On September 16, 9to5Mac released a blog post detailing the watchOS 26 update that Apple launched today. This update brings significant changes to design, health features, interactions, and watch faces.
In terms of design, watchOS 26 introduces the "liquid glass" design element, providing more expressive visual effects for apps, components, notifications, and the Control Center.
The Smart Stack feature has become smarter, offering context-based component recommendations. A new wrist flick gesture has also been added, allowing users to quickly dismiss notifications or return to the watch face.
The redesigned Workout app offers simplified navigation and quick controls. The "Workout Buddy," powered by Apple Intelligence, provides real-time voice encouragement and personalized suggestions based on historical data. It also automatically matches Apple Music or Podcast playlists.
In terms of health features, watchOS 26 introduces hypertension alerts for the first time. The optical heart rate sensor analyzes vascular responses and tracks potential hypertension signs over time. If sustained signals are detected, users are alerted to take early action.
A new sleep score feature has been added, combining data such as sleep duration, bedtime consistency, sleep stages, and nighttime disruptions into an intuitive score. Trends can be viewed in the iPhone Health app.
In terms of communication and efficiency, the Messages app now supports smarter replies, contextual actions, and real-time translation powered by Apple Intelligence. Notes have also made their debut on Apple Watch, allowing users to quickly record and access pinned notes.
The Phone app adds call screening and waiting assistant features, which can transcribe unknown calls or automatically maintain the line while waiting for an answer. The Live Listen accessibility feature now also supports real-time transcription of what the iPhone hears to Apple Watch.
As for watch faces, watchOS 26 introduces the Flow watch face, which uses Liquid Glass digits and colorful dynamic spirals that respond to wrist movements. The Exactograph watch face presents the separated hour, minute, and second displays in a modern way for precise time reading. Apple Watch Ultra users will enjoy the exclusive Waypoint watch face, integrating a real-time compass, satellite communication shortcut, and night mode.
Here are the detailed changes in the watchOS 26 update log:
Liquid Glass
The new design brings more expressive and smoother experiences while maintaining the familiar feel of watchOS, allowing users to stay focused on the content.
Liquid Glass adds vitality to watchOS interactions, providing clearer displays for Smart Stack, Control Center, navigation, in-app controls, and more.
Hypertension Notifications
Hypertension alerts can be triggered if signs of high blood pressure are detected multiple times within 30 days. This feature is available on Apple Watch Series 9 and later, as well as Apple Watch Ultra 2 and later.
It is available for users aged 22 and above, with no prior hypertension diagnosis, and who are not pregnant.
Sleep Score
The sleep score provides nightly ratings based on sleep duration, consistency of bedtime, and interruptions, helping users better understand and improve sleep quality.
The sleep score can be viewed in the Sleep app, Smart Stack, or complications on the watch face.
Workout Buddy
The personalized fitness experience powered by Apple Intelligence integrates workout data and fitness history to generate audible motivational insights during workouts.
Personalized insights are generated at key moments by quickly analyzing and comparing your fitness history with the current workout status. Examples include motivational speeches at the start of a workout, segmented workouts, important milestones, and post-workout summaries of your efforts.
Users can choose from three voices, developed using a text-to-speech model based on Apple Fitness+ trainer voice data.
Fitness data will be processed privately and securely using nearby Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhones and private cloud computing.
Smart Stack
Smart Stack now features improved prediction algorithms and will display Smart Stack suggestions when useful. For example, if users are in a remote location, the prompt to start recording with Backtrack will appear.
Configurable widgets allow users to customize how widgets appear in Smart Stack, so you can see the most important content to you. For example, select the widgets you want to quickly access in the "Home" widget.
Messages
Real-time translation in Messages uses Apple Intelligence to automatically translate received text (including group messages) and reply in the user's preferred language. Replies are translated when sent (available for Apple Watch Series 9 and later and Apple Watch Ultra 2 and later when paired with a supported iPhone).
The system will suggest intelligent actions in Messages based on the conversation, such as when a friend asks to share upon arriving home, the system will activate the "Check In" feature.
Smart Replies
Smart replies have become more accurate with the improved device language model, generating relevant responses based on the conversation content.
Watch Faces
Exactograph reinvents the traditional "regulator" watch design, with separate hour, minute, and second displays, providing users with a more precise time reading experience.
Flow uses Liquid Glass digits to reflect colorful light balls flowing with wrist movements, creating a dynamic visual effect. These two watch faces will be available to all Apple Watches running watchOS 26.
Waypoint is a special watch face for Apple Watch Ultra, functioning like a real-time compass, showing the wearer's relative position to saved locations or points of interest on the map. This face adds to the Ultra series' existing Wayfinder and Modular Ultra faces, further enhancing outdoor and adventure utility.
Hermès Faubourg Party is an exclusive Hermès version with animated short films that change based on time or motion, featuring series characters. It blends luxury and fun, showcasing Apple's long-standing collaboration with Hermès and further emphasizing the limited edition's unique identity.
The photo face adopts a new liquid glass design, with raised digits allowing for more photo visibility.
The photo interface now randomly arranges images based on selected content, ensuring that users see meaningful moments every time they raise their wrist or tap the screen.
Other Features
The redesigned Workout app layout makes it easier to use favorite features, with quick access to metrics and views, custom workouts and pace, media, workout buddies, and alerts by tapping icons in the four corners.
The media experience within the Workout app is more integrated and intelligent, as Apple Music can now select the best playlists based on workout type and personal preferences. You can also view playlist or podcast recommendations based on your most recently played content in specific workout types.
The Notes app makes its debut on Apple Watch, allowing direct access to notes, pinned and unlocked notes, checklist items, and the ability to create new notes using Siri, dictation, and the keyboard.
The wrist flick gesture is a new one-handed gesture to dismiss notifications, mute calls, mute timers and alarms, or return to the watch face (available on Apple Watch Series 9 and later and Apple Watch Ultra 2 and later).
More than 20 watch faces, including Exactograph, Activity Digital, Reflections, as well as Stopwatch and Timer apps, gain 1Hz support to display seconds in always-on mode (available on Apple Watch Series 10 and later).
Apple Watch can now automatically adjust notification, call, timer, alarm, and Siri volumes based on the surrounding noise.
When the iPhone is nearby, the Phone app adds "Waiting Assistant" and "Call Screening" features. "Waiting Assistant" helps queue users when waiting for a customer service representative and will call you back when the representative arrives. "Call Screening" lets you screen unknown calls and get the caller's name and reason for calling before the phone rings.
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