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. The fourth version, watchOS 4, was released on September 19, 2017. With WatchOS 4 Apple removed the ability to access your music library from all Apple Watches. WatchOS 4.1 returned an extremely limited version of this feature to the Series 3 only, ignoring earlier models.
The home screen (rendered by and also known as "Carousel")[3] is composed of circular applicationicons, 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 With watchOS 3, Glances has been replaced by a redesigned Control Center - much like the one in iOS.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]
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
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
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.
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; 13 months 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; 11 months ago (2016-12-12)
Update withdrawn due to reports of Apple Watches no longer working after the update[15]
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; 10 months ago (2017-01-23)
General performance and stability improvements
3.2
10.3
14V249
March 27, 2017; 8 months 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.
Fixes issues that were causing Apple Watch to join unauthenticated (captive) Wi-Fi networks, such as those often found in public places like coffee shops and hotels, which direct the user to a web page before the network can be accessed.
4.1
11.1
15R846
October 31, 2017; 36 days ago (2017-10-31)
Over 70 new emoji characters including new food types, animals, mythical creatures, clothing options, more expressive smiley faces, gender-neutral characters and more
Stream music on Apple Watch Series 3 with Apple Music or iCloud Music Library
Listen to live radio on Beats 1, custom stations and expert-curated stations with the new Radio app on Apple Watch Series 3
Use Siri to find, discover and play songs, playlists or albums
Sync fitness data with GymKit-enabled treadmills, ellipticals, stair steppers and indoor bikes for more accurate distance, pace and energy burn metrics
Ability to disconnect from a Wi-Fi network in Control Center for Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS + Cellular)
Fixes an issue for Apple Watch Series 1 and later where Heart Rate notifications were delivered when the feature was not enabled
Fixes an issue where some users did not receive Stand Reminders
Resolves an issue where the current stand hour indicator did not appear for some users
Resolves an issue that caused haptics to not be delivered for silent alarms
Addresses an issue that prevented Apple Watch (1st generation) from charging for some users
Resolves an issue where the Sunrise and Sunset complication would sometimes not appear
Restores Mandarin as the default dictation language for China
4.2
11.2
15S102
December 5, 2017; 1 day ago (2017-12-05)
When pairing with Apple Watch, iTunes Store sign-in now works correctly. (35011633)
App icons no longer appear as placeholder images. (35146952)
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