Apple Seeds First Beta of watchOS 10.4 to Developers

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming watchOS 10.4 update to developers for testing purposes, with the beta coming a week after the release of watchOS 10.3.

Apple Watch Faces watchOS 10 Feature Blue
To install the ‌watchOS 10.4‌ update, developers need to open the Apple Watch app, go to the Software Update section under "General" in Settings, and toggle on the watchOS 10 Developer Beta. An Apple ID linked to a developer account is required.

Once beta updates have been activated, watchOS 10.4 can be downloaded under the same Software Update section. To install software, an Apple Watch needs to have 50 percent battery life and it must be placed on an Apple Watch charger.

watchOS 10.4 includes new emoji characters such as a lime, an edible brown mushroom, a phoenix, a broken chain, shaking head vertically (as in a "yes" nod), and shaking head horizontally (a "no" head shake).

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

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Vertical Camera Feature

iPhone SE 4 Rumored to Use Same Rear Chassis as iPhone 16

Friday July 19, 2024 7:16 am PDT by
Apple will adopt the same rear chassis manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 that it is using for the upcoming standard iPhone 16, claims a new rumor coming out of China. According to the Weibo-based leaker "Fixed Focus Digital," the backplate manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 is "exactly the same" as the standard model in Apple's upcoming iPhone 16 lineup, which is expected to...
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Just Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Monday July 15, 2024 4:44 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
iphone 14 lineup

Cellebrite Unable to Unlock iPhones on iOS 17.4 or Later, Leak Reveals

Thursday July 18, 2024 4:18 am PDT by
Israel-based mobile forensics company Cellebrite is unable to unlock iPhones running iOS 17.4 or later, according to leaked documents verified by 404 Media. The documents provide a rare glimpse into the capabilities of the company's mobile forensics tools and highlight the ongoing security improvements in Apple's latest devices. The leaked "Cellebrite iOS Support Matrix" obtained by 404 Media...
tinypod apple watch

TinyPod Turns Your Apple Watch Into an iPod

Wednesday July 17, 2024 3:18 pm PDT by
If you have an old Apple Watch and you're not sure what to do with it, a new product called TinyPod might be the answer. Priced at $79, the TinyPod is a silicone case with a built-in scroll wheel that houses the Apple Watch chassis. When an Apple Watch is placed inside the TinyPod, the click wheel on the case is able to be used to scroll through the Apple Watch interface. The feature works...
bsod

Crowdstrike Says Global IT Outage Impacting Windows PCs, But Mac and Linux Hosts Not Affected

Friday July 19, 2024 3:12 am PDT by
A widespread system failure is currently affecting numerous Windows devices globally, causing critical boot failures across various industries, including banks, rail networks, airlines, retailers, broadcasters, healthcare, and many more sectors. The issue, manifesting as a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), is preventing computers from starting up properly and forcing them into continuous recovery...
New MacBook Pros Launching Tomorrow With These 4 New Features 2

M5 MacBook Models to Use New Compact Camera Module in 2025

Wednesday July 17, 2024 2:58 am PDT by
Apple in 2025 will take on a new compact camera module (CCM) supplier for future MacBook models powered by its next-generation M5 chip, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Writing in his latest investor note on unny-opticals-2025-business-momentum-to-benefit-509819818c2a">Medium, Kuo said Apple will turn to Sunny Optical for the CCM in its M5 MacBooks. The Chinese optical lens company...
Apple Watch Series 9

2024 Apple Watch Lineup: Key Changes We're Expecting

Tuesday July 16, 2024 7:59 am PDT by
Apple is seemingly planning a rework of the Apple Watch lineup for 2024, according to a range of reports from over the past year. Here's everything we know so far. Apple is expected to continue to offer three different Apple Watch models in five casing sizes, but the various display sizes will allegedly grow by up to 12% and the casings will get taller. Based on all of the latest rumors,...

Top Rated Comments

MrGimper Avatar
25 weeks ago

While I understand updates on the watch are “limited” I think Watch OS updates needs something worthwhile, even major updates have very little to brag about.

Alwas waiting for Apple to come up with something “revolutionary” on the watch os.
More than 2 useful watch faces would be a start

There are currently more faces for kids than there are useful ones.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
yabeweb Avatar
25 weeks ago

More than 2 useful watch faces would be a start

There are currently more faces for kids than there are useful ones.
Well an app for Mac to develop watchfaces would be a great start.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nortonandreev Avatar
25 weeks ago
Wondering when they will remove the WiFi only and connected to charger requirements for installing updates.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Simon89 Avatar
25 weeks ago
Underwhelming as always for WatchOS.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rwilliams Avatar
25 weeks ago

Wondering when they will remove the WiFi only and connected to charger requirements for installing updates.
That really is so irritating. If I’m on the go and want to risk the battery hit or whatever to install it, make it an option.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fuzzball84 Avatar
25 weeks ago
What would be really cool is seeing a version os Watch OS for vintage and obselete Apple watches.. there will come a point where there are millions of unsupported Apple Watches that dont get returned to Apple for recycling etc.

They could make a version of watch OS that caters to these older watches that is a sort of extra few years or so of life as a cut down watch that is still a bit smart. Maybe a small fee like adding 10 dollars onto the proce of the battery replacement at the end of the watches support cycle and they hand you the watch back with that custom OS on it. Maybe just a set of stock apps for heart rate, timers, calculator etc and a battery runtime of days instead of hours?

My current Series 4 watch is coming to the end of its life… and its pristine.. just needs a new battery but the latest full OS it supports kind of killing it… and not in a good way.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)