At WWDC 2023, Apple unveiled the next big thing in Apple Watch, watchOS 10. Coming to your wrist in the fall, watchOS 10 brings with it a whole new redesign to all your favorite Apple Watch apps, and it looks to be a really major upgrade.
Turning the Digital Crown on Apple Watch now reveals a smart stack of widgets, and there’s a new look to apps like Fitness, Maps, and more. Those widgets can also hold complications like timers and more. World Clock features new dynamic backgrounds, and the Activity app includes new corner icons and an updated trophy case. There are also some fantastic new full-screen views. Indeed, watchOS 10 promises to be a stunning redesign of Apple’s wearable OS.
Here’s everything you need to know about watchOS 10, which will be released later this year.
watchOS 10: New Features
Apple has delivered a significant overhaul to many of its day-to-day Apple Watch apps. That includes Weather, Stocks, Home, Maps, Messages, World Clock, and more, all of which now use up more of that screen real estate to show you more information more clearly.
Apple has taken a new approach to the design of watchOS, with a new focus on what it is calling ‘Smart Stack’. Accessible with the Digital Crown, it will grant you more glanceable information when you look at your wrist. This will be comprised of small, rectangular versions of your Apps and widgets, with small versions of apps like News, Weather, and Health. Tapping these will take you to the app itself, where you’ll find some more new design elements.
The idea is to make these elements give you more information using more of the screen, rather than the smaller complications that Apple Watch has relied on before. Apple says that “A new Smart Stack contains widgets that display timely information that adapts to the user’s context and can be revealed with a simple turn of the Digital Crown from any watch face.”
The widgets in the smart stack will give more information than before – information that’s live, and useful. Apple says that the new Smart Stack “enables users to enjoy a beautiful watch face, like Portraits, while still offering a way to quickly access information they care about.”
Developers will also be able to use the new feature, allowing for 3rd party apps in the Smart Stack.
Control Center has moved to the side button as a part of the new design, making it easier to open it whenever you might need it. Double-clicking the Digital Crown reopens any apps used recently.
New Watch Faces
There are two new faces coming to Apple Watch in watchOS 10. The first is the Palette face, which shifts and changes using three layers as the time changes.
The second new face is Snoopy – the Peanuts characters Snoopy and Woodstock are coming to a new watch face, with interactive timepieces. The characters will play with the hands of the watch, and even react to weather conditions where you are.
Workouts
Apple has also updated its cycling app with power zone tracking and FTP calculations. Short for Functional Threshold Performance, FTP is a key stat for cyclists and a welcome addition to the platform. Apple Watch will also connect automatically to cycling accessories, “such as power meters, speed sensors, and cadence sensors.”
There are updates for Hikers as well with the compass, letting you save Apple Maps offline for when you are very much off the grid. There is an ‘in case of emergencies’ call function as well, called “Last Emergency Call Waypoint.” that will estimate where on a route your device last had a connection so that you can find the best place to call an emergency contact.
Mindfulness, NameDrop
There are Mental Health updates as well to help with your mental well-being. It’s all in the new Mindfulness app, which will let you log your moods and what’s making you feel that way. This will all work with the Health App as well, letting you see a complete picture of both your physical and mental well-being.
NameDrop, one of the title features of iOS 17 is also coming, letting you transfer your contact panel between watches and phones. There are also going to be Facetime calls that you can view on the watch screen.
Offline maps
Offline Maps are coming to iPhone, letting you use turn-by-turn navigation on a map you’ve saved away from cellular services or Wi-Fi, when paired with an Apple Watch you’ll be able to see turn-by-turn directions.
watchOS 10: Compatibility
Apple watchOS 10 runs on all the same watches as watchOS 9. That means it will be available to download and run on the following devices:
- Apple Watch SE
- Apple Watch Series 4
- Apple Watch Series 5
- Apple Watch Series 6
- Apple Watch Series 7
- Apple Watch Series 8
- Apple Watch SE (2nd Generation)
- Apple Watch Ultra
When is watchOS 10 coming out?
Apple watchOS 10 will be available as a free update in the fall of 2023.
Will my Apple Watch work with watchOS 10?
watchOS 10 works with all the same watches that watchOS 9 worked with. That’s the Apple Watch Series 4 or later paired with iPhone Xs or later, running iOS 17.