watchOS 10 Now Available With Stackable Widgets, Updated Apps, New Workout Features, and More

Apple has today released watchOS 10, bringing an overhauled Watch interface with a focus on widgets to get you access to more information at a glance. There are also redesigns to many apps, updated watch faces, new workout features, and more.

For VoiceOver users, Apple has made additional improvements with voices in watchOS 10. The Eloquence speech synthesizer is now available, and voices are now more responsive and can also be customized in the Watch app on iPhone in addition to on the Watch itself.

In terms of mainstream changes, watchOS 10 introduces several noteworthy updates to enhance the Apple Watch experience. The most significant of these updates are:

• Stackable widgets that provide at-a-glance information such as weather, calendar events, activity statistics, etc and adapt based on time of day and app usage patterns;
• Control Center can now be activated by pressing the side button from either the Home Screen or within any app; and
• Redesigned native app interfaces on newer Apple Watch models take advantage of edge-to-edge displays to present more information at a glance.

For health tools, state of mind tracking is added to monitor mental well-being, while ambient light sensors on compatible watches track outdoor time, which is particularly important for children's eye health.

Fitness enthusiasts benefit from enhanced cycling metrics like speed, cadence, and power, along with Power Zones during workouts. Apple Fitness+ gains the capability to create personalized training plans for various sports.

Apple Watch Ultra users get a 3D compass view with elevation details, emergency call markers, US trail info, topographic maps, and elevation alerts for hiking.

Additional features in watchOS 10 include new watch faces featuring Peanuts characters, workout APIs for specialized training apps, FaceTime video message playback, follow-up medication reminders, and offline maps.

Here are the watchOS 10 highlights according to Apple's release notes:.

watchOS 10 is the biggest update since the introduction of Apple Watch, and brings a fresh look for virtually every app, new ways to navigate, and a new Smart Stack to display the information you need, right when you need it, from any watch face. It introduces enhanced capabilities for cycling workouts and hiking, a new mental health experience in the Mindfulness app to reflect on your state of mind, and the ability to track the time you spend in daylight.

Experience

• Use redesigned apps that utilize the rounded corners and full surface area of the display
• View timely information that is adaptive to context like time of day and location with the Smart Stack by turning the Digital Crown from any watch face
• Access the Control Center by clicking the side button
• Push Digital Crown once to access all apps and twice to access recently used apps

Watch Faces

• Snoopy features over 100 different animations with Snoopy and Woodstock that respond to the time of day, local weather, and activity such as workout
• Palette depicts time as color using three distinct overlapping layers that shift as time goes by
• Solar Analog features classic hour marks on a luminous dial with light and shadow that shift throughout the day in response to the position of the sun
• Modular Ultra utilizes the edges of the display for real time data through three user selectable options and seven different complications (Available on Apple Watch Ultra)

Messages

• View Memoji or photos of contacts
• Pin favorites
• Edit, Undo Send, and sort by unread

Workout

• Cycling Workouts now support Bluetooth-enabled sensors like power meters, speed sensors, and cadence sensors with new power and cadence metrics
• Cycling Power view displays your power output during your workout, measured in watts
• Power Zone view uses Functional Threshold Power, which measures the highest power you can maintain for a 60 minute session, to create personalized zones and shows time spent in each zone
• Cycling Speed view shows current and max speed, distance, heart rate, and/or power
• Cycle metrics, workout views, and cycling experiences from your Apple Watch can now appear as a ● Live Activity on iPhone, which can be mounted to the handlebar of your bike

Activity

• Icons in the corners provide quick access to Weekly Summary, Sharing, and awards
• Move, Exercise, and Stand Rings are visible on individual screens by scrolling the Digital Crown along with the ability to adjust goals, view steps, distance, flights climbed, and activity history
• Weekly Summary now includes Exercise and Stand totals in addition to the Move total
• Activity Sharing shows photos or avatars of your friends
• Trainer Tips from the expert trainers at Fitness+ provide guidance on areas like workout techniques, mindfulness, healthy habits, and staying motivated in the Fitness app on iPhone

Fitness+

• Create a workout and meditation schedule with Custom Plans
• Choose your selected activity days, workout durations and types, trainers, music, and plan length and Fitness+ will automatically create the plan
• Build a queue of workouts and meditations that you want to do in a row with Stacks

Compass

• Last Cellular Connection Waypoint automatically estimates the last location on your route where your device was able to connect to your carrier's network
• Last Emergency Call Waypoint automatically estimates the last location available for you to connect to any carrier's network to contact emergency services
• POI Waypoints display points of interests you have saved in Guides within Maps
• Waypoint Elevation is a new view that uses data from the altimeter to create a 3D representation of the elevation of your saved waypoints
• Elevation Alerts notify you when you have passed a particular elevation threshold

Maps

• Walking radius shows roughly how long it might take to walk to nearby restaurants, shops, or other points of interests with rich information for places like hours, ratings, and more
• Offline Maps downloaded on your iPhone can be viewed on your paired Apple Watch when your iPhone is on and within range
• Routes for driving, cycling, walking or taking public transit are supported in offline maps including estimated arrival time based on predicted traffic
• Topographic maps display features in national and regional parks in the US like trails, contour lines, elevation, and points of interest
• Hiking trail information in the US with detailed information like trail length and elevation information

Weather

• See weather information quickly with background and contextual visual effects
• Access important information like Ultraviolet Index, Air Quality Index, and Wind Speed in one view
• View data like Condition, Temperature, Precipitation, Wind Speed, UVI, Visibility, Humidity, and AQI by swiping right
• Scroll to see Hourly and Daily views
• View Humidity complication on your watch face

Mindfulness

• State of Mind reflection allows you to log your momentary emotion or daily mood
• Contributing factors such as work, family, and current events can be included, and you can describe your feeling, such as joyful, content, and worried
• Reminders to log your State of Mind are available through notifications, watch complications, and prompts following a breathe session, reflect session, or audio meditation from Fitness+

Medications

• Follow-up reminders notify you to log a medication if you haven't logged one 30 minutes after the scheduled time
• Option to set follow-up reminders as critical alerts so they can be seen even if your device is muted or you have a Focus enabled

Other features and improvements:

• Time in Daylight now measured using the ambient light sensor (Available on Apple Watch SE, Apple Watch Series 6 and later, and Apple Watch Ultra)
• Grid Forecast in Home app and watch face complication use live data from your local electric grid to show when it's running on cleaner sources so you can plan when to charge devices or run appliances (Contiguous US only)
• Communication Safety now detects if kids are sending or receiving sensitive videos
• Sensitive Content Warning for adults brings Communication Safety technology to all users by blurring photos and videos containing nudity, and allowing you to choose if you want to see them
• Notifications to emergency contacts after an Emergency SOS call will be delivered as critical alerts
• Group FaceTime audio calls are now supported

Some features may not be available for all countries or all areas, for more information visit:https://www.apple.com/watchos/feature-availability/

For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website: https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201222https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201222

How to Update

watchOS 10 is available via Over-the-Air Update (Settings > General > Software Update) or by going to the Watch app on your iPhone and navigating to General> Software Update. To install the update, your Watch must be connected to its charger and have at least 50% battery power.

watchOS 10 requires iPhone XS, iPhone XR or later, with iOS 17 and one of the following Apple Watch models:

• Apple Watch Series 4
• Apple Watch Series 5
• Apple Watch SE
• Apple Watch Series 6
• Apple Watch Series 7
• Apple Watch Series 8
• Apple Watch Series 9
• Apple Watch Ultra
• Apple Watch Ultra 2

More information on how to update the software on your Apple Watch is available on this Apple Support page.

We'd love to hear your thoughts after you've had a chance to install the update. What new features do you find most useful? Are there any changes you don't like? Please share your feedback in the comments below. Let us know what Apple got right with this release and where you think there's still room for improvement.