Apple Watches have been getting bigger for years, but it’s only now that watchOS takes advantage of the newfound screen real estate.
Photo: Brady Snyder
In the months leading up to Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, where the company previews its upcoming software updates, I had become increasingly disappointed with my Apple Watch Ultra. There’s no doubt that Apple’s most expensive smartwatch is the most advanced fitness tracker the company sells, providing more thorough data points than standard Apple Watches. But, third-party integration of the Action Button didn’t happen like I had hoped, and watchOS still felt like it was designed for smaller watches. That all changes with watchOS 10, which is the first watchOS update that really feels like it was made to maximize big-screen Apple Watches.
Though watchOS 10 won’t be publicly available until the fall, the first developer beta was seeded shortly after the WWDC keynote ended on June 5. You can install that update now if you’re enrolled in the Apple Developer Program, which costs $99 per year. A more stable (and free) public beta will be made available sometime in early July, but if you can’t wait to try out watchOS 10, you can follow our install guide here. I installed watchOS 10 developer beta 1 on my Apple Watch Ultra right after the keynote, and after hours of using the new software, it’s clear that this update is a game-changer for the Apple Watch.
A completely reimagined user-interface
When you first start using watchOS 10, you’ll notice immediately that everything is just a little bit different. The applications and user-interface elements are familiar, but completely redesigned to maximize the available screen space. For example, the Music app can now show full-screen album art. Similar to the iOS version of the app, the background color of the Music app on watchOS 10 can change color to match the album art of the song you’re listening to. It’s a nice touch, and it’s just one example of how watchOS 10 has been redesigned to fill up an Apple Watch’s entire display.
This new design language is found throughout Apple’s in-house applications, for better or for worse. Some apps probably didn’t need the blown-up treatment, like Messages. On the watchOS 10 version of the Messages app, each conversation appears larger, meaning you can only see one full conversation at a time. This seems like a downgrade to me, and I think Apple would be wise to enlarge applications on a case-by-case basis.
Apple confirmed that the Weather, Stocks, Home, Maps, Messages, and World Clock apps will have a new full-screen experience as well, with more to come. For the most part, Apple’s redesigned apps on watchOS 10 are more functional — and more fun. watchOS has gotten stale over the past couple of years, and this new design language has the potential to liven up the Apple Watch.
You’ll have to relearn how to navigate your Apple Watch on watchOS 10
Photo: Brady Snyder
Apple has once again changed the way you navigate an Apple Watch on watchOS 10, which is slightly annoying. But so far, the learning curve has been quick. The user-interface shift when Apple removed force touch from the Apple Watch was far more impactful than the changes to watchOS 10, but longtime Apple Watch users might have to retrain their muscle memory after installing the new update.
For years, swiping up from the bottom of your watch face would open the Control Center. Now, that same gesture opens Smart Stack, which is a new collection of widgets on your Apple Watch. To open the Control Center on watchOS 10, you’ll need to press the power button once. This makes sense, and it’s easy to get used to. However, when swiping up was the gesture used to open the Control Center, you could use it while any app was open. Though you can still open the Control Center at any time, you can only trigger Smart Stack from your watch face.
I was immediately intrigued by Smart Stack when it was announced at WWDC, but I thought it was a way to add widgets to existing watch faces. After using watchOS 10 for a day, that isn’t actually what Smart Stack is at all. Instead, it’s a slimmer and lighter watch face that exists separate from your existing watch face. You’ll have your main watch face like usual, but you can then swipe up from the bottom of the screen to view your Smart Stack, which shows the time and the date as well.
You can see things like Activity, Weather, and Calendar in your Smart Stack. These widgets show more information than a complication on your watch face, but in a way that is much quicker to see than launching full apps. Smart Stacks are full customizable, but only on the Apple Watch itself. In the future, I’d like to see the ability to edit your Smart Stack from the Apple Watch app on a paired iPhone. The interface for editing Smart Stack on Apple Watch is cramped, and it’s hard to touch the right buttons even on my gargantuan Apple Watch Ultra.
If you’re an avid Apple Watch user, you might be wondering — where is the Dock? On prior versions of watchOS, the Dock was a collection of your most-used apps that could be activated quickly with a press of the power button. It’s been completely removed with watchOS 10, and it looks like Smart Stack is the Dock’s replacement. Though, as I mentioned earlier, Smart Stack can only be triggered when you’re on the watch face. This is limited when compared to the Dock, which could be activated at any time.
Workout Views on iPhone are a great continuity experience
Full transparency — I didn’t actually go cycling to test Workout Views on iOS 17 and watchOS 10. But I did test out the feature from the comfort of my coffee shop, and it looks to be a great addition for people who cycle or use gym equipment. Apple says that Workout Views should appear as a Live Activity on your iPhone automatically, but that wasn’t my experience. Nothing came up, so I opened the Fitness app on my iPhone. Immediately, the Fitness app transformed into a full-screen version of my Apple Watch’s Workout Views.
watchOS 10 makes me excited about the future of Apple Watch
Photo: Brady Snyder
Anyone who has followed the Apple Watch lately knows that the past few years have been much of the same for the product line. The Apple Watch Ultra brought some changes for the first time in a while, but watchOS 9 was still lacking. With watchOS 10, I’m finally excited about the future of Apple Watch. Apple is starting to bring robust app experience to its large and powerful Apple Watches, and it’s certainly going to make using the devices daily more enjoyable. They’re some of the best smartwatches in 2023, and they’ll soon get software that matches their great hardware.