The watchOS 26 update, coming to Apple Watch this fall, introduces two important new health features: Hypertension Notifications and a more intuitive Sleep Score system. Here are the details of these vital additions.

Hypertension Notifications and Enhanced Sleep Score

Apple states that approximately 1.3 billion adults worldwide are affected by hypertension (high blood pressure), yet it often goes undiagnosed. Undetected hypertension can lead to serious health risks such as heart attack, stroke, and kidney disease. Therefore, the new hypertension notifications in watchOS 26 may be one of the most important features of the Apple Watch ever.

So how does this feature work?

• Passive Analysis: Hypertension notifications on Apple Watch use data from the user’s optical heart sensor to analyze how their blood vessels respond to their heartbeat.
• 30-Day Cycle: The algorithm passively analyzes data in the background for 30-day cycles.
• Notification: Notifies the user if it detects consistent signs of hypertension. Apple hopes that by detecting potential hypertension early, Watch users can make potentially lifesaving behavioral changes or receive treatments that reduce the risk of more serious health events.

Note: Hypertension notifications require Apple Watch Series 9, 10, or 11, or Apple Watch Ultra 2 or 3, and are designed for people who have not previously been diagnosed with hypertension, are at least 22 years old, and are not pregnant.

How to enable: To enable hypertension alerts, go to the Health app on your iPhone, tap your profile icon in the top-right corner, then tap Health Checklist, and select Hypertension Notifications to complete the setup.

Sleep tracking has become a more important part of Apple Watch’s health offerings in recent years, thanks to additions like sleep apnea detection. watchOS 26 introduces a new Sleep Score feature that makes sleep data much easier to understand.

Sleep Score measures three key metrics:

• Duration: Up to 50 points. Bedtime: This score is worth a maximum of 30 points and measures bedtime consistency.
• Interruptions: This score is worth a maximum of 20 points and measures the frequency/duration of nighttime awakenings.

The theoretical maximum score is 100. Apple Watch will assign you a total score based on how your sleep ranks in these categories and will report whether it is ‘Excellent,’ ‘High,’ ‘Good,’ or ‘Low.’

You can view your sleep score in the Sleep app in watchOS 26 or in the Health app on your iPhone in iOS 26.