14 DAY TRIAL // Apple announced watchOS 7 with much fanfare earlier this year at the digital version of WWDC, and now when we’re only approximately one month away from the moment the software update is supposed to launch for production devices, here’s the company rolling out the very first public beta.
In other words, beginning today users can very well install the beta build of watchOS 7 on their smartwatches without the need for a developer account.
However, there are a few things you need to know about this public beta, and today we’re going to discuss the most important of them.
First and foremost, the supported devices. Beginning with watchOS 7, Apple will no longer support the first two generations of devices, which means that the following models will get the update:
- Apple Watch Series 3
- Apple Watch Series 4
- Apple Watch Series 5
- Apple Watch Series 6 (running it pre-installed)
As a side note, Apple Watch Series 6 is projected to launch in the fall when the Cupertino-based tech giant also announces the new-generation iPhone models with 5G support. This is supposed to happen in September, with sales to kick off shortly after that, possibly later the same month or in early October.
Needless to say, this is a major update for the Apple Watch, and there are a lot of new features coming to users in the fall. Here are a few highlights of watchOS 7:
- Face Sharing: share Apple Watch faces with friends using messages or on websites
- Sleep monitoring with basic statics
- New complications
- A new Chronograph Pro face
- Wind Down: a new feature that makes it possible to set up a bedtime routine
- Sleep mode to activate DND when going to bed
- Handwashing detection to determine if you’ve washed your hands correctly.
- Maps app with directions for cyclists
- Siri spoken translations
- New workouts like dance, core training, cooldown
- Sir Shortcuts on the Apple Watch and support for complications
There are two things you need to know about installing watchOS 7 on an Apple Watch and which for many are very likely to be deal breakers.
First and foremost, your iPhone must be running iOS 14 beta – this is a preview build of the next software update coming to the iPhone in September; both developer and public betas are now available for download.
And second of all, once you install watchOS 7 beta, you can’t downgrade and return to a stable version of the operating system. This is particularly important because a beta build comes with an increased likelihood of issues, so if you do encounter bugs, there’s no way to fix them other than wait for Apple to come up with a patch. The company itself recommends users to think twice before installing the beta:
“The watchOS public beta updates are still in development, which means some applications and services may not work as expected, and their data may not be backwards compatible. Apple Watch content backs up automatically to your paired iPhone. You can learn more about Apple Watch backups here. Please note Apple Watch cannot be restored to previously-released OS versions once the public beta is installed.”
One of the features already not working correctly is VoiceOver, and while Apple expects to resolve it in the very next beta builds, you shouldn’t install today’s build if you use it.
Apple obviously hasn’t announced a launch date for the new watchOS version, but additional details are projected to be shared as we get closer to the expected September release.