watchOS 26 Delivers More Personalised Ways to Stay Active, Healthy, and Connected -

watchOS 26 Delivers More Personalised Ways to Stay Active, Healthy, and Connected

A new software design makes using Apple Watch even more delightful, Workout Buddy brings a first-of-its-kind workout experience with Apple Intelligence, and the Smart Stack and Messages are more intelligent.

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today previewed watchOS 26, offering a beautiful new look and even more intelligence for a more personalised experience, to support users in staying active, healthy, and connected. A new design with Liquid Glass makes features like the Smart Stack, Control Centre, the Photos watch face, and in-app navigation and controls more expressive, while maintaining the instant familiarity of watchOS. Apple Intelligence enhances the fitness experience with Workout Buddy, which provides personalised, spoken motivation. The Workout app features a new layout and offers music tailored to a user’s tastes and workout type. watchOS 26 makes everyday interactions even more convenient with Smart Stack hints and updates to Messages, and introduces a new one-handed wrist flick gesture to dismiss notifications easily.

“Apple Watch is an indispensable companion for millions of people around the world, and watchOS 26 uses intelligence to offer an even more personalised experience,” said David Clark, Apple’s senior director of watchOS Engineering. “From a gorgeous new design, to Workout Buddy with Apple Intelligence, personalized music suggestions in the Workout app, and more intelligence in the Smart Stack and Messages, we’re excited about the many ways watchOS 26 will support each user in staying active, healthy, connected, and safe throughout their day.”

A Beautiful New Design

A gorgeous new software design with Liquid Glass brings a fresh look to watchOS 26. Across apps, this new design enables a vibrant and expressive experience that reflects and refracts content using real-time rendering, bringing even more focus to the content and making using Apple Watch even more delightful. Smart Stack widgets, Smart Stack hints, notifications, Control Centre, and in-app controls and navigation will adopt the new design. The popular Photos watch face is enhanced with numerals made of Liquid Glass, allowing users to see even more of their photo.

Apple Intelligence Comes to Fitness with Workout Buddy

Workout Buddy is a first-of-its-kind fitness experience with Apple Intelligence that incorporates a user’s workout data and their fitness history to generate personalised, motivational insights during their session, based on data like heart rate, pace, distance, Activity rings, personal fitness milestones, and more.

For example, as a user starts a run, Workout Buddy will give a personalised pep talk that may remind them of their running mileage for the week so far, or share how they are doing against their Activity ring goals: “Way to get out for your run this Wednesday morning. You’re 18 minutes away from closing your Exercise ring. So far this week, you’ve run 6 miles. You’re going to add to that today.”

During the workout, Workout Buddy can mark key moments like their mile splits, or tell them if they hit a new milestone based on their fitness history: “Mile four. You picked up the pace and ran that last one in 8 minutes and 28 seconds.” “Hey, check this out. Your total running distance for the year just crossed the 200-mile mark! That’s a lot of running!”

When a user ends a workout, Workout Buddy will recap their workout stats and congratulate them on their achievements: “Way to get your workout in! You went 4.3 miles in just over 38 minutes. Your average pace was 8 minutes and 58 seconds, and your average heart rate was 128. That was your longest run of the last 28 days. What will you do next?”

To offer meaningful inspiration in real-time, Workout Buddy analyses data privately and securely, leveraging Apple Intelligence. A new text-to-speech model then translates insights into a dynamic generative voice built using voice data from Fitness+ trainers, so it has the right energy, style, and tone for a workout.

Workout Buddy will be available on Apple Watch, compatible with Bluetooth headphones, and requires an Apple Intelligence-supported iPhone nearby. It will be available starting in English, across some of the most popular workout types: Outdoor and Indoor Run, Outdoor and Indoor Walk, Outdoor Cycle, HIIT, and Functional and Traditional Strength Training.

Additional Updates to the Workout Experience

The Workout app is one of the most popular apps on Apple Watch, and in watchOS 26, it debuts the most significant update to its layout and navigation since its introduction. Four new buttons in the corners of the app make it easier for users to access their favourite features to customise workouts, like Workout Views, Custom Workout, Pacer, Race Route, and more.

To add inspiration, users can set up music and podcasts right in the Workout app to automatically play when they start a workout. For users’ convenience, Apple Music can now select the best playlist for a user’s workout based on the workout type and their tastes.¹ Alternatively, users can see suggestions for playlists or podcasts based on what they’ve recently listened to during that particular workout type.

The Smart Stack Becomes Even More Proactive

The Smart Stack is designed to help users quickly access essential information from any watch face. In watchOS 26, the Smart Stack improves its prediction algorithms by incorporating more contextual data, sensor data, and data from a user’s routine to provide Smart Stack hints, a proactive prompt for actionable suggestions that are immediately useful. Made of Liquid Glass, Smart Stack hints will appear on the display as a gentle visual prompt. For example, a hint for Backtrack may appear when a user is in a remote location with no connectivity, or a hint for a Pilates workout may appear when a user arrives at their usual studio time.

Added Convenience in Messages

Apple Watch now supports Live Translation in Messages with Apple Intelligence, allowing incoming texts to be automatically translated into a user’s preferred language, right on their wrist.² And when the user responds, their texts can be instantly translated for the person they’re having a conversation with. Live Translation will be available on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2, with an Apple Intelligence-supported iPhone.

Additionally, for users whose device language is set to English, Apple Watch will intelligently suggest relevant actions in Messages using the context of a conversation, like starting a Check In when a friend asks a user to share when they arrive home, or using Apple Cash when a user is asked to contribute to a group gift. Customizable Backgrounds set on iPhone will also appear on Apple Watch, making conversations feel more personal and distinct. Users can respond to polls right on their wrist. Smart Replies become even more precise for users whose device language is set to English, thanks to an improved on-device language model that generates relevant responses based on the conversation’s content.³

Notifications Are Easier to Manage

Notifications are even easier to manage with a simple wrist flick gesture on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2. When a user raises their wrist to check a notification but isn’t ready to respond, they can quickly turn their wrist over and back to dismiss the notification. The wrist flick gesture can be used to dismiss notifications and incoming calls, silence timers and alarms, and return to the watch face. It uses the accelerometer and the gyroscope, along with a machine learning model, to analyse a user’s wrist movement. The wrist flick combines with the double tap gesture to enable users to perform even more actions on Apple Watch with just one hand, for instance, when their other hand is occupied, such as when walking the dog, cooking, or holding a cup of coffee.

The Apple Watch can now automatically adjust the speaker volume based on ambient noise in a user’s surroundings for notifications, timers, alarms, incoming calls, and Siri, allowing them to stay connected without worrying about disturbing those around them.

Additional updates in watchOS 26:

The Notes app is now available on Apple Watch, enabling users to access their notes directly on their wrist. Users can also pin and unlock notes, complete checklist items, and create new notes with Siri, dictation, and the keyboard.

Hold Assist and Call Screening are available in the Phone app when an iPhone is nearby. When a user is waiting for a live agent, Hold Assist recognises when a live agent is available and notifies the user to return to the call.⁴ Call Screening helps users manage incoming phone calls from unknown numbers more efficiently by collecting a name and reason for the call before their phone rings, allowing them to make an informed decision on whether to pick up, decline the call, or request more information.⁵

For users who are deaf or hard of hearing, Live Listen controls come to Apple Watch with a new set of features, including real-time Live Captions of what their iPhone hears on a paired Apple Watch while listening to the audio.⁶Apple Watch serves as a remote control to start or stop Live Listen sessions on a paired iPhone, or jump back into a session to capture something that may have been missed.

The Photos face will now shuffle images based on Featured content from Photos, so users can see pictures of their most meaningful moments every time they raise their wrist or tap the display.

Users can now explore and discover watch faces more easily with the redesigned watch face gallery on Apple Watch and in the Watch app on iPhone, with faces grouped into collections.

New Tools for Developers

Developers can leverage new APIs in watchOS 26 across design, the Smart Stack, and more. Developers can utilise new SwiftUI APIs to adopt the beautiful new design materials introduced in watchOS 26. With the Control Widget API, developers can create custom controls to be added to the Control Centre, Action Button, or Smart Stack widget. The Smart Stack Relevance API enables third-party widgets to be added to the Smart Stack, incorporating new signals, such as Points of Interest, with user permission to utilise location data. For example, the Smart Stack can intelligently display a widget for Slopes when users arrive at a ski resort, utilising improved location APIs. Additionally, Dark Noise can now add a custom control to Control Centre, allowing users to easily activate a sleep soundscape without needing to pick up their iPhone.

Availability

All of these features are available for testing starting today through the Apple Developer Program at developer.apple.com. A public beta will be available through the Apple Beta Software Program next month at beta.apple.com. watchOS 26 will be available this fall as a free software update for Apple Watch Series 6 or later, Apple Watch SE (2nd generation), and all Apple Watch Ultra models, when paired with iPhone 11 or later and running iOS 16. The Apple Intelligence features detailed requirements supported devices, which include all iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max that have Apple Intelligence enabled and Siri and device language set to the same supported language. Features are subject to change. Some features may not be available in all languages or regions, and availability may vary due to local laws and regulations. For more information about availability, visit apple.com.

About Apple: Apple revolutionised personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro. Apple’s six software platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices, empowering people with breakthrough services, including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, iCloud, and Apple TV+. Apple’s more than 150,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth and to leaving the world better than we found it.

An Apple Music subscription is required for automatic music selection.
Live Translation in Messages will be available on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 when paired with an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone. Live Translation in Messages supports English (U.S., UK), French (France), German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Spain), and Chinese (simplified).
Updates to Smart Replies will be available on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2.
Hold Assist requires an iPhone nearby, and supports English (U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Singapore, UK), French (France), German (Germany), Japanese, Mandarin Chinese (China mainland), Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Spain).
Call Screening requires iPhone nearby, and supports Cantonese (China mainland, Hong Kong, Macao), English (U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Africa, UK), French (Canada, France), German (Germany), Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese (China mainland, Macao, Taiwan), Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain).
Live Captions support English (U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Singapore, UK), German (Germany), French (Canada, France), Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Spain), Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese (China mainland), and Cantonese (China mainland, Hong Kong).

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