Skip to main content

watchOS

218 'watchOS' stories June 2015 - October 2017
See All Stories

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

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:

Apple releases third iOS 11.1, watchOS 4.1, and tvOS 11.1 betas [U]

Avatar for Zac Hall Oct 16 2017 - 10:11 am PT
0 Comments

Update: Public betas for iOS and tvOS also now available.

Apple has released the third iOS 11.1 beta for iPhone and iPad. iOS 11.1 beta includes the return of 3D Touch gestures for multitasking as well as hundreds of new emoji characters including “Woman with Headscarf, Bearded Person, Breastfeeding, Zombie” and plenty more. Apple has also released the third beta versions of watchOS 4.1 beta with Apple Music and Radio streaming as well as tvOS 11.1 beta.


Expand
Expanding
Close

watchOS apps continue to disappear as Whole Foods says ‘nighty nighty’ to Apple Watch support

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jun 19 2017 - 8:49 am PT
0 Comments

Whole Foods just removed its Apple Watch app from the App Store, making it the latest company to do so after Google, eBay, Amazon and others did the same earlier this year. Speaking of Amazon, the removal of the Whole Foods Watch app follows Amazon’s announcement that it will acquire the grocery store chain for $13.7 billion this week…


Expand
Expanding
Close

WWDC Wishlist: How Apple Watch could improve with watchOS 4

Avatar for Zac Hall Apr 12 2017 - 10:08 am PT
0 Comments
Site default logo image

WWDC 2017 is just around the corner and we’re eager to see what Apple has planned for watchOS 4 and Apple Watch. While we don’t expect to see an update that addresses every opportunity left for watchOS in one year, there are certainly a lot of areas ripe for improvement considering how new Apple Watch and watchOS are. Read on for our watchOS 4 wish list below and share your own ideas in the comments.


Expand
Expanding
Close