From being labeled as a fashionable piece of technology to establishing itself as a feature-rich health wearable, Apple Watches have come a long way. While Apple adds some new features to its watchOS updates every year, these advanced health sensors are not being explored to their full potential. Next year marks the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch, and I have high hopes to see a major new hardware upgrade along with top-notch software to add to the mix. Leaving hardware for another day, here are 5 watchOS 11 features I'd really love to see in 2024.

The first feature I want to see in watchOS 11 is a programmable side button. Ever since Apple launched watchOS 10, it has changed the way users could access Control Center & App Switcher. It immediately received many negative reviews. Users were confused about how to access the Control Center in watchOS 10. In fact, many users did not welcome this change. Of course, users won't like Apple messing with their long-established habits.

Apple Watch Ultra and Apple Watch Ultra 2 have an additional programmable action button. But the regular Apple Watch series lacks this feature. Instead of moving functionality across the side button, swipes, and digital crown, it's nice to have a programmable side button on the Apple Watch. For example, I can press the side button once to start a workout. Also, since I use Stopwatch far too often on my smartwatch, I was able to map that action to the side button.

I also dream of customizing the double tap side button. For example, I can tap the side button once to open the Control Center and double tap it to launch the Workout app. But since Apple didn't offer this feature on the iPhone 15 Pro's action button and Apple Watch Ultra models, I don't see the double-tap feature coming anytime soon. Still, we can dream, right? That said, a programmable side button in watchOS 11 isn't too much to ask.