Workout Buddy in watchOS 26 is too nice.
She needs to have a more serious attitude and just tell it to you like it is. I did a couple of 15 minute workouts this week, and she was being passive-aggressive about my progress. We don’t need full Samuel L. Jackson mode, but something in the middle or at least the option to be more aggressive.
She needs more of a “GOYA” attitude.
That won’t happen of course, but as a healthcare provider, one of the best ways to motivate people to be more conscious and intentional about their health is to put their life into perspective. Think of things they want to do, and how their health could impact their ability to do that thing.
For example:
If you don’t start eating right and exercising more, don’t expect to be there when your daughter walks down the aisle.
If you want to go hiking with your grandkids, you need to lose weight and get your physical therapy sessions done regularly.
It would be crazy (but effective) if Workout Buddy starts telling you to keep running, or else you’ll never make it to enjoy retirement.
She needs to have a more serious attitude and just tell it to you like it is. I did a couple of 15 minute workouts this week, and she was being passive-aggressive about my progress. We don’t need full Samuel L. Jackson mode, but something in the middle or at least the option to be more aggressive.
She needs more of a “GOYA” attitude.
That won’t happen of course, but as a healthcare provider, one of the best ways to motivate people to be more conscious and intentional about their health is to put their life into perspective. Think of things they want to do, and how their health could impact their ability to do that thing.
For example:
If you don’t start eating right and exercising more, don’t expect to be there when your daughter walks down the aisle.
If you want to go hiking with your grandkids, you need to lose weight and get your physical therapy sessions done regularly.
It would be crazy (but effective) if Workout Buddy starts telling you to keep running, or else you’ll never make it to enjoy retirement.
Apple Watch Double Tap and Wrist Flick gestures only work on newer watch models for a reason.
Tim Hardwick from MacRumors:
You may have missed it, but select Apple Watch models are gaining a new Wrist Flick gesture in watchOS 26 that allows users to dismiss notifications and return to their watch face with a simple wrist movement.
The gesture works by turning your wrist over and back, using the accelerometer and gyroscope to detect the motion. With the gesture, you can dismiss incoming notifications, mute calls, silence alarms and alerts, and return to the watch face without needing to use your other hand.
Wrist Flick joins the existing Double Tap gesture as another one-handed control option for Apple Watch users. The feature can be toggled on or off in Settings ➝ Gestures ➝ Wrist Flick.
The new gesture is only available on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 – the same models that support the Double Tap gesture.
Apple doesn't say exactly why older models don't support the feature, despite having the same sensors, but it does use a new machine learning model, suggesting that only the newer chips found in recent Apple Watch models are powerful enough to handle it.
Apple explained how Double Tap works on Apple Watch Series 9 (S9 SiP) in their Fall 2023 Keynote, and I’m assuming the same reasoning applies to the new Wrist Flick feature:
This new gesture is enabled by the powerful neural engine in Series 9, which processes data from the accelerometer, gyroscope, and optical heart sensor in a completely new way.
It uses a machine learning algorithm to detect the unique signature of tiny movements and changes in blood flow when your hand and fingers perform a Double Tap.
Apple is usually good at backporting software features, but this time it’s hardware related.
Tim Hardwick from MacRumors:
You may have missed it, but select Apple Watch models are gaining a new Wrist Flick gesture in watchOS 26 that allows users to dismiss notifications and return to their watch face with a simple wrist movement.
The gesture works by turning your wrist over and back, using the accelerometer and gyroscope to detect the motion. With the gesture, you can dismiss incoming notifications, mute calls, silence alarms and alerts, and return to the watch face without needing to use your other hand.
Wrist Flick joins the existing Double Tap gesture as another one-handed control option for Apple Watch users. The feature can be toggled on or off in Settings ➝ Gestures ➝ Wrist Flick.
The new gesture is only available on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 – the same models that support the Double Tap gesture.
Apple doesn't say exactly why older models don't support the feature, despite having the same sensors, but it does use a new machine learning model, suggesting that only the newer chips found in recent Apple Watch models are powerful enough to handle it.
Apple explained how Double Tap works on Apple Watch Series 9 (S9 SiP) in their Fall 2023 Keynote, and I’m assuming the same reasoning applies to the new Wrist Flick feature:
This new gesture is enabled by the powerful neural engine in Series 9, which processes data from the accelerometer, gyroscope, and optical heart sensor in a completely new way.
It uses a machine learning algorithm to detect the unique signature of tiny movements and changes in blood flow when your hand and fingers perform a Double Tap.
Apple is usually good at backporting software features, but this time it’s hardware related.
watchOS 26 lets you enter Control Center without clicking the Side Button.
If you have Do Not Disturb or any other Focus enabled on your Apple Watch, you can tap the Focus icon at the top of the Apple Watch and you’ll enter Control Center right away.
My assumption is this is a new feature to help you get in and out of Focus modes easily, but if your Focus button is further down in the Control Center, you will still have to scroll to get to it.
If you have Do Not Disturb or any other Focus enabled on your Apple Watch, you can tap the Focus icon at the top of the Apple Watch and you’ll enter Control Center right away.
My assumption is this is a new feature to help you get in and out of Focus modes easily, but if your Focus button is further down in the Control Center, you will still have to scroll to get to it.
You may never see every Snoopy animation on Apple Watch.
Robert Leedham from GQ magazine:
That first meeting at the Charles M Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California, was the Watch team’s first in-person meet-up after the pandemic, and what started as a two-hour drive north from Mountain View ultimately ended with plans for 148 unique animations that would be contextual depending on the time of day, local weather and activities. When you go for a swim, Snoopy dons his scuba gear and floats through your watch screen. When night arrives he'll howl at the moon, and when you’re not up to much at all you can find him draped over his iconic red doghouse in a series of panels that are a direct lift from the comics. It all amounts to over 12 minutes of animation work that stemmed from an unexpectedly chaotic tête-à-tête.
I thought there were maybe a dozen or two, but that explains why whenever I try to cycle through the Snoopy watch faces, I get a glimpse of one that I either have never seen before, or I could swear is a new animation.
It’s all about timing to see all the animations since the positioning of the hour and minute hands also play a role:
This is one of the things that might mean you find yourself checking the time more than you actually need to. One time, he’ll peep out from behind the minute hand, his body magically hidden. Next, he’ll be skating and bounce off the minute hand because it’s in just the wrong place. Another time, a flying Woodstock will drop a bone for a recumbent Snoopy, which will bounce off the minute hand into his mouth. Then… look, you’re going to have to discover these things for yourself. […]
Sometimes the rotation only needs to affect certain frames of the animation. If Snoopy is standing on the minute hand, he’s affected only when he’s up top, and his free fall into leaves below is unchanged and he falls naturally downwards, otherwise he’d shoot off sideways. “Each animation is only five seconds long, but by looping the whole animation or even just a few frames at the end, We’re able to keep certain scenes alive for much longer,” Butcher says.
The closest thing to seeing all 148 animations? A reddit post that has 120 animations.
Robert Leedham from GQ magazine:
That first meeting at the Charles M Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California, was the Watch team’s first in-person meet-up after the pandemic, and what started as a two-hour drive north from Mountain View ultimately ended with plans for 148 unique animations that would be contextual depending on the time of day, local weather and activities. When you go for a swim, Snoopy dons his scuba gear and floats through your watch screen. When night arrives he'll howl at the moon, and when you’re not up to much at all you can find him draped over his iconic red doghouse in a series of panels that are a direct lift from the comics. It all amounts to over 12 minutes of animation work that stemmed from an unexpectedly chaotic tête-à-tête.
I thought there were maybe a dozen or two, but that explains why whenever I try to cycle through the Snoopy watch faces, I get a glimpse of one that I either have never seen before, or I could swear is a new animation.
It’s all about timing to see all the animations since the positioning of the hour and minute hands also play a role:
This is one of the things that might mean you find yourself checking the time more than you actually need to. One time, he’ll peep out from behind the minute hand, his body magically hidden. Next, he’ll be skating and bounce off the minute hand because it’s in just the wrong place. Another time, a flying Woodstock will drop a bone for a recumbent Snoopy, which will bounce off the minute hand into his mouth. Then… look, you’re going to have to discover these things for yourself. […]
Sometimes the rotation only needs to affect certain frames of the animation. If Snoopy is standing on the minute hand, he’s affected only when he’s up top, and his free fall into leaves below is unchanged and he falls naturally downwards, otherwise he’d shoot off sideways. “Each animation is only five seconds long, but by looping the whole animation or even just a few frames at the end, We’re able to keep certain scenes alive for much longer,” Butcher says.
The closest thing to seeing all 148 animations? A reddit post that has 120 animations.
Control Center in watchOS 26 gets more versatile.
One of the best new features of watchOS 26? You can add HomeKit widgets to Control Center, controlling any HomeKit device with just a click and a tap. I have one main light that I need to turn ON and OFF frequently throughout the day, and this just makes it a lot easier instead of having to summon Siri all the time.
A huge benefit for a small device.
One of the best new features of watchOS 26? You can add HomeKit widgets to Control Center, controlling any HomeKit device with just a click and a tap. I have one main light that I need to turn ON and OFF frequently throughout the day, and this just makes it a lot easier instead of having to summon Siri all the time.
A huge benefit for a small device.
With watchOS 26, it’s still “too hard” to tell if your iPhone is connected to your Apple Watch.
It used to be a lot easier.
I accidentally tested a feature that I forgot about when I purposely left my personal phone at home and decided to just carry my work phone since it’s too hot outside to be carrying two phones in two pockets. My Series 10 watch on watchOS 26 still doesn’t give me any indication that I left my phone behind, until I click the Control Center and see the crossed-out red iPhone on top.
As I said earlier, it used to be a lot easier. I lamentingly ranted about this about six months ago, when I was testing my Series 3 watch:
You remember back to a time, a simpler time, where Apple used to let you know right on your watch face, that your iPhone is missing. It didn’t matter what watch face you had, but that red iPhone with a slash right through it would show up immediately, letting you know before you get too far that you need to grab your iPhone.
My Series 3 on watchOS 8 lets me know every time without fail.
Whether you use the Simple watch face, or are admiring the peaceful serenity of Mack Lake with a Timelapse, Apple didn’t hesitate to interrupt you with their passive aggressive way of letting you know:
“Hey genius, you forgot your iPhone.” […]
Just literally put the disconnected iPhone logo where the red notification dot goes (like it used to!), and call it a day.
Don’t think different with this one, just do it.
Here is what it looks like on a Series 3 just for reference. Clear as day.
It used to be a lot easier.
I accidentally tested a feature that I forgot about when I purposely left my personal phone at home and decided to just carry my work phone since it’s too hot outside to be carrying two phones in two pockets. My Series 10 watch on watchOS 26 still doesn’t give me any indication that I left my phone behind, until I click the Control Center and see the crossed-out red iPhone on top.
As I said earlier, it used to be a lot easier. I lamentingly ranted about this about six months ago, when I was testing my Series 3 watch:
You remember back to a time, a simpler time, where Apple used to let you know right on your watch face, that your iPhone is missing. It didn’t matter what watch face you had, but that red iPhone with a slash right through it would show up immediately, letting you know before you get too far that you need to grab your iPhone.
My Series 3 on watchOS 8 lets me know every time without fail.
Whether you use the Simple watch face, or are admiring the peaceful serenity of Mack Lake with a Timelapse, Apple didn’t hesitate to interrupt you with their passive aggressive way of letting you know:
“Hey genius, you forgot your iPhone.” […]
Just literally put the disconnected iPhone logo where the red notification dot goes (like it used to!), and call it a day.
Don’t think different with this one, just do it.
Here is what it looks like on a Series 3 just for reference. Clear as day.
watchOS 26 doesn’t come with new watch faces, for now at least.
The only “new” watch face in watchOS 26 is an enhanced Photos watch face:
The popular Photos watch face is enhanced with numerals made of Liquid Glass, allowing users to see even more of their photo.
That’s it. Unless you’re a Series 10 user who is obsessive about the fine details, that’s the only benefit you’re getting from a watch face point of view. Series 10 users get to enjoy an always-on display with ticking seconds hand for many older watch faces. To make things even worse for non-Series 10 users, Apple got rid of five watch faces, but I honestly won’t miss them.
In the past, Apple did debut new watch faces in June for the beta releases, but they saved the bulk of their newer watch faces for the public watchOS release in September. Some of those watch faces were exclusive to a newly designed Apple Watch, and some were back ported to older watches. You can see the (rough) history of what watch faces were revealed at what time frame below:
watchOS 2 beta - Photo Albums, Timelapse
watchOS 3 beta - Minnie Mouse, Activity and Numerals
watchOS 4 beta - Siri, Toy Story, Kaleidoscope
watchOS 4 public release - Explorer (debuted with the Series 3)
watchOS 5 beta - Pride
watchOS 5 public release - Infograph, Infograph Modular, Liquid Metal, Vapor, Fire and Water (all debuted with the Series 4 and its bigger display)
watchOS 6 beta - Numerals Mono, Numerals Duo, Modular Compact, Gradient, Solar Dial, California
watchOS 6 public release - no new watch faces, but they debuted the Always-On Display for the Series 5.
watchOS 7 beta - Chronograph Pro
watchOS 7 public release - GMT, Count Up, Typograph, Memoji, Stripes, Artist
watchOS 8 beta - Portraits
watchOS 8 public release - Modular Duo, Contour, World Timer
watchOS 9 beta - Lunar, Playtime, Metropolitan, Astronomy
watchOS 9 public release - no additional watch faces, but the Apple Watch Ultra is debuted with the exclusive Wayfinder watch face
watchOS 10 beta - Palette, Snoopy
watchOS 10 public release - Solar Analog (debuted with the Series 9)
watchOS 11 beta - Photos (a redesign more than an actual new watch face)
watchOS 11 - Flux, Reflections (both debuted with the Series 10), and Unity Rhythm debuted months later with a software update.
watchOS 26 beta - Liquid Glass on the Photos watch face.
watchOS 26 public release - ???
This isn’t an exhaustive list of every single watch face that has debuted, but I think I got most of them. There is no fixed pattern here either, but a minimum of two new watch faces isn’t a lot to ask for.
I’m thinking since the Series 11 is a minimal upgrade over the Series 10, we will get a few new watch faces to make the Series 11 more relevant. I’m fully expecting Apple to release at least two different Liquid Glass watch faces in the Fall - an analog variant that resembles a modern version of the Color watch face, and some sort of playful, bubbly digital face.
An exclusive new Ultra watch face is also a given.
The only “new” watch face in watchOS 26 is an enhanced Photos watch face:
The popular Photos watch face is enhanced with numerals made of Liquid Glass, allowing users to see even more of their photo.
That’s it. Unless you’re a Series 10 user who is obsessive about the fine details, that’s the only benefit you’re getting from a watch face point of view. Series 10 users get to enjoy an always-on display with ticking seconds hand for many older watch faces. To make things even worse for non-Series 10 users, Apple got rid of five watch faces, but I honestly won’t miss them.
In the past, Apple did debut new watch faces in June for the beta releases, but they saved the bulk of their newer watch faces for the public watchOS release in September. Some of those watch faces were exclusive to a newly designed Apple Watch, and some were back ported to older watches. You can see the (rough) history of what watch faces were revealed at what time frame below:
watchOS 2 beta - Photo Albums, Timelapse
watchOS 3 beta - Minnie Mouse, Activity and Numerals
watchOS 4 beta - Siri, Toy Story, Kaleidoscope
watchOS 4 public release - Explorer (debuted with the Series 3)
watchOS 5 beta - Pride
watchOS 5 public release - Infograph, Infograph Modular, Liquid Metal, Vapor, Fire and Water (all debuted with the Series 4 and its bigger display)
watchOS 6 beta - Numerals Mono, Numerals Duo, Modular Compact, Gradient, Solar Dial, California
watchOS 6 public release - no new watch faces, but they debuted the Always-On Display for the Series 5.
watchOS 7 beta - Chronograph Pro
watchOS 7 public release - GMT, Count Up, Typograph, Memoji, Stripes, Artist
watchOS 8 beta - Portraits
watchOS 8 public release - Modular Duo, Contour, World Timer
watchOS 9 beta - Lunar, Playtime, Metropolitan, Astronomy
watchOS 9 public release - no additional watch faces, but the Apple Watch Ultra is debuted with the exclusive Wayfinder watch face
watchOS 10 beta - Palette, Snoopy
watchOS 10 public release - Solar Analog (debuted with the Series 9)
watchOS 11 beta - Photos (a redesign more than an actual new watch face)
watchOS 11 - Flux, Reflections (both debuted with the Series 10), and Unity Rhythm debuted months later with a software update.
watchOS 26 beta - Liquid Glass on the Photos watch face.
watchOS 26 public release - ???
This isn’t an exhaustive list of every single watch face that has debuted, but I think I got most of them. There is no fixed pattern here either, but a minimum of two new watch faces isn’t a lot to ask for.
I’m thinking since the Series 11 is a minimal upgrade over the Series 10, we will get a few new watch faces to make the Series 11 more relevant. I’m fully expecting Apple to release at least two different Liquid Glass watch faces in the Fall - an analog variant that resembles a modern version of the Color watch face, and some sort of playful, bubbly digital face.
An exclusive new Ultra watch face is also a given.
Why didn’t I know about this weather complication before?
I thought this was definitely a watchOS 26 complication, but it is not. It’s been on watchOS 11 (and maybe earlier?) for God knows how long, but for some reason I’m just discovering it.
In my opinion the best, big weather complication by Apple. You get the current temperature, high and low, and even current conditions in a friendly and easily readable format.
I thought this was definitely a watchOS 26 complication, but it is not. It’s been on watchOS 11 (and maybe earlier?) for God knows how long, but for some reason I’m just discovering it.
In my opinion the best, big weather complication by Apple. You get the current temperature, high and low, and even current conditions in a friendly and easily readable format.
The Notes App on watchOS 26 is great for shopping lists.
You can only see three items at a time, but it’s the only Note type that you can interact with and check off the bubbles when you complete a task. All other Note types are read-only.
At least for now.
Absolutely perfect for grocery shopping and packing for trips making sure you completed all tasks. Much better than my previous solution for grocery shopping, which was to put my caseless iPhone with an all-glass front and back on a metal shopping cart that clinks, clanks, and bumps over tiles. Sometimes I would text the grocery list to myself so I could see it on the watch, but the Notes app with the bubble checkers is perfect.
Small victories for a small device.
You can only see three items at a time, but it’s the only Note type that you can interact with and check off the bubbles when you complete a task. All other Note types are read-only.
At least for now.
Absolutely perfect for grocery shopping and packing for trips making sure you completed all tasks. Much better than my previous solution for grocery shopping, which was to put my caseless iPhone with an all-glass front and back on a metal shopping cart that clinks, clanks, and bumps over tiles. Sometimes I would text the grocery list to myself so I could see it on the watch, but the Notes app with the bubble checkers is perfect.
Small victories for a small device.
watchOS 26 lets you use your Apple Watch to check the battery status of your AirPods.
I think this is new for watchOS 26.
You can check the battery life of your AirPods (and presumably other connected accessories) from your Apple Watch. If your iPhone is unlocked and in use, the ability to check goes away probably because it assumes you’re using the AirPods with your iPhone. A great feature for those who use a cellular connection on Apple Watch.
What would really be nice is the ability to check the battery life of your iPhone from your watch too. 📓
I think this is new for watchOS 26.
You can check the battery life of your AirPods (and presumably other connected accessories) from your Apple Watch. If your iPhone is unlocked and in use, the ability to check goes away probably because it assumes you’re using the AirPods with your iPhone. A great feature for those who use a cellular connection on Apple Watch.
What would really be nice is the ability to check the battery life of your iPhone from your watch too.
Apple removed these watch faces from watchOS 26.
These are some of the most useless watch faces, so it’s a good thing they’re gone. 📓
These are some of the most useless watch faces, so it’s a good thing they’re gone. Fire and Water looked cool, but it’s not cool to not know the time.
watchOS 26 brings the Always-On Display with ticking seconds hand to many more watch faces for the Series 10.
I was getting a bit nervous since the WWDC keynote didn’t mention a peep about watch faces. My original article was going to be titled, “Lamenting watchOS 26,” and I might have gone into a poetic rant, but nay, this deed shall I no longer pursue.
It took me forever to finally get the watchOS 26 beta on my beloved Jet Black Series 10, but I was lying in bed and finally got the “hello” screen. I instantly went to an analog watch face (Solar Analog in this case), slapped the screen to turn it off, and behold, the seconds hand still kept ticking.
Disappointed I was not, although I was ready for it. Sleep was fighting with me, but curiosity won at the end. I tried out a bunch of other watch faces, and many, not all, analog watch faces that are full screen now support the ticking seconds hand.
Most functional ones that mimic real watch faces support it, but the more flamboyant ones like Kaleidoscope do not. It is still a bit inconsistent because Nike Analog supports it, but Nike Hybrid doesn’t.
It’s a work in progress, and hopefully we get support for more watch faces as the betas continue. My rough count puts supported watch faces at around 20, versus 5 or 6 just the day before.
I was getting a bit nervous since the WWDC keynote didn’t mention a peep about watch faces. My original article was going to be titled, “Lamenting watchOS 26,” and I might have gone into a poetic rant, but nay, this deed shall I no longer pursue.
It took me forever to finally get the watchOS 26 beta on my beloved Jet Black Series 10, but I was lying in bed and finally got the “hello” screen. I instantly went to an analog watch face (Solar Analog in this case), slapped the screen to turn it off, and behold, the seconds hand still kept ticking.
Disappointed I was not, although I was ready for it. Sleep was fighting with me, but curiosity won at the end. I tried out a bunch of other watch faces, and many, not all, analog watch faces that are full screen now support the ticking seconds hand.
Most functional ones that mimic real watch faces support it, but the more flamboyant ones like Kaleidoscope do not. It is still a bit inconsistent because Nike Analog supports it, but Nike Hybrid doesn’t.
It’s a work in progress, and hopefully we get support for more watch faces as the betas continue. My rough count puts supported watch faces at around 20, versus 5 or 6 just the day before.
Will we get Night Mode as a standard feature in watchOS 26?
Night Mode is a great feature that is limited to two watch faces* on the Apple Watch Ultra models, but it should be a feature available to all Apple Watches on more watch faces.
It arguably classifies as an Accessibility feature since many people would like to preserve their vision at night, and Night Mode is the best way to do it. Currently all iPhones starting with the iPhone XS and later support Night Mode on StandBy. This feature is not limited to the Pro iPhones, so the same standard should apply with the Apple Watch.
The Apple Watch Series 10 did get some trickle-down features from the Ultra such as a Depth gauge, Depth app, and even a water temperature sensor. Hopefully Apple continues with their trickle-down economics and gives us Night Mode for all Apple Watches, this time baked into watchOS instead of a particular watch.
*Wayfinder and Modular Ultra
Night Mode is a great feature that is limited to two watch faces* on the Apple Watch Ultra models, but it should be a feature available to all Apple Watches on more watch faces.
It arguably classifies as an Accessibility feature since many people would like to preserve their vision at night, and Night Mode is the best way to do it. Currently all iPhones starting with the iPhone XS and later support Night Mode on StandBy. This feature is not limited to the Pro iPhones, so the same standard should apply with the Apple Watch.
The Apple Watch Series 10 did get some trickle-down features from the Ultra such as a Depth gauge, Depth app, and even a water temperature sensor. Hopefully Apple continues with their trickle-down economics and gives us Night Mode for all Apple Watches, this time baked into watchOS instead of a particular watch.
*Wayfinder and Modular Ultra
iPhone and Apple Watch Compatibility update and correction.
I was wrong about Apple Watch compatibility in my previous post, but Apple’s chart is what makes it confusing.
(Read the whole explanation and story, or get the TLDR below).
New rules for Apple Watch compatibility with iPhones:
If your iPhone supports iOS 18, it will pair with any Apple Watch.
If you have an iPhone 8 or iPhone X, it will pair with a Series 4, Series 5, or SE 1st generation Apple Watch on watchOS 9 or earlier, and any Apple Watch before that.
If you have an iPhone 6S, SE 1st generation, or iPhone 7, you can pair a Series 3 Apple Watch or earlier.
I was wrong about Apple Watch compatibility in my previous post, but Apple’s chart is what makes it confusing.
I had stated earlier that you needed iOS 18 to use an Apple Watch, or else you were out of luck. Turns out, there is a hierarchy based on which versions of watchOS and iOS you have to determine compatibility. Having iOS 18 puts you at the top of the food chain (or tangled web in this case) and makes all watches compatible.
This isn't an issue for an iPhone XS or later user since they do have iOS 18, but it is a confusing mess if you have an iPhone X or earlier. I know these people are few and far between, but I'm still seeing these devices out in the wild.
What made me assume that you must have iOS 18 in order to use an Apple Watch? It was Apple of course in their own words:
To set up and use an Apple Watch, you need iPhone XS or later with iOS 18 or later.
Initially I thought this was an error, until I tried doing some other pairing experiments. When I wrote my first piece, I tried pairing a Series 5 Watch with an iPhone SE 1st gen several times, and each time it would not work. Then I tried pairing a Series 3 watch to the same iPhone, with no luck.
According to Apple’s chart though, both should have worked:
As you can see here, for a Series 5, you need an iPhone 6s or later, and iOS 13 or later. The iPhone SE 1st gen meets the criteria, but won’t pair, and it wouldn’t pair to a Series 3 that I tried three separate times.
Based on this information, I concluded that you must have iOS 18 moving forwards in order to use an Apple Watch.
But that’s not true.
I tried a 4th time to pair my Series 3 to my iPhone SE 1st generation over a week later, and it did work. Why it didn’t work the first three times is beyond me, even with restarting both devices, but maybe the iOS 15 and watchOS 8 update pathways or servers were down on that day? Who would’ve actually noticed though since these versions of the OS are obsolete.
After successfully pairing my iPhone SE 1st gen to a Series 3, I then decided to do some other experimentation. My iPhone X qualifies even more to pair with a Series 5 according to the chart, but it also wouldn’t pair saying my version of iOS (iOS 16) was out of date. The chart once again makes it seem compatible because it says I need iOS 13 or later and an iPhone 6s or later. Aaaah!
These are my results for trying to pair different watches to different iPhones up to this point:
iPhone SE 1st gen paired to a Series 5 - FAIL
iPhone SE 1st gen paired to a Series 3 - FAIL
iPhone SE 1st gen paired to a Series 3 (2nd attempt) - FAIL
iPhone SE 1st gen paired to a Series 3 (3rd attempt) - FAIL
iPhone X paired to a Series 3 - PASS
iPhone X paired to a Series 5 - FAIL
iPhone SE 1st gen paired to a Series 3 (4th attempt) - PASS
Long story short, this chart from wikipedia really tells you a more up-to-date compatibility of Apple Watches and iPhones for those iPhones that don’t update past iOS 16.
It turns out an iPhone is limited to what version of watchOS it can pair to than the generation of Apple Watch itself.
This chart explains why my Series 5 wouldn’t pair with my iPhone SE 1st gen or my iPhone X because the Series 5 was already updated to watchOS 10. If it was still on watchOS 9, it would work with the iPhone X and iPhone 8 but not the iPhone SE 1st gen.
New rules for Apple Watch compatibility with iPhones:
If your iPhone supports iOS 18, it will pair with any Apple Watch.
If you have an iPhone 8 or iPhone X, it will pair with a Series 4, Series 5, or SE 1st generation Apple Watch on watchOS 9 or earlier, and any Apple Watch before that.
If you have an iPhone 6S, SE 1st generation, or iPhone 7, you can pair a Series 3 Apple Watch or earlier.
Apple quietly updates Apple Watch to only work with iPhones on iOS 18 or later.
Update 5/12/25: See the clarification and correction to this article here.
If you have an iPhone X or earlier, don’t unpair your Apple Watch from your device because it will stop working. You must have iOS 18 now in order to pair any Apple Watch with your device. iOS 18 is available on iPhone XS or later, and iPhone SE 2nd generation or later.
This was changed recently and Apple released an updated support document. Apple’s previous compatibility chart was more complicated, but it allowed older versions of iOS to work with older Apple Watches. Their chart was not complete, and I made a modified chart to include the iPhone SE models.
Apple’s compatibility chart was dated Nov. 20, 2024, and Apple’s most recent support document is dated Feb. 28, 2025, a Friday.
So on a Friday, right when the news cycle for the week ends, Apple published a support document quietly making it impossible to pair usable Apple Watches with iOS 17 or older devices. I was in the process today of pairing a Series 5 on watchOS 10 with my iPhone SE 1st gen on iOS 15 which was possible according to Apple’s chart, but I could no longer do that and when I clicked on the “Learn More” option, the support document spelled it out bluntly:
To set up and use an Apple Watch, you need iPhone XS or later with iOS 18 or later.
Both the iPhone SE 1st gen and the Series 5 watch are on their latest software revisions, but even then it is not possible.
iOS 18 is the minimum you need now.
It is a bitter sweet ending, since it was quite perplexing to keep track of which watches on which version of watchOS would work with which iPhones on which versions of iOS. Even for a geek like me it was hard to keep it straight. The backwards compatibility was bound to come to an end, and that time is now.
Keep these 4 points in mind:
If you have iOS 18, you can pair any Apple Watch to it.
If you don’t have iOS 18, you cannot pair any Apple Watch to it.
If your Apple Watch is currently paired to an iOS 17 device, it will continue to work, but you might eventually be forced to upgrade to iOS 18 if you have an iPhone XS or later or an iPhone SE 2nd gen or later.
If you have an iPhone X or earlier, unpairing your current Apple Watch will prevent you from re-pairing the device to your iPhone.
Update 5/12/25: See the clarification and correction to this article here.
If you have an iPhone X or earlier, don’t unpair your Apple Watch from your device because it will stop working. You must have iOS 18 now in order to pair any Apple Watch with your device. iOS 18 is available on iPhone XS or later, and iPhone SE 2nd generation or later.
This was changed recently and Apple released an updated support document. Apple’s previous compatibility chart was more complicated, but it allowed older versions of iOS to work with older Apple Watches. Their chart was not complete, and I made a modified chart to include the iPhone SE models.
Apple’s compatibility chart was dated Nov. 20, 2024, and Apple’s most recent support document is dated Feb. 28, 2025, a Friday.
So on a Friday, right when the news cycle for the week ends, Apple published a support document quietly making it impossible to pair usable Apple Watches with iOS 17 or older devices. I was in the process today of pairing a Series 5 on watchOS 10 with my iPhone SE 1st gen on iOS 15 which was possible according to Apple’s chart, but I could no longer do that and when I clicked on the “Learn More” option, the support document spelled it out bluntly:
To set up and use an Apple Watch, you need iPhone XS or later with iOS 18 or later.
Both the iPhone SE 1st gen and the Series 5 watch are on their latest software revisions, but even then it is not possible.
iOS 18 is the minimum you need now.
It is a bitter sweet ending, since it was quite perplexing to keep track of which watches on which version of watchOS would work with which iPhones on which versions of iOS. Even for a geek like me it was hard to keep it straight. The backwards compatibility was bound to come to an end, and that time is now.
Keep these 4 points in mind:
If you have iOS 18, you can pair any Apple Watch to it.
If you don’t have iOS 18, you cannot pair any Apple Watch to it.
If your Apple Watch is currently paired to an iOS 17 device, it will continue to work, but you might eventually be forced to upgrade to iOS 18 if you have an iPhone XS or later or an iPhone SE 2nd gen or later.
If you have an iPhone X or earlier, unpairing your current Apple Watch will prevent you from re-pairing the device to your iPhone.
Fire and Water watch face doesn’t go full screen on the Series 10.
When the Series 4 Apple Watch was announced, it debuted with a multitude of watch faces that embraced the full screen nature of the device. Gone was the harsh rectangular shape of the screen, and in was a new “edge-to-edge” display that gave us 30% more real estate and curved around with the watch’s shape.
These three visually appealing and functionally devoid watch faces were:
Fire and Water
Liquid Metal
Vapor
Fire and Water was the best watch face in my opinion, but you can’t get that in full screen mode on the Series 10. It works in full screen mode on my Series 5 with its now thick bezels, and also on my Series 9. It’s been like this since the Series 10 launched back in September. This problem doesn’t exist with the Liquid Metal and Vapor watch faces.
Bug reported to Apple. 📓
When the Series 4 Apple Watch was announced, it debuted with a multitude of watch faces that embraced the full screen nature of the device. Gone was the harsh rectangular shape of the screen, and in was a new “edge-to-edge” display that gave us 30% more real estate and curved around with the watch’s shape.
These three visually appealing and functionally devoid watch faces were:
Fire and Water
Liquid Metal
Vapor
Fire and Water was the best watch face in my opinion, but you can’t get that in full screen mode on the Series 10. It works in full screen mode on my Series 5 with its now thick bezels, and also on my Series 9. It’s been like this since the Series 10 launched back in September. This problem doesn’t exist with the Liquid Metal and Vapor watch faces.
Bug reported to Apple.
There is no “Dial” option on the Series 10 to change it to full screen mode.
I hope WWDC brings these two fixes in watchOS 12.
There’s been a viral clip going around X ever since the Siri fiasco took off.
A clip emphasizing simplicity.
A clip emphasizing stability.
It was about the new features in Snow Leopard back in 2009, and how Apple proudly announced zero new features.
Although there were new features, what Apple was trying to emphasize was software stability and how important it was to them to make sure, “it just works.”
The famous “it just works,” implying how seamless and unbelievable it is, and not the jerry rigged “it juuust (barely) works.”
Apple had a more recent instance similar to this with iOS9 in 2015, where Craig Federighi discussed how the focus was on “elevating the foundations” of iOS, such as extending battery life, improving performance, and enhancing security to protect customer data.
watchOS needs its Snow Leopard / iOS 9 moment. Have a few updates to wow the people and please Wall Street, but really hunker down and fix some key issues.
Two issues to be exact.
The first issue is the ability to swipe between your watch faces. This was a staple and stable feature starting with watchOS 3 before watchOS 10 had its huge overhaul with SmartStack. You would effortlessly swipe between watch faces and all your information was just there, present and up to date. In watchOS 10, that feature went away for a while, and I was not happy about it:
A barbaric touch and hold, followed by scrolling right or left in the edit screen. Even the original Apple Watch had a faster way to change watch faces with its Force Touch ability giving you almost instant access to the watch face edit screen.
Even Apple knew they had to bring this feature back since it made switching watch faces much faster, and they did bring it back as a hidden option with watchOS 10.2 under Settings > Clock > Swipe to Switch Watch Face.
It came back, but it came back the way Michael Jordan came back as a Washington Wizard instead of a Chicago Bull.
No longer the default option, the swipe came back as a 2nd string option due to its glitchy performance. On my 7 and a half year old Series 3 Apple Watch, with its latest software version (Watch OS 8), in the year 2025, you can swipe between watch faces and everything is in memory and seamless. Extremely smooth, with the hour, minute, and seconds hands perfectly in sync between swipes. It just works!
Somehow the architecture of watchOS 10 fundamentally changed some of the inner workings of the Apple Watch, and after almost 2 years now, it’s as if the watch face has to “load” each and every time you swipe watch faces. It feels and looks buggy, especially when you go from an analog watch face to a digital watch face that is full of data. It juuust (barely) works.
The Tips app on your iPhone even demos how to change your watch face, referring to the touch and hold method vs the swipe method.
I’m sure there are Apple Watch engineers who cringe every time they swipe from one watch face to another, knowing that this problem still exists and needs to be fixed. I understand why it’s not a high priority, but it’ll be two years in June when they announce watchOS 12.
Two years is long enough.
The second (more critical) issue that needs to be overhauled are the watch faces. I’ve said this multiple times already, but they need to be updated to support the Series 10’s always on display with seconds hand. To advertise this feature and then to only have it on 3 watch faces at launch is just embarrassing. The Unity Rhythm watch face was released recently with watchOS 11.3, but that is still 4 out of over 40 watch faces. In the Steve Jobs era, this would not have been acceptable. Heck, even Jony Ive would have put the hammer down on this one.
To complicate things further, there are plenty of complications such as the digital time and digital seconds complications that would make this feature pop even more on the watch. Your always on display would look more realistic, with ticking “components” constantly updating every second without sacrificing battery life. That “magical” touch would sell more watches, because we are visual creatures, and to see the Apple Watch acting like an actual watch that ticks and doesn’t stop moving will blur the line between digital and traditional watch faces.
Watch enthusiasts will appreciate it even more, and won’t scoff (as much) at us digital watch wearers. They will still scoff at us when they notice its quartz-like movement, but appreciate the technological step forward and will purchase one, probably a more expensive model to boot.
The real question is, was this a Wall Street move to keep this feature gimped the way Apple has? Perhaps it would have taken sales away from the higher profit margin of the Ultra 2? The Series 10 in 46mm technically does have a bigger display, and to make it more lively with its 1 sec refresh rate for $370 less does make it a much more compelling purchase from a visual standpoint.
As sleezy as it might be to keep the feature purposefully limited to drive Ultra 2 sales (I don’t think this was the plan), it would be reassuring to know they have the capability to make every watch face compatible with the 1 second refresh rate. I really do hope the Ultra 3 and Series 11 have full support for this feature, while updating the Series 10 to match.
Ideally, and this is truly my hope, Apple didn’t have time to fix the issues with the previous watch faces, and they are working diligently to update all watch faces for watchOS 12.
The updated watch faces could even be the main upgrade for watchOS 12 and it could actually revitalize interest in the Apple Watch. The timing would be perfect to coincide with the purported iOS 19 redesign.
There’s been a viral clip going around X ever since the Siri fiasco took off.
A clip emphasizing simplicity.
A clip emphasizing stability.
It was about the new features in Snow Leopard back in 2009, and how Apple proudly announced zero new features.
Although there were new features, what Apple was trying to emphasize was software stability and how important it was to them to make sure, “it just works.”
The famous “it just works,” implying how seamless and unbelievable it is, and not the jerry rigged “it juuust (barely) works.”
Apple had a more recent instance similar to this with iOS9 in 2015, where Craig Federighi discussed how the focus was on “elevating the foundations” of iOS, such as extending battery life, improving performance, and enhancing security to protect customer data.
watchOS needs its Snow Leopard / iOS 9 moment. Have a few updates to wow the people and please Wall Street, but really hunker down and fix some key issues.
Two issues to be exact.
The first issue is the ability to swipe between your watch faces. This was a staple and stable feature starting with watchOS 3 before watchOS 10 had its huge overhaul with SmartStack. You would effortlessly swipe between watch faces and all your information was just there, present and up to date. In watchOS 10, that feature went away for a while, and I was not happy about it:
A barbaric touch and hold, followed by scrolling right or left in the edit screen. Even the original Apple Watch had a faster way to change watch faces with its Force Touch ability giving you almost instant access to the watch face edit screen.
Even Apple knew they had to bring this feature back since it made switching watch faces much faster, and they did bring it back as a hidden option with watchOS 10.2 under Settings > Clock > Swipe to Switch Watch Face.
It came back, but it came back the way Michael Jordan came back as a Washington Wizard instead of a Chicago Bull.
No longer the default option, the swipe came back as a 2nd string option due to its glitchy performance. On my 7 and a half year old Series 3 Apple Watch, with its latest software version (Watch OS 8), in the year 2025, you can swipe between watch faces and everything is in memory and seamless. Extremely smooth, with the hour, minute, and seconds hands perfectly in sync between swipes. It just works!
Somehow the architecture of watchOS 10 fundamentally changed some of the inner workings of the Apple Watch, and after almost 2 years now, it’s as if the watch face has to “load” each and every time you swipe watch faces. It feels and looks buggy, especially when you go from an analog watch face to a digital watch face that is full of data. It juuust (barely) works.
The Tips app on your iPhone even demos how to change your watch face, referring to the touch and hold method vs the swipe method.
I’m sure there are Apple Watch engineers who cringe every time they swipe from one watch face to another, knowing that this problem still exists and needs to be fixed. I understand why it’s not a high priority, but it’ll be two years in June when they announce watchOS 12.
Two years is long enough.
The second (more critical) issue that needs to be overhauled are the watch faces. I’ve said this multiple times already, but they need to be updated to support the Series 10’s always on display with seconds hand. To advertise this feature and then to only have it on 3 watch faces at launch is just embarrassing. The Unity Rhythm watch face was released recently with watchOS 11.3, but that is still 4 out of over 40 watch faces. In the Steve Jobs era, this would not have been acceptable. Heck, even Jony Ive would have put the hammer down on this one.
To complicate things further, there are plenty of complications such as the digital time and digital seconds complications that would make this feature pop even more on the watch. Your always on display would look more realistic, with ticking “components” constantly updating every second without sacrificing battery life. That “magical” touch would sell more watches, because we are visual creatures, and to see the Apple Watch acting like an actual watch that ticks and doesn’t stop moving will blur the line between digital and traditional watch faces.
Watch enthusiasts will appreciate it even more, and won’t scoff (as much) at us digital watch wearers. They will still scoff at us when they notice its quartz-like movement, but appreciate the technological step forward and will purchase one, probably a more expensive model to boot.
The real question is, was this a Wall Street move to keep this feature gimped the way Apple has? Perhaps it would have taken sales away from the higher profit margin of the Ultra 2? The Series 10 in 46mm technically does have a bigger display, and to make it more lively with its 1 sec refresh rate for $370 less does make it a much more compelling purchase from a visual standpoint.
As sleezy as it might be to keep the feature purposefully limited to drive Ultra 2 sales (I don’t think this was the plan), it would be reassuring to know they have the capability to make every watch face compatible with the 1 second refresh rate. I really do hope the Ultra 3 and Series 11 have full support for this feature, while updating the Series 10 to match.
Ideally, and this is truly my hope, Apple didn’t have time to fix the issues with the previous watch faces, and they are working diligently to update all watch faces for watchOS 12.
The updated watch faces could even be the main upgrade for watchOS 12 and it could actually revitalize interest in the Apple Watch. The timing would be perfect to coincide with the purported iOS 19 redesign.
Using a Series 3 Ceramic Edition Apple Watch is like driving a weekend car.
It’s like an old, weekend car you want to enjoy for a few days, but then you’re glad it’s over by Sunday afternoon because the car is nice and fun, but also a bit cumbersome, makes a few rattles, is missing many creature comforts, needs to be warmed up before you throw it around, and takes premium gas. 📓
I use my White Ceramic Series 3 occasionally, and it is a joy to look at that thing. Sure it’s an old Apple Watch, but it has that pearlescent white finish that just contrasts well with the black screen and colorful watch faces.
It is the most “Apple-like” color.
Playful…
Serious.
Band compatibility is also great with a white watch. Most color combos would work in my opinion, except for the Natural and Gold Stainless Steel, and Natural Titanium bands. Black Steel and Black Titanium would look amazing.
There’s a lot of work involved though in getting this watch up to speed even for just the weekend. I mentioned earlier that it takes about 9 minutes to boot and have the watch connect to my device, but in reality, it takes about 20-30 minutes for the watch to sync all the messages, weather information, email, etc., to my watch from the past week of living.
I was quite surprised last Saturday when I wore it, and my Messages counter on the watch went from “No new messages,” to 40 new messages, down to 22, and then eventually to “No new messages.”
It really is a device you need to be patient with unless you use it every day.
It’s like an old, weekend car you want to enjoy for a few days, but then you’re glad it’s over by Sunday afternoon because the car is nice and fun, but also a bit cumbersome, makes a few rattles, is missing many creature comforts, needs to be warmed up before you throw it around, and takes premium gas.
Apple found a good balance with this watch by stopping the updates at watchOS 8. I know people like to complain that new updates have slowed down their Apple devices and that’s probably true for the Series 3 on watchOS 8, but you can never please anyone, and you have to find that perfect balance where you can update a device with more features, while keeping it as zippy as possible.
If I wear the Series 3 for weeks on end (which I did earlier), then it doesn’t have to do a massive sync of all the data, and it runs just fine. Just don’t let it run out of battery for the love of God.
Once again, it is absolutely illogical to buy a Ceramic Edition Series 3 for productivity reasons. You’re buying this watch for nostalgia and aesthetics, and you’re trying to experience luxury at a discount. You can do the same with the Stainless Steel models, which were beautiful.
I’ll use Adam Savage’s analogy (also fitting for my line of work), and say that the Series 3 Ceramic and Stainless Steel models are like a gateway drug into experiencing Apple’s premium watches at a steep discount.
How to add the Apple logo to your Apple watch face.
Just like all watch brands that showcase their logo right below the 12 o’clock marker, you can brand your Apple Watch with a Monogram on several watch faces. 📓
Update 2/10/25 @ 8:14pm: added additional image for instructional clarity.
Just like all watch brands that showcase their logo right below the 12 o’clock marker, you can brand your Apple Watch with a Monogram on several watch faces.
Per Apple’s statement:
Choose up to five characters to appear in the Monogram complication on the Typograph, Infograph, Meridian, California, and Color watch faces.
You could add any five characters, but I find it best suited to put the Apple logo in the Monogram complication.
Also, Apple’s statement is wrong. You can also apply the Monogram to the Contour and Solar Analog watch faces (image below).
Go to your Watch App under Clock > Monogram and simply copy and paste this Apple logo:
Then go to one of the compatible watch faces, and for the “Sub-dial Top” complication, go to Personalization and add the Monogram.
You can have your Apple Watch faces looking like this:
The logo gives your watch face some class.
WatchOS 11 gets more well deserved criticism.
First it was Zac from 9to5Mac, and now John from Daring Fireball sharing my pain with their Apple Watch frustrations.
Here’s John’s Apple Watch Report Card:
APPLE WATCH: C (LAST YEAR: B)
Series 10 watches feature a new display that supports once-per-second updates while in energy-saving always-on mode. So the seconds hand on an analog face can “tick” once per second even when the display isn’t fully on. But Apple only enabled this ticking seconds indicator on two watch faces, both new to WatchOS 11: Flux and Reflections. Setting aside the fact that I personally don’t like either of those faces (Flux in particular seems deliberately obtuse), this is ridiculous. WatchOS 11 offers, by my quick count, at least 33 different watch faces that offer a non-digital seconds hand or indicator. And only 2 of them support the new 1Hz refresh rate? That’s bullshit. And it wasn’t just a launch thing, because here we are in February, with WatchOS 11.3, and zero additional watch faces have been updated to support it. This is not how a serious watchmaker treats its watches. I will admit to caring far more about always-on seconds hands than most people, but this isn’t how a serious watchmaker deals with technical breakthroughs like this new display with a 1Hz refresh rate. Not just most, but every single watch face should have been updated to support ticking seconds. Apple Watch is turning more into a fitness tracker that happens to show the time, and away from serving as a proper watch.
Also: no Ultra 3 this year. The year-old Ultra 2 did gain a very nice black titanium color option, but that’s it. Kind of weird for a watch that starts at $800 — and that seems quite popular — to skip a year of silicon improvements.
I really hope watchOS 12 fixes all previous watch faces and complications that are compatible with the 1Hz refresh rate, if not sooner.
As for the Ultra 2, marketing wise they get an A for selling the same watch at the same price with a worse color that everyone seems to love even though it rubs off worse than Jet Black.
First it was Zac from 9to5Mac, and now John from Daring Fireball sharing my pain with their Apple Watch frustrations.
Here’s John’s Apple Watch Report Card:
APPLE WATCH: C (LAST YEAR: B)
Series 10 watches feature a new display that supports once-per-second updates while in energy-saving always-on mode. So the seconds hand on an analog face can “tick” once per second even when the display isn’t fully on. But Apple only enabled this ticking seconds indicator on two watch faces, both new to WatchOS 11: Flux and Reflections. Setting aside the fact that I personally don’t like either of those faces (Flux in particular seems deliberately obtuse), this is ridiculous. WatchOS 11 offers, by my quick count, at least 33 different watch faces that offer a non-digital seconds hand or indicator. And only 2 of them support the new 1Hz refresh rate? That’s bullshit. And it wasn’t just a launch thing, because here we are in February, with WatchOS 11.3, and zero additional watch faces have been updated to support it. This is not how a serious watchmaker treats its watches. I will admit to caring far more about always-on seconds hands than most people, but this isn’t how a serious watchmaker deals with technical breakthroughs like this new display with a 1Hz refresh rate. Not just most, but every single watch face should have been updated to support ticking seconds. Apple Watch is turning more into a fitness tracker that happens to show the time, and away from serving as a proper watch.
Also: no Ultra 3 this year. The year-old Ultra 2 did gain a very nice black titanium color option, but that’s it. Kind of weird for a watch that starts at $800 — and that seems quite popular — to skip a year of silicon improvements.
I really hope watchOS 12 fixes all previous watch faces and complications that are compatible with the 1Hz refresh rate, if not sooner.
As for the Ultra 2, marketing wise they get an A for selling the same watch at the same price with a worse color that everyone seems to love even though it rubs off worse than Jet Black.