Be aware that this feature necessitates Apple Watch Series 9, 10, or 11, or Apple Watch Ultra 2 or 3.
### Sleep Score
Sleep monitoring has become increasingly significant in the health features of the Apple Watch, particularly with functionalities like sleep apnea detection. watchOS 26 presents a new sleep score feature that makes understanding sleep health data more straightforward.
The sleep score assesses three main metrics:
– **Duration** (up to 50 points)
– **Bedtime** (up to 30 points)
– **Interruptions** (up to 20 points)
The highest possible score is 100, and depending on performance within these areas, users receive an overall score categorized as ‘Excellent,’ ‘High,’ ‘OK,’ or ‘Low.’ Future updates in watchOS 26.2 will enhance these grading standards.
Users can check their sleep score in the Sleep app on the Apple Watch or the Health app on their iPhone.
### Conclusion
With the rollout of hypertension notifications and sleep scores, watchOS 26 advances the Apple Watch’s role in health monitoring. These features enable users to take proactive measures towards improved health management.
