Apple Seeds Fourth watchOS 9 Public Beta

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Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming watchOS 9 update to its public beta testing group, allowing non-developers to experience the new watch software ahead of its fall release. The new beta comes a week after the third beta, and it corresponds to the sixth developer beta that was released yesterday.

watchOS 9 Feature
The watchOS 9 update can be downloaded after upgrading your iPhone to the public beta version of iOS 16. After installing iOS 16, the proper watchOS 9 profile from Apple's beta software website must also be installed.

The software can be accessed by going to General > Software Update in the Apple Watch app on ‌iPhone‌. To update, ‌Apple Watch‌ needs to have 50 percent battery life, it must be placed on the charger, and it must be in range of the ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌iPhone‌.

watchOS 9 expands the sleep tracking feature to add sleep stages, allowing the watch to track when users are in REM Core, or Deep sleep, plus it supports a Medications app for managing and getting reminders for medications, vitamins, and supplements.

There are four new watch faces, including Lunar, Playtime, Metropolitan, and Astronomy, and the ECG app supports AFib History for tracking how long a person has been in atrial fibrillation.

Custom workouts have been added to the Workout app, and there are fitness improvements for runners, triathletes, and swimmers. Other new features include a CallKit API that allows VOIP calls to be answered on Apple Watch, Apple Watch Mirroring for controlling the Apple Watch with an ‌‌iPhone‌‌, Quick Actions for doing more with a double pinch gesture, and updates to the Reminders and Calendar apps.

More on everything that's new in the watchOS 9 update can be found in our dedicated watchOS 9 roundup.

Related Roundups: watchOS 10, watchOS 11
Related Forum: Apple Watch

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Top Rated Comments

everlast3434 Avatar
everlast3434
25 months ago
The watch faces are still as boring as the day the watch came out. Give us OPTIONS Apple!
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AirunJae Avatar
AirunJae
25 months ago

The watch faces are still as boring as the day the watch came out. Give us OPTIONS Apple!
Yeah, I really think they should do some collaborations with some brands and app developers or something. Like, I used a WearOS several years back, and the vast majority of watch faces you could download were... not aesthetically pleasing. I understand the reticence to open it up completely, but a few new options once or twice a year isn't really cutting it.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thalegold Avatar
thalegold
25 months ago
Same old thing. YAWWWWN. So bored of the watch. The watch faces are okay but nothing to run out and get excited about. Some of them are quite stupid honestly. This may turn out to be the first time I buy a Samsung instead.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
txb0115 Avatar
txb0115
25 months ago
If a lack of watch faces annoys anyone that much, they need to evaluate their lives.

Would I like more faces with a little better customization?

Sure.

Does the lack of those affect my life in any measurable way? No. I’m able to use my watch just fine.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
everlast3434 Avatar
everlast3434
25 months ago

Yeah, I really think they should do some collaborations with some brands and app developers or something. Like, I used a WearOS several years back, and the vast majority of watch faces you could download were... not aesthetically pleasing. I understand the reticence to open it up completely, but a few new options once or twice a year isn't really cutting it.
For sure! Collabs, approved devs, something!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ZzapDK Avatar
ZzapDK
25 months ago

who *needs* the Apple watch?
Yeah, it was also more a question of how would you feel if your device(s) failed you during your triathlon. If that wasn't an issue, then I'd go ahead. I have installed the beta on my iphone, watch and ipad and for me - if something failed - I'm sure it'd be fixed eventually
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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