If you somehow happened to miss Apple’s big WWDC event this week, then one of the big takeaways was its announcement of WatchOS 11. This is the next big operating system upgrade for Apple’s smartwatch platform. It seems a little wild to think about when you consider how long the Apple Watch has been around. Especially when you compare to that how long the Wear OS (previously Android Wear) smartwatches have been around, and how many versions of that OS there are.
Case in point, the Apple Watch has been a staple in Apple’s product line for many years now. The software plays a big role in why the device is so popular. And each year, Apple finds a way to improve it by adding some new features, upgrading old ones, and releasing a few new apps. Now at this point in time Apple has officially announced the new version of WatchOS and it’s revealed a bunch of changes on the way.
In this article, we’re going to be aiming to keep you up to date on the latest information about the upcoming software. Including when it will be released and which devices are supported, so you can be ready for the update when it drops.
When was WatchOS 11 announced?
Apple officially announced WatchOS 11 on June 10, 2024, at its annual WWDC conference. Following shortly after the announcement, Apple made the developer beta for WatchOS 11 available to users. While not strictly available to developers, it was intended for developer use. That means it is possible for it to contain bugs or not work as well as a stable release. The good news is that Apple should be releasing the public beta of WatchOS 11 in the near future.
This should come up sometime in July, about a month after the developer beta. So if you don’t want to deal with more buggy software, you’ll likely get a chance to check out the new release in a more stable build in July. The stable release will be coming in September, most likely in the third week. See below for some of the release times for previous WatchOS versions below.
- WatchOS 10 – September 18, 2023
- WatchOS 9 – September 12, 2022
- WatchOS 8 – September 20, 2021
- WatchOS 7 – September 16, 2020
- WatchOS 6 – September 19, 2019
WatchOS 11 Updates:
The first WatchOS 11 beta was released on June 10 and is available to download and install on your Apple Watch now. You’ll need to make sure your iPhone is on the iOS 18 beta as well before you can install the new WatchOS 11 beta software. You can find out more about how to install WatchOS 11 here, and how to install iOS 18 here. Again, we recommend avoiding the developer beta and waiting for the public beta if you don’t want to deal with software bugs.
- WatchOS 11 Developer Beta 1 – Released on June 10, 2024
Which Apple Watch models will be supported?
Apple doesn’t really have a set number of years for how long its Apple Watch devices will get software updates. Just like with the iPhone, new OS versions aren’t guaranteed. It does however currently have a decent list of supported watch models from the past few years. That being said, many of Apple’s older watches are being left behind.
If you want to install WatchOS 11, you’ll need one of the following devices for the software to be compatible. You can find the full list of watches that will work with WatchOS 11 below.
- Apple Watch SE (2nd Gen)
- Apple Watch Series 6
- Apple Watch Series 7
- Apple Watch Series 8
- Apple Watch Series 9
- Apple Watch Ultra
- Apple Watch Ultra 2
The list of watches above is every model Apple has released since September 2020 when the Apple Watch Series 6 launched. If your watch is older than that or not listed, it’s unfortunately incompatible.
What features can we expect with WatchOS 11?
WatchOS 11 isn’t like iOS 18 in that it won’t be considered the biggest software update that Apple’s ever released for its devices. Currently, iOS 18 has been said to be the biggest update that the iPhone will ever receive. That may or may not end up being true. Apple isn’t saying that about WatchOS 11. However, it’s still going to bring plenty of changes to the software and thereby the devices that have it installed.
Every year Apple focuses on improving the current version by refining certain aspects of the OS. It also generally focuses a lot on adding new features that can improve health and fitness functions. This year is no different and there’s a lot of focus on health insights and new apps related to them.
The new Vitals app
One of the big changes this year is going to be the new Vitals app. The overall goal of this app is to help you better understand your health status. The Vitals app will help you do this by measuring and keeping track of various health metrics while you sleep. This will include but isn’t limited to your heart rate, wrist, temperature, and how long you’ve slept.
It will also measure respiratory rate and blood oxygen levels. At any point in time after metrics are measured and recorded, users can check in on their health status to see how things are looking. Apple compares these against a user’s typical range and the Vitals app can tell you if your specific metrics are outside of that. Additionally, the app can give you alerts on what might be affecting those metrics. For example, more alcohol consumption, illness, and elevation changes might be affecting heart or respiratory rates. Apple only sends these alerts if there are two or more metrics that are considered outliers from the typical range.
Training Load
Training Load is a new way for users to see how their workouts are affecting their body. If you have a particular heavy training load one day with lots of exercises, you might see this new feature telling you that it’s time for a rest the next day. The goal is to allow users to better understand when they should go through with exercise and when they should rest. As well as help them better prepare for the next day’s workout and upcoming events like a 5K run.
Training Load looks at data gathered from the past 7 days and compares it to the last 28 days. Training Load will measure the intensity of your workouts with a new rating scale from 1 to 10. Users can then take this rating and use it to determine if they need to scale back or ramp up exercises to get better results in the future.
Updated Activity Rings will be more customizable
Activity Rings on WatchOS are a way for users to get more motivated to hit certain goals. Whether that be simply moving around more, hitting a certain number of steps, or running a certain distance. These rings also give users reward streaks for meeting these goals multiple days in a row. The only issue is that if you took some time off, your reward streaks would disappear. Apple is updating the Activity Rings in WatchOS 11 to allow users the ability to pause their Activity Rings.
Pausing these will ensure you get the rest time off you wanted without affecting these streaks. Apple also says you can pause the rings for a day, week, month, or even longer if you want or need it.
A more customizable Fitness app
Apple is updating the Fitness app so you can more easily customize the Summary tab to see what you want to see the most. You can mix and match these different metrics that you more actively engage with and have them ordered how you want. You can also remove things you don’t care about having a glanceable view of. Additionally, new metrics are being added for things like running, hiking, and swimming just to name a few.
Personalize your Smart Stack and Photos Face
The Smart Stack was introduced with WatchOS 10 in 2023 and it’s essentially a revolving stack of widgets for your most important stuff. You can scroll through these widgets at your convenience and do all of this from the watch face. This makes it simple to get the information you need right now, at a glance, without having to the launch the dedicated app. Apple is improving on this by adding even more widgets to the Smart Stack.
For instance, there will now be widgets for Shazam, Photos, Distance, and more. The Smart Stack will also be able to suggest personalized widgets to you based on a variety of different factors. Such as location, date, and time. The Photos Face is getting updated to utilize machine learning so it can analyze photos from your library and then suggest the best photos for you to use as your watch face. It looks at factors like composition, framing, and more to select the best option. There is also a new Dynamic Mode being added that will give you a new photo for the watch face daily.
Updated Cycle Tracking
Apple is updating the Cycle Tracking app to now show gestational age after a user logs a pregnancy in the Health app on iPhone or iPad. The update also lets pregnant users log symptoms that may occur during pregnancy. Additionally, users will be able to enable reminders for taking a mental health assessment on a monthly basis.
New functions added to Double Tap
Double Tap was another feature that Apple introduced in 2023 with WatchOS 10. When it was launched, you could do things with it like cycle music tracks, pause and play those tracks, answer phone calls, start alarms or stop them, and a few other things. With WatchOS 11 Apple is adding even more to the Double Tap functionality. Apple isn’t adding these new functions directly. It is, however, opening up the Double Tap support to developers.
With developers now able to “tap” into it, users should start seeing more features they can utilize with this simple gesture. Double Tap works by tapping your index finger and thumb together twice to perform a common function.
The Translate app is being added
Apple’s Translate app on iPhone and iPad is being added to Apple Watch with WatchOS 11 so users can more easily break down those language barriers. The app will support 20 different languages and there’s a Smart Stack widget for it.
Additional updates
Alongside all of the improvements and changes above, Apple is adding a handful of other improvements to make the Apple Watch even better than ever. This includes things like being able to save maps for all US national parks for the Apple Maps app, using custom workouts for pool swims, enhanced ticketing in Apple Wallet, more summarized notifications powered by Apple Intelligence, and the ability to send Apple Cash by tapping your watch to another watch or an iPhone.
Download the WatchOS 11 Beta now
As mentioned above it’s now possible to download and install the WatchOS 11 Beta. You can do this from your iPhone, so long as your iPhone is also already running on the iOS 18 Beta. You’ll need to open the Watch app first. From there, go to software updates, then beta updates. Select the WatchOS 11 Beta. The watch will do its thing and restart when done.
