We are just a couple of months out from WWDC23 and things are starting to get a little more exciting thanks to newly leaked news and rumors regarding the event. While iOS 17 looks like it will be a much bigger release than first anticipated, now we’re getting word that watchOS 10 is also going to bring some major changes as well.
The report comes from Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, sharing that Apple will look to introduce widgets to the Apple Watch with the upcoming watchOS update. Now, if this occurs, Apple will technically be reintroducing widgets to its Apple Watch, as it already experimented with a similar feature back when the product first launched in 2015.
During the early stages, Apple had a feature called Glances, giving users a quick and easy way to see information on the watch without having to dig into an app like you would today. In order to do this, users would simply swipe up from the bottom of the screen to access this feature, and could also scroll to the right to see more widgets and information.
Users could set up these widgets from the phone, bringing some of the more essential apps found on iPhone like Calendar, Weather, Battery, Maps and more to the Apple Watch. If you needed to do a deep dive, you could tap on the widget to launch into the full app. If this sounds familiar, it’s because Apple currently using this setup for the widgets found on its iPhone and iPad.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro with widgets on screen
While Apple long abandoned this strategy with the Apple Watch, it looks like it could be coming back to it, and could make it the main way users will get information on the wearable going forward. In addition to the new widgets, Apple is reportedly also looking to change the behavior of the Apple Watch Digital Crown, making it launch widgets instead of opening the home screen.
It’s unclear whether this change will be an option or a permanent behavior that can’t be undone. If it’s the latter, it could be a dramatic change for those that have been using the Apple Watch over the past several years. But overall, these changes should be good, giving people a simple and easy way to get glance information faster.
Evolving the software is important, especially when each Apple Watch hardware update seems to become less and less exciting every year. Although not a lot is known about the Apple Watch Series 9, there’s a high chance that the design will be similar to previous models. Of course, we still have quite some time left before we see the new watches, but as far as software, that’s just around the corner in June.