One of the more timely WWDC announcements was Apple Watch handwashing detection.

But the handwashing detection feature wasn’t developed hastily in response, says Apple, but was rather years in development ….

WHO and CDC guidelines recommend handwashing for at least 20 seconds, and watchOS 7 aims to automatically detect when you’re washing your hands, and to start a 20-second countdown timer with a cute animation.

In a first-of-its-kind innovation for a wearable, Apple Watch uses the motion sensors, microphone, and on-device machine learning to automatically detect handwashing motions and sounds.

Apple Watch can also conveniently remind the user to wash their hands when they return home.

The Health app on iPhone will show frequency and duration of the user’s handwashing, as well as information on the importance of handwashing, as it relates to overall health.

Sounds used to detect handwashing are not automatically recorded or saved by the Health app or Apple Watch.

Unlike other rush initiatives undertaken by the company once the virus hit, however, the forthcoming Apple Watch handwashing app wasn’t built overnight.

The Apple Watch handwashing feature relies on three cues.

‘While we haven’t studied specifically how Apple Watch can track COVID, we’re happy to support the research the medical community is doing