Apple fitness chief explains the company’s new guided breathing watch app
- jun
- 27
In a recent interview, Apple fitness chief Jay Blahnik talked about Apple's development process behind Breathe, one of the new Apple Watch apps coming in watchOS 3. The app is meant to guide watch owners through deep breathing exercises a few times per day in an effort to give them a moment to calm down and center themselves.
Blahnik says that Breathe was subject to heavy internal testing, while its development has also been guided by a number of experts, according to Buzzfeed:
Apple tested and honed Breathe internally on "hundreds" of employees, and the development team also talked to outside mindfulness and psychology experts, according to Blahnik. Testing revealed that, for example, seven breaths per minute was the most comfortable rate for most people (though the app can be set to between four and 10 breaths per minute).
Breathe offers a couple of methods of interaction. As you perform the exercise, you can keep an eye on your watch display to know when to inhale and exhale. However, you can also rely on vibrations made by the Apple Watch's Taptic Engine as cues. Breathe will arrive this fall with watchOS 3.