watchOS

watchOS
	File:WatchOS2applewatch.png Homescreen for watchOS 2 as of November 2015
Developer	Apple Inc.
Written in	C; C++; Objective-C; Swift;
OS family	Unix-like; iOS;
Working state	Current
Source model	Closed (with open-source components)
Initial release	April 24, 2015; 9 years ago
Latest release	11.2 (December 11, 2024; 11 days ago) [±];
Latest preview	11.3 beta (December 16, 2024; 6 days ago) [±]
Marketing target	Smartwatch
Update method	FOTA (via iPhone 5+ running iOS 8.2+)
Platforms	32-bit ARM architecture; ARMv7-A;
License	Proprietary software except for open-source components
Official website	www.apple.com/watchos
Support status
	Supported

watchOS is the mobile operating system of the Apple Watch, developed by Apple Inc. It is based on the iOS operating system and has many similar features.^[3] It was released on April 24, 2015, along with the Apple Watch, the only device that runs watchOS. Its API is called WatchKit.

The second version, watchOS 2, included support for native third-party apps and other improvements, and was released on September 21, 2015.^[4]^[5]^[6] The third version, watchOS 3, was released on September 13, 2016, emphasizing better performance and including new watch faces and stock apps.

UI overview

The home screen (rendered by and also known as "Carousel")^[3] is composed of circular application icons, which can be zoomed in and out with the Digital Crown and dragged and launched by touching the display. Many of the apps are miniaturized, simplified versions of their iOS counterparts.

Prior to watchOS 3, Glances provided fast access to a summarized view of the most popular native or third party applications used on Apple Watch.^[7] The Glances view was opened with a swipe up gesture from the watch face screen. With watchOS 3, Glances has been replaced by a redesigned Control Center - much like the one in iOS. The friends menu, invoked with the side button, now acts as a dedicated dock for apps.

Different actions and options appear depending on if the user taps or deep presses which an Apple Watch detects with its pressure-sensitive (Force Touch) Display.^[8]

Version history

Legend: Obsolete Discontinued Current Beta

watchOS 1.x

Table of versions: watchOS 1.x - Apple Watch
watchOS version	iOS version based on	Build	Release date	Features
1.0	8.2^[9]	12S507	April 24, 2015; 9 years ago (2015-04-24)	Initial release on Apple Watch. UI Free floating Circular app icons in home screen. Zoom in with Digital Crown. 9 watch faces:^[10] Chronograph Color Modular Utility Mickey Mouse Simple, Motion Solar Astronomy 20 stock apps:^[11] Activity. Alarm. Calendar. Camera Remote. Mail. Maps. Messages. Music. Passbook. Phone. Photos. Remote. Settings. Siri. Stocks. Stopwatch. Timer. Weather. Workout. World Clock.
1.0.1^[12]	8.3^[9]	12S632	May 19, 2015; 9 years ago (2015-05-19)	Display support for new Emoji characters. Notification screen UI tweaks. Improved performance: Free floating Circular app icons in home screen. Zoom in with Digital Crown. Siri. Measuring stand activity. Calculating calories for indoor cycling and rowing workouts. Distance and pace during outdoor walk and run. Accessibility. Third party apps. Wrist Raise (more sensitive to real-life wrist raises). Additional language support: Brazilian Portuguese. Danish. Dutch. Swedish. Russian. Thai. Turkish. Security fixes^[13]

watchOS 2.x


Table of versions: watchOS 2.x - Apple Watch
watchOS version	iOS version based on	Build	Release date	Features
2.0^[14]	9.0^[9]	13S344	September 21, 2015; 9 years ago (2015-09-21)	Nightstand Mode Allows the Apple Watch to act as a nightstand/alarm clock when the watch is charging at night and is turned horizontally while being placed on a table or other surface. Users can look at the time just by tapping the Digital Crown. When an alarm comes on, the Digital Crown can be used to snooze the alarm and the side button can be used to dismiss it. New Watch Faces and timekeeping features New 24 Hour Time-Lapse videos of Hong Kong, London, Mack Lake, New York, Shanghai, and Paris. These watch faces allow users to set the backgrounds of different cities as the user's watch face. As the day moves on, the watch face represents a different time of day in the city. For example, if it is nighttime, the watch will show a skyline of the city at night. Users can also set a particular photo or their entire photo gallery as the watch face, including support for Live Photos. Time Travel A new mode called Time Travel is available in which a user can use the digital crown to scroll forward/backward in time. This allows the user to see upcoming or past calendar events and alarms they have set. 9 new colors to customize watch face, and a new multicolor Modular face. Third party complications. Complications will be available from third-party developers which allow users to do things such as check flight status or charging level of electric cars Siri improvements Start a specific workout, get transit directions, ask to see a glance, looking up a word in the dictionary, and calculating a tip. Support for FaceTime audio calling and replying to email Support for HomeKit to control supported devices in your home using Siri New support for Austria, Belgium (French and Dutch), and Norway Activity and Workout improvements Workouts from third party apps on the Watch can be included in your Activity rings Activity rings, workouts, and achievements can be shared from the Activity app on iPhone Interactive achievements On-demand weekly summary Mute Activity notifications for one day Workouts saved automatically Apple Pay and Wallet improvements Support for Discover cards Support for rewards cards and store credit and debit cards Add passes to Wallet directly from third party apps on your Watch Wallet app replaces Passbook. Adds support in the UK. Friends and Digital Touch improvements Add more than 12 Friends directly from Apple Watch Multiple Friends' groups that you can name Send sketches using multiple colors. While drawing, a user can select from 7 different colors. New options for animated emoji Maps improvements Transit view, showing transit lines, stations and intermodal connections in select major cities View the list of directions for your current View station placards with departure information Music improvements New Beats 1 button to start playing the 24/7 radio station New Quick Play button to play a variety of songs from Apple Music Other improvements Reply to emails using dictation, emoji, or smart replies customized specifically for email Make and receive calls using FaceTime audio Support for Wi-Fi calling without iPhone in proximity on participating carriers Activation Lock prevents anyone from activating your Apple Watch without your Apple ID and password New developer capabilities including Native SDK to build faster and more powerful apps running natively on Apple Watch Access to accelerometer to more granularly track your motion Access to heart rate sensor for use during a workout Access to microphone and speaker to record and play audio Access to the Taptic Engine with 8 different types of Haptic feedback Access to the Digital Crown for more precise controls Ability to play video directly on Apple Watch Support for running apps without iPhone in proximity, including access to networking capabilities when connected to known Wi-Fi networks Complications on the watch face Workouts from apps can be counted towards Activity rings Workouts from apps can be included in Activity app on iPhone New support for system language in English (India), Finnish, Indonesian, Norwegian, and Polish New support for dictation in Dutch (Belgium), English (Ireland, Philippines, South Africa), French (Belgium), German (Austria), Spanish (Chile, Colombia) New support for smart replies in Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong, Taiwan), Danish, Dutch, English (New Zealand, Singapore), Japanese, Korean, Swedish, Thai
2.0.1^[14]	9.1	13S428	October 21, 2015; 9 years ago (2015-10-21)	Update contains new emoji characters and performance improvements. Fixes an issue that could cause software updates to stall Fixes issues that were impacting battery performance Resolves an issue that prevented a managed iPhone from syncing iOS Calendar events to Apple Watch Addresses an issue that could prevent location information from properly updating Fixes an issue that could cause Digital Touch to send from an email address instead of a phone number Addresses an issue that could cause instability when using a Live Photo as a watch face Resolves an issue that allows the sensors to stay on indefinitely when using Siri to measure heart rate
2.1^[14]	9.2	13S661	December 8, 2015; 9 years ago (2015-12-08)	Added support for system language in Arabic, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Malay, Portuguese (Portugal), and Vietnamese Added support for Right-to-Left user interface Added ability to switch between Latin and Hindi numerals for Arabic Added a new complication for Islamic and Hebrew Calendars Added support for Siri and dictation in Arabic (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates) Added support for dictation in English (Malaysia), Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Portuguese (Portugal), and Vietnamese Resolved an issue that could prevent events from updating in the Calendar complication Fixed an issue that prevent the time from displaying in Power Reserve mode Addressed issues that could prevent third party apps from launching Fixed an issue that could prevent third-party app icons from displaying correctly Fixed an issue that could cause instability when changing the system language
2.2^[14]	9.3	13V144	March 21, 2016; 8 years ago (2016-03-21)	Adds support for pairing multiple Apple Watches to one iPhone Adds Nearby in Maps to browse for places around you by category, including Food, Shopping, and more Adds support for system language in Catalan, Croatian, Slovak, Romanian, and Ukrainian Adds support for dictation in Catalan, Croatian, Slovak, Romanian, Ukrainian, and English (Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Indonesia) Adds support for Siri in Malay, Finnish, and Hebrew Increases frequency of background heart rate measurements when you are stationary
2.2.1^[14]	9.3.2	13V420	May 16, 2016; 8 years ago (2016-05-16)	General performance and stability improvements.
2.2.2^[14]	9.3.3	13V604	July 18, 2016; 8 years ago (2016-07-18)	General performance and stability improvements.

watchOS 3.x


Table of versions: watchOS 3.x - Apple Watch
watchOS version	iOS version based on	Build	Release date	Features
3.0	10.0	14S326	September 13, 2016; 8 years ago (2016-09-13)	Initial Release on Apple Watch Series 1 (Dual-Core) and Apple Watch Series 2 (Dual-Core) Performance and Navigation Provides faster access to apps by creating a dock which can accommodate up to 10 apps which will keep running in the background for instant access. The dock can be invoked using the side button next to the digital crown. Control Center Provides support for an all-new Control Center which can be invoked by sliding up from the bottom of the screen. New Watch Faces. Adds new watch faces and adds support for switching between them by swiping left/right from the edge of the watch screen. Activity/Workouts Adds support for sharing activity with friends using iMessage or other messaging platforms. Adds support for tracking movement of people in wheelchairs, displaying a "Time to Roll" reminder rather than "Time to Walk" as watchOS 2 did. It is now possible to see 5 different workout metrics all at once. These include distance, pace, active calories, heart rate, and elapsed time. Adds support for pausing a workout when stopped at a stoplight. Support for a new Breathe app which will guide users through a set of deep breaths to help them be more relaxed. Messages Adds support for the all-new messaging app which will also be present in iOS 10. This includes features such as setting off fireworks, sticking stickers, sharing a secret with invisible ink, or replying in your own handwriting or scribbling letters on the display and letting Apple Watch turn it into text. HomeKit Adds support for an all-new Home app which is a centralized place to control all HomeKit accessories. SOS Adds support for a feature called SOS which allows a person to place emergency calls by holding the side button for 5 seconds. While this feature is ideal for emergency events, numerous reports^[15] have shown it can be triggered too easily without the watch owner knowing. Please use it with caution as the cops can come anytime asking why you called them. Mac Unlock Alongside macOS Sierra, the Apple Watch running watchOS 3 can now allow users to bypass the unlock screen on their Mac by allowing the Mac to detect their Apple Watch and unlock the Mac.
3.1	10.1	14S471	October 24, 2016; 8 years ago (2016-10-24)	New option to replay bubble and full screen effects in Messages Messages effects can play with Reduce Motion enabled Fixes an issue that could cause the notification for Timer complete to be delivered twice Resolves an issue that could prevent Apple Watch Series 2 from fully charging Resolves an issue where Activity rings may disappear from the watch face Fixes an issue that prevented Force Touch options from appearing in some third-party apps.
3.1.1	10.2	14S883	December 12, 2016; 8 years ago (2016-12-12)	Update withdrawn due to reports of Apple Watches no longer working after the update^[16] Fixes an issue that could prevent contact names from appearing in the Messages app and notifications Fixes an issue that could impact ability to respond to notifications Resolves an issue where the Stocks complication may not update on the watch face Fixes an issue that may prevent the Activity rings from displaying on the Activity watch faces Fixes an issue that prevented the dials on an analog watch face from appearing after changing the temperature unit in the Weather app Resolves an issue that could cause the Maps app to stay launched after navigation has ended Resolves an issue where the incorrect date could be displayed in the Calendar app month view
3.1.3	10.2.1	14S960	January 23, 2017; 7 years ago (2017-01-23)	General performance and stability improvements
3.2	10.3	14V249	March 27, 2017; 7 years ago (2017-03-27)	Theater mode to temporarily disable the raise to wake feature SiriKit to allow third party apps access to Siri Find My iPhone now supports Location and Play Sound for AirPods. Filesystem updated to APFS.
3.2.2	10.3.2	14V485	May 15, 2017; 7 years ago (2017-05-15)	Bug fixes.
3.2.3	10.3.3	14V753	July 19, 2017; 7 years ago (2017-07-19)	Bug fixes.

watchOS 4.x

Table of versions: watchOS 4.x - Apple Watch
watchOS version	iOS version based on	Build	Release date	Features
4.0 Beta 4	11.0	15R5331g	July 24, 2017; 7 years ago (2017-07-24)

References

^ Clover, Juli (December 11, 2024). "Apple Releases watchOS 11.2". MacRumors. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
^ Clover, Juli (December 16, 2024). "Apple Seeds First Betas of macOS Sequoia 15.3 and More to Developers". MacRumors. Retrieved December 18, 2024. Apple has also seeded new betas of watchOS 11.3, tvOS 18.3, and visionOS 2.3.
^ ^a ^b "Apple Watch runs 'most' of iOS 8.2, may use A5-equivalent processor". AppleInsider. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
^ "Apple announces watchOS 2 with third-party Apple Watch apps, new Timepieces, video playback, much more". 9to5Mac. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
^ "watchOS 2 final version released for Apple Watch users". Retrieved September 21, 2015.
^ "Apple's watch OS 2 is now live following bug delay - CNET". CNET. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
^ "How To Use and Organize Apple Watch Glances". iPhoneTricks. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
^ "Apple Watch – Technology". Apple. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Apple Watch Firmware". Retrieved May 19, 2015.
^ "Apple Watch Timekeeping". Retrieved March 9, 2015.
^ "Apple Watch Built-in Apps". Retrieved June 29, 2015.
^ "watchOS 1.01 information". Apple Inc. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
^ "About the security content of watch OS 1.0.1 - Apple Support". Apple. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "watchOS 2.x information". Apple Inc. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
^ "How to Turn Off Emergency Services (SOS) on your Apple Watch - Cydia Geeks". Cydia Geeks. February 3, 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
^ "Apple has temporarily pulled the watchOS 3.1.1 update due to reports of it bricking devices". 9to5Mac. Retrieved December 14, 2016.

External links

watchOS – official site

[1] Clover, Juli (December 11, 2024). "Apple Releases watchOS 11.2". MacRumors. Retrieved December 11, 2024.

[2] Clover, Juli (December 16, 2024). "Apple Seeds First Betas of macOS Sequoia 15.3 and More to Developers". MacRumors. Retrieved December 18, 2024. Apple has also seeded new betas of watchOS 11.3, tvOS 18.3, and visionOS 2.3.

[AppleInsider-3] "Apple Watch runs 'most' of iOS 8.2, may use A5-equivalent processor". AppleInsider. Retrieved April 25, 2015.

[4] "Apple announces watchOS 2 with third-party Apple Watch apps, new Timepieces, video playback, much more". 9to5Mac. Retrieved June 8, 2015.

[2.0-5] "watchOS 2 final version released for Apple Watch users". Retrieved September 21, 2015.

[6] "Apple's watch OS 2 is now live following bug delay - CNET". CNET. Retrieved September 23, 2015.

[7] "How To Use and Organize Apple Watch Glances". iPhoneTricks. Retrieved April 27, 2015.

[8] "Apple Watch – Technology". Apple. Retrieved December 26, 2014.

[ipsw.me_firmware_information-9] "Apple Watch Firmware". Retrieved May 19, 2015.

[10] "Apple Watch Timekeeping". Retrieved March 9, 2015.

[11] "Apple Watch Built-in Apps". Retrieved June 29, 2015.

[12] "watchOS 1.01 information". Apple Inc. Retrieved May 24, 2016.

[13] "About the security content of watch OS 1.0.1 - Apple Support". Apple. Retrieved June 29, 2015.

[watchos2-14] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "watchOS 2.x information". Apple Inc. Retrieved May 24, 2016.

[15] "How to Turn Off Emergency Services (SOS) on your Apple Watch - Cydia Geeks". Cydia Geeks. February 3, 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2017.

[16] "Apple has temporarily pulled the watchOS 3.1.1 update due to reports of it bricking devices". 9to5Mac. Retrieved December 14, 2016.

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