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watchOS

Simple, minimalistic, small: The platform for the best smartwatch on the market

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watchOS only runs on the Apple Watch and launched alongside the product back in 2015. It has seen several major revisions since its launch, such as axing glances, the friends UI, and more.

The original version of the software was very slow and relied on your iPhone for its apps. Everything presumably ran over Bluetooth, and would be unable to open any apps if your connected iPhone was out of range.

Apple quickly moved away from interaction model and pushed native applications as of watchOS 2.0, where the majority of the app’s interface and information were installed on your Apple Watch, instead of your iPhone.

watchOS 3.0 added support for background app refresh, which allowed apps to run in the background, but also enabled complications to be updated without needing to completely launch an app.

With watchOS 4.0, and the Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE, Apple took this interaction model a step further. The company introduced APIs to allow applications to run completely independently of the iPhone. This meant that users were allowed to stream Apple Music, get the latest News, or take a phone call without being in the range of your iPhone. However, an iPhone is still required to setup and manage your Apple Watch.

Learn more about watchOS by reading the articles below:

watchOS 10 shows how Dark Mode on iPhone and Mac should work

Dark Mode on iPhone, iPad, and Mac is fairly flexible. You can toggle it on or off from Control Center or Settings, automatically switch based on time of day, or use local sunrise and sunset time to switch.

There’s one method for invoking dark mode that’s still missing, however, and watchOS 10 on the Apple Watch Ultra shows how it could work.

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Apple Watch features I really thought we’d have before watchOS 10

watchOS 10 is just a few days away, and the update sounds like a big deal for big Apple Watch screens. A new widget overlay and apps optimized for Apple Watch Ultra? Let’s go!

Not much else has been rumored for watchOS 10, however, and that’s probably because the Apple Watch software is fairly mature now. Turns out you can knock out a lot of great features in nine years. That’s had me thinking about some rather old feature requests that have never materialized – features I really thought we’d have by now.

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Apple rolling out third beta of macOS 13.4, watchOS 9.5, and tvOS 16.5 to developers [U: Public Beta]

macOS Ventura

Apple on Tuesday released the third betas of macOS Ventura 13.4, watchOS 9.5, and tvOS 16.5 for developers. The updates come after Apple began testing with the new betas last month. Read on as we detail what’s new in these updates.

Update: Following the release of new developer betas on Tuesday, Apple is now rolling out the same updates for Public Beta users.

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watchOS 10 concept visualizes new Home Screen with widgets, Live Activities, and more

watchOS 10 concept

Concept image by Parker Ortolani

watchOS 10 that’s set to be unveiled at WWDC in June is believed to come with some major UI upgrades. Experimenting with what that could look like, Parker Ortolani has shared a few watchOS 10 concept ideas for an all-new Apple Watch Home Screen with widgets, Live Activities, one version with an evolved ‘Glances” UI, and more.

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watchOS 8 for Apple Watch brings Health Sharing to families/doctors, Always-On display upgrade, Mindfulness app, new watch faces, more

watchOS 8.6

The next major version of Apple Watch software lands today with the release of watchOS 8. Now users can choose to share health information with family members and doctors, take a moment to pause with the new Mindfulness app, and turn Portrait mode photos into watch faces.

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watchOS 8 Feature Request: Ring-ring, hello, Apple Watch calling; ‘End Call to Continue’

Apple Watch Series 3 is taking a lot of heat ahead of WWDC. The thing barely accepts watchOS 7 updates, doesn’t work with Family Setup, and makes the much better Apple Watch SE seem overpriced. My pet complaint about the Apple Watch affects modern models too, however, and it was something Apple Watch Series 3 introduced.

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watchOS 8: Four short feature requests for future Apple Watch updates

watchOS 8 will be shown off for Apple Watch in just one month, and we’re hoping for a feature-packed update this year. While there’s still time to dream about what could come in the next Apple Watch software update, we’re sharing four short feature requests that would be welcome in watchOS 8 or any future version of the Apple Watch software.

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