Apple Watch Series 10 features an upgraded display with a faster refresh rate. This enables select watch faces to display a ticking seconds indicator even in always-on mode. However, most watch faces don’t actually take advantage of the new hardware yet. The watchOS 26 software update coming this fall will change that.

Today, Apple officially unveiled watchOS 26, alongside iOS 26, iPadOS 26, tvOS 26, visionOS 26 and macOS Tahoe 26. Wondering if your Apple Watch will run the new system? Here’s the full compatibility list.

Apple has officially announced watchOS 26, the successor to watchOS 11. The new name aligns with iOS 26 (and using the upcoming year to reference each software version). The flagship new software feature for Apple Watch in watchOS 26 is called Workout Buddy, an Apple Intelligence-powered fitness feature.

Alongside the expected design overhauls coming to iOS 26 and the rest of Apple’s platforms at WWDC, 9to5Mac has learned that watchOS 26 is set to introduce one of the most requested Apple Watch usability features to date: third-party widgets in Control Center.

Have you ever looked down at your Apple Watch on your wrist and thought to yourself, “I wish I could play my Game Boy games on here”? Yeah, neither have I. But now that I know it’s possible, I can’t stop playing or showing it off. My 6-year-old self would think I was crazy if I told him I could play Pokémon on my wrist in the future. But it’s 2025, and now this is possible and even works exceptionally well. Here is how to do this.

During Apple’s “It’s Glowtime” event on Monday, the company confirmed the release date of watchOS 11 to the public. The update, which adds many new features to the Apple Watch, will be available from September 16 for compatible models.

We are about a month away from Apple’s yearly iPhone event. Of course, they will announce the new iPhone lineup, but this event is also the jumping-off point for releasing new software to the public. Among those software updates will be watchOS 11. I have been using watchOS 11 since its developer beta release in early June, and I’m excited to share some of the best features!

Apple has released watchOS 10.1.1 for Apple Watch. The software update addresses a battery drain and overheating bug that users have reported experiencing.

watchOS 10.1 is now available as a free software update for compatible Apple Watches. The latest version of watchOS delivers a flagship feature to the new Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2. The update also includes more features and bug fixes for watchOS 10.

Coming with the release iOS 16.5.1, macOS 13.4.1, and more today, Apple has shipped two important fixes for security flaws. The updates arrive for devices on the latest public software and those on older versions of its software. Notably, Apple has heard the flaws have been actively exploited.

Dark Mode on iPhone, iPad, and Mac is fairly flexible. You can toggle it on or off from Control Center or Settings, automatically switch based on time of day, or use local sunrise and sunset time to switch.

There’s one method for invoking dark mode that’s still missing, however, and watchOS 10 on the Apple Watch Ultra shows how it could work.

watchOS 10 is just a few days away, and the update sounds like a big deal for big Apple Watch screens. A new widget overlay and apps optimized for Apple Watch Ultra? Let’s go!

Not much else has been rumored for watchOS 10, however, and that’s probably because the Apple Watch software is fairly mature now. Turns out you can knock out a lot of great features in nine years. That’s had me thinking about some rather old feature requests that have never materialized – features I really thought we’d have by now.

Apple has released a new software update for Apple Watch that all users should download and install today. The update is available for Apple Watch Series 4 and later, Apple Watch SE, and Apple Watch Ultra.

Apple on Tuesday released the fourth betas of watchOS 9.5 and tvOS 16.5 to developers. The updates come after Apple began testing with the new betas last month. Read on as we detail what’s new in these updates.

Update: Apple is now rolling out the same updates to public beta testers.

Apple on Tuesday released the third betas of macOS Ventura 13.4, watchOS 9.5, and tvOS 16.5 for developers. The updates come after Apple began testing with the new betas last month. Read on as we detail what’s new in these updates.

Update: Following the release of new developer betas on Tuesday, Apple is now rolling out the same updates for Public Beta users.

Apple has introduced a new system for distributing beta software with iOS 16.4, which now checks whether the user’s Apple ID is participating in the Apple Developer Program or the Apple Beta Software Program. This system is now being expanded to the Mac and Apple Watch with macOS Ventura 13.4 and watchOS 9.5.

Apple has released a new round of betas for Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Watch today. These updates come after Apple kickstarted the beta testing process two weeks ago. iOS 16.5 beta is also now available.

Concept image by Parker Ortolani

watchOS 10 that’s set to be unveiled at WWDC in June is believed to come with some major UI upgrades. Experimenting with what that could look like, Parker Ortolani has shared a few watchOS 10 concept ideas for an all-new Apple Watch Home Screen with widgets, Live Activities, one version with an evolved ‘Glances” UI, and more.

The watchOS App Store has seen many important third-party apps leave the platform in recent years, and it seems that this is still an ongoing problem. This time, Microsoft has announced that its two-step verification app “Microsoft Authenticator” will no longer work with the Apple Watch.

From Apple Watch Ultra to watchOS 9, this fall has been full of smart watch innovation. Apple isn’t quite finished, however, as there’s still more to come when it comes to new Apple Watch features.

Along with Apple’s software updates today for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and more, a variety of security issues have been fixed. iOS 15.3 specifically patches 10 notable security bugs ranging from the Safari web browsing leak to a flaw that can give malicious apps root privileges, and more.