Apple Watch 6 could get this killer feature to battle Galaxy Watch 3

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Yoga for Apple Watch might be the wearable's next fitness mission

Apple Watch 6 could get this killer feature to battle Galaxy Watch 3
(Image credit: Future)

The Apple Watch 6 could beat the Galaxy Watch 3 by becoming the ultimate yoga accessory and bringing advanced metrics to those who practice the program of postures.

Apple has won a patent application for Yoga metrics on a future Apple Watch to accompany the existing Yoga app, according to PatentlyApple. These metrics pertain to a user's "energy expenditure,"  which can be gathered via the Apple Watch by constant heart rate monitoring and connecting a user's movements to poses.

The patent, as visualized in this flowchart, show's how the Apple Watch's slew of sensors could collect information like heart rate and poses to determine the nature or vigor of a user's yoga workout. It even suggests reading skin temperature to tell if the user is in a hot yoga session. 

(Image credit: PatentlyApple)

Based on this data, the Apple Watch would be able to accurately measure how much energy was needed for a given yoga workout and reflect that metric in a user's daily Activity (soon-to-be Fitness) goals.

Apple Watch yoga app

Yoga is already among of the exercise presets available on Apple Watch, making the on-board workout app one of the best yoga apps you can find. The convergence of tech and mindful movement isn't for everyone, but as long as you set your Watch to 'Do Not Disturb' during class, it can be as useful an accessory as your yoga mat or blocks.

While the Apple Watch can essentially detect any form of exercise, refining metrics for specific styles of movement isn't easy. We learned this when Apple demoed the upcoming 'Dance' preset in watchOS 7 during WWDC 2020.

Translating the ever-changing location of limbs to accurate exercise data is quite advanced, but Apple seems to have found it's stride. So as long as it has the means to enforce the contents of this patent, the company could make its smartwatch the first true yoga wearable.

Kate Kozuch
Kate Kozuch

Kate Kozuch is the managing editor of social and video at Tom’s Guide. She writes about smartwatches, TVs, audio devices, and some cooking appliances, too. Kate appears on Fox News to talk tech trends and runs the Tom's Guide TikTok account, which you should be following if you don't already. When she’s not filming tech videos, you can find her taking up a new sport, mastering the NYT Crossword or channeling her inner celebrity chef.