For the first time ever, a public beta is available for the latest Apple Watch software. If you want to test out all the new features, including sleep tracking, watch face sharing, new watch faces, and workout types, follow along below for how to install the free watchOS 7 public beta.
Apple released the watchOS 7 developer beta back at WWDC in June, and the public beta has landed about two months later. The new software brings a variety of notable changes with the long-awaited sleep tracking debuting alongside watch face sharing, new watch faces, handwashing detection, new workout types, and more.
While there are a lot of great additions with watchOS 7, the new software does ditch Force Touch support for the first time, making for a different navigation experience. Another downside to keep in mind when running the watchOS 7 public beta is that there will be bugs and performance issues.
watchOS 7 is compatible with Apple Watch Series 3, 4, and 5.
How to install the watchOS 7 public beta
Important Note: There is no way to downgrade to watchOS 6 after installing the watchOS 7 public (or developer) beta.
- You’ll need to be running the iOS 14 beta on your iPhone that’s connected to your Apple Watch (walkthrough on installing iOS 14 public beta)
- On your iPhone running iOS 14, head to Apple’s public beta website and sign in
- Tap watchOS from the Enroll your devices page, then swipe down and tap the enroll your Apple Watch link
- Swipe down a bit and tap Download Profile
- Follow the prompts to install the watchOS 7 public beta
- Tap Allow to download the profile
- Tap Install in the top right corner, enter your passcode if needed
- Read the consent agreement, then tap Install two more times
- Tap Done then General in the top left
- Head to the Watch app on your iPhone, choose General > Software update
- You should see watchOS 7 available, put your Apple Watch on the charger, keep your iPhone nearby, tap Download and Install
Here’s how the process looks:
After you open Apple’s public beta website you can tap the drop-down arrow in the top right corner to sign in/sign up.
Next, choose watchOS and swipe down.
Now follow the prompts to install the watchOS 7 beta profile which will make the update show up in the Watch app. You’ll also need to restart your Apple Watch as part of the process.
Finally, head to the Watch app on your iPhone and navigate to General > Software Update. Make sure your Apple Watch is charging and near your iPhone, tap “Download and Install.”
Read more tutorials from 9to5Mac:
- watchOS 7: Here’s how sharing Apple Watch faces works
- watchOS 7: Hands-on with native Apple Watch sleep tracking
- watchOS 7: How to enable and use handwashing detection
- watchOS 7: Here’s how to hide Control Center tiles
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