Latest news with #SmartStack
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
watchOS 26 delivers more personalized ways to stay active, healthy, and connected
A new software design makes using Apple Watch even more delightful, Workout Buddy brings a first-of-its-kind workout experience with Apple Intelligence, and the Smart Stack and Messages are more intelligent CUPERTINO, Calif., June 09, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apple® today previewed watchOS® 26, offering a beautiful new look and even more intelligence for a more personalized experience, to support users in staying active, healthy, and connected. A new design with Liquid Glass makes features like the Smart Stack, Control Center, the Photos watch face, and in-app navigation and controls more expressive, while maintaining the instant familiarity of watchOS. Apple Intelligence™ enhances the fitness experience with Workout Buddy, which provides personalized, spoken motivation. The Workout app features a new layout, and offers music to listen to based on a user's tastes and the workout type. watchOS 26 makes everyday interactions even more convenient with Smart Stack hints and updates to Messages, and introduces a new one-handed wrist flick gesture to easily dismiss notifications. "Apple Watch is an indispensable companion for millions of people around the world, and watchOS 26 uses intelligence to offer an even more personalized experience," said David Clark, Apple's senior director of watchOS Engineering. "From a gorgeous new design, to Workout Buddy with Apple Intelligence, personalized music suggestions in the Workout app, and more intelligence in the Smart Stack and Messages, we're excited about the many ways watchOS 26 will support each user in staying active, healthy, connected, and safe throughout their day." A Beautiful New Design A gorgeous new software design with Liquid Glass brings a fresh look to watchOS 26. Across apps, this new design enables a vibrant and expressive experience that reflects and refracts content using real-time rendering, which brings even more focus to content and makes using Apple Watch® even more delightful. Smart Stack widgets, Smart Stack hints, notifications, Control Center, and in-app controls and navigation will adopt the new design. The popular Photos watch face is enhanced with numerals made of Liquid Glass, allowing users to see even more of their photo. Apple Intelligence Comes to Fitness with Workout Buddy Workout Buddy is a first-of-its-kind fitness experience with Apple Intelligence that incorporates a user's workout data and their fitness history to generate personalized, motivational insights during their session, based on data like heart rate, pace, distance, Activity rings, personal fitness milestones, and more. For example, as a user starts a run, Workout Buddy will give a personalized pep talk that may remind them of their running mileage for the week so far, or share how they are doing against their Activity ring goals: "Way to get out for your run this Wednesday morning. You're 18 minutes away from closing your Exercise ring. So far this week, you've run 6 miles. You're going to add to that today." During the workout, Workout Buddy can mark key moments like their mile splits, or tell them if they hit a new milestone based on their fitness history: "Mile four. You picked up the pace and ran that last one in 8 minutes and 28 seconds." "Hey, check this out. Your total running distance for the year just crossed the 200-mile mark! That's a lot of running!" When a user ends a workout, Workout Buddy will recap their workout stats and congratulate them on their achievements: "Way to get your workout in! You went 4.3 miles in just over 38 minutes. Your average pace was 8 minutes and 58 seconds, and your average heart rate was 128. That was your longest run of the last 28 days. What will you do next?" To offer meaningful inspiration in real time, Workout Buddy analyzes data privately and securely, with Apple Intelligence. A new text-to-speech model then translates insights into a dynamic generative voice built using voice data from Fitness+ trainers, so it has the right energy, style, and tone for a workout. Workout Buddy will be available on Apple Watch with Bluetooth headphones, and requires an Apple Intelligence-supported iPhone® nearby. It will be available starting in English, across some of the most popular workout types: Outdoor and Indoor Run, Outdoor and Indoor Walk, Outdoor Cycle, HIIT, and Functional and Traditional Strength Training. Additional Updates to the Workout Experience The Workout app is one of the most popular apps on Apple Watch, and in watchOS 26, it debuts the biggest update to its layout and navigation since its introduction. Four new buttons in the corners of the app make it easier for users to access their favorite features to customize workouts, like Workout Views, Custom Workout, Pacer, Race Route, and more. To add inspiration, users can set up music and podcasts right in the Workout app to automatically play when they start a workout. For users' convenience, Apple Music® can now select the best playlist for a user's workout based on the workout type and their personal tastes.1 Alternatively, users can see suggestions for playlists or podcasts based on what they've recently listened to during that particular workout type. The Smart Stack Becomes Even More Proactive The Smart Stack is designed to help users quickly access important information from any watch face. In watchOS 26, the Smart Stack improves its prediction algorithms by incorporating more contextual data, sensor data, and data from a user's routine to provide Smart Stack hints, a proactive prompt for actionable suggestions that are immediately useful. Made of Liquid Glass, Smart Stack hints will appear on the display as a gentle visual prompt. For example, a hint for Backtrack may appear when a user is in a remote location with no connectivity, or a hint for a Pilates workout may show up when a user arrives at a studio location at their usual time. Added Convenience in Messages Apple Watch now supports Live Translation in Messages with Apple Intelligence, allowing incoming texts to be automatically translated into a user's preferred language, right on their wrist.2 And when the user responds, their texts can be instantly translated for the person they're having a conversation with. Live Translation will be available on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra® 2, with an Apple Intelligence-supported iPhone. Additionally, for users whose device language is set to English, Apple Watch will intelligently suggest relevant actions in Messages using the context of a conversation, like starting a Check In when a friend asks a user to share when they arrive home, or using Apple Cash® when a user is asked to contribute to a group gift. Customizable Backgrounds set on iPhone will also appear on Apple Watch to make conversations feel more personal and distinct, and users can respond to polls right on their wrist. Smart Replies get even more precise for users whose device language is set to English, with an improved on-device language model that can generate relevant responses based on the content of a conversation.3 Notifications Are Easier to Manage Notifications are even easier to manage with a simple wrist flick gesture on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2. When a user raises their wrist to check a notification but isn't ready to respond, they can quickly turn their wrist over and back to dismiss the notification. The wrist flick gesture can be used to dismiss notifications and incoming calls, silence timers and alarms, and return to the watch face. It uses the accelerometer and the gyroscope — along with a machine learning model — to analyze a user's wrist movement. Wrist flick joins the double tap gesture to allow users to do even more on Apple Watch with only one hand, for times when the user's other hand is occupied, such as when walking the dog, cooking, or holding a cup of coffee. Apple Watch can also now automatically adjust the speaker volume based on the ambient noise in a user's surroundings for notifications, timers, alarms, incoming calls, and Siri®, allowing them to stay connected without worrying about disturbing those around them. Additional updates in watchOS 26: The Notes app comes to Apple Watch, allowing users to access their notes right on their wrist. Users can also pin and unlock notes, complete checklist items, and create new notes with Siri, dictation, and the keyboard. Hold Assist and Call Screening come to the Phone app, when an iPhone is nearby. When a user is waiting for a live agent, Hold Assist recognizes once a live agent is available and notifies the user to return to the call.4 Call Screening helps users manage incoming phone calls from unknown numbers more efficiently by collecting a name and reason for the call before their phone rings, so they can make an informed decision on whether to pick up, decline the call, or ask for more information.5 For users who are deaf or hard of hearing, Live Listen® controls come to Apple Watch with a new set of features, including real-time Live Captions of what their iPhone hears on a paired Apple Watch while listening to the audio.6 Apple Watch serves as a remote control to start or stop Live Listen sessions on a paired iPhone, or jump back into a session to capture something that may have been missed. The Photos face will now shuffle images based on Featured content from Photos, so users can see images of their most meaningful moments every time they raise their wrist or tap the display. Users can now explore and discover watch faces more easily with the redesigned watch face gallery on Apple Watch and in the Watch app on iPhone, with faces grouped into collections. New Tools for Developers Developers are able to take advantage of new APIs in watchOS 26 across design, the Smart Stack, and more. Developers can use new SwiftUI® APIs to adopt the beautiful new design materials of watchOS 26. With the Control Widget API, developers can create custom controls to be added to the Control Center, Action Button, or Smart Stack widget, and the Smart Stack Relevance API allows third-party widgets to be added to the Smart Stack with new signals like Points of Interest, with user permission to incorporate location data. For example, the Smart Stack can intelligently show a widget for Slopes when users arrive at a ski resort with improved location APIs, and now Dark Noise can add a custom control to Control Center so users can easily turn on a sleep soundscape without picking up their iPhone. Availability All of these features are available for testing starting today through the Apple Developer Program at and a public beta will be available through the Apple Beta Software Program next month at watchOS 26 will be available this fall as a free software update for Apple Watch Series 6 or later, Apple Watch SE® (2nd generation), and all Apple Watch Ultra models, paired with iPhone 11 or later, running iOS 26. The Apple Intelligence features detailed require supported devices, which include all iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max that have Apple Intelligence enabled and Siri and device language set to the same supported language. Features are subject to change. Some features may not be available in all languages or regions, and availability may vary due to local laws and regulations. For more information about availability, visit Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro. Apple's six software platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS, and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, iCloud, and Apple TV+. Apple's more than 150,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth and to leaving the world better than we found it. Footnotes 1. Apple Music subscription is required for automatic music selection.2. Live Translation in Messages will be available on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 when paired with an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone. Live Translation in Messages supports English (U.S., UK), French (France), German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Spain), and Chinese (simplified).3. Updates to Smart Replies will be available on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2.4. Hold Assist requires iPhone nearby, and supports English (U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Singapore, UK), French (France), German (Germany), Japanese, Mandarin Chinese (China mainland), Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Spain).5. Call Screening requires iPhone nearby, and supports Cantonese (China mainland, Hong Kong, Macao), English (U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Africa, UK), French (Canada, France), German (Germany), Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese (China mainland, Macao, Taiwan), Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain).6. Live Captions support English (U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Singapore, UK), German (Germany), French (Canada, France), Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Spain), Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese (China mainland), and Cantonese (China mainland, Hong Kong). NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit Apple Newsroom ( or email Apple's Media Helpline at © 2025 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, watchOS, Apple Intelligence, Apple Watch, iPhone, Apple Music, Apple Watch Ultra, Apple Cash, Siri, Live Listen, SwiftUI, and Apple Watch SE are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. View source version on Contacts Nikki RothbergApplenrothberg@ Clare VarellasApplecvarellas@ Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
watchOS 26 delivers more personalized ways to stay active, healthy, and connected
A new software design makes using Apple Watch even more delightful, Workout Buddy brings a first-of-its-kind workout experience with Apple Intelligence, and the Smart Stack and Messages are more intelligent CUPERTINO, Calif., June 09, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apple® today previewed watchOS® 26, offering a beautiful new look and even more intelligence for a more personalized experience, to support users in staying active, healthy, and connected. A new design with Liquid Glass makes features like the Smart Stack, Control Center, the Photos watch face, and in-app navigation and controls more expressive, while maintaining the instant familiarity of watchOS. Apple Intelligence™ enhances the fitness experience with Workout Buddy, which provides personalized, spoken motivation. The Workout app features a new layout, and offers music to listen to based on a user's tastes and the workout type. watchOS 26 makes everyday interactions even more convenient with Smart Stack hints and updates to Messages, and introduces a new one-handed wrist flick gesture to easily dismiss notifications. "Apple Watch is an indispensable companion for millions of people around the world, and watchOS 26 uses intelligence to offer an even more personalized experience," said David Clark, Apple's senior director of watchOS Engineering. "From a gorgeous new design, to Workout Buddy with Apple Intelligence, personalized music suggestions in the Workout app, and more intelligence in the Smart Stack and Messages, we're excited about the many ways watchOS 26 will support each user in staying active, healthy, connected, and safe throughout their day." A Beautiful New Design A gorgeous new software design with Liquid Glass brings a fresh look to watchOS 26. Across apps, this new design enables a vibrant and expressive experience that reflects and refracts content using real-time rendering, which brings even more focus to content and makes using Apple Watch® even more delightful. Smart Stack widgets, Smart Stack hints, notifications, Control Center, and in-app controls and navigation will adopt the new design. The popular Photos watch face is enhanced with numerals made of Liquid Glass, allowing users to see even more of their photo. Apple Intelligence Comes to Fitness with Workout Buddy Workout Buddy is a first-of-its-kind fitness experience with Apple Intelligence that incorporates a user's workout data and their fitness history to generate personalized, motivational insights during their session, based on data like heart rate, pace, distance, Activity rings, personal fitness milestones, and more. For example, as a user starts a run, Workout Buddy will give a personalized pep talk that may remind them of their running mileage for the week so far, or share how they are doing against their Activity ring goals: "Way to get out for your run this Wednesday morning. You're 18 minutes away from closing your Exercise ring. So far this week, you've run 6 miles. You're going to add to that today." During the workout, Workout Buddy can mark key moments like their mile splits, or tell them if they hit a new milestone based on their fitness history: "Mile four. You picked up the pace and ran that last one in 8 minutes and 28 seconds." "Hey, check this out. Your total running distance for the year just crossed the 200-mile mark! That's a lot of running!" When a user ends a workout, Workout Buddy will recap their workout stats and congratulate them on their achievements: "Way to get your workout in! You went 4.3 miles in just over 38 minutes. Your average pace was 8 minutes and 58 seconds, and your average heart rate was 128. That was your longest run of the last 28 days. What will you do next?" To offer meaningful inspiration in real time, Workout Buddy analyzes data privately and securely, with Apple Intelligence. A new text-to-speech model then translates insights into a dynamic generative voice built using voice data from Fitness+ trainers, so it has the right energy, style, and tone for a workout. Workout Buddy will be available on Apple Watch with Bluetooth headphones, and requires an Apple Intelligence-supported iPhone® nearby. It will be available starting in English, across some of the most popular workout types: Outdoor and Indoor Run, Outdoor and Indoor Walk, Outdoor Cycle, HIIT, and Functional and Traditional Strength Training. Additional Updates to the Workout Experience The Workout app is one of the most popular apps on Apple Watch, and in watchOS 26, it debuts the biggest update to its layout and navigation since its introduction. Four new buttons in the corners of the app make it easier for users to access their favorite features to customize workouts, like Workout Views, Custom Workout, Pacer, Race Route, and more. To add inspiration, users can set up music and podcasts right in the Workout app to automatically play when they start a workout. For users' convenience, Apple Music® can now select the best playlist for a user's workout based on the workout type and their personal tastes.1 Alternatively, users can see suggestions for playlists or podcasts based on what they've recently listened to during that particular workout type. The Smart Stack Becomes Even More Proactive The Smart Stack is designed to help users quickly access important information from any watch face. In watchOS 26, the Smart Stack improves its prediction algorithms by incorporating more contextual data, sensor data, and data from a user's routine to provide Smart Stack hints, a proactive prompt for actionable suggestions that are immediately useful. Made of Liquid Glass, Smart Stack hints will appear on the display as a gentle visual prompt. For example, a hint for Backtrack may appear when a user is in a remote location with no connectivity, or a hint for a Pilates workout may show up when a user arrives at a studio location at their usual time. Added Convenience in Messages Apple Watch now supports Live Translation in Messages with Apple Intelligence, allowing incoming texts to be automatically translated into a user's preferred language, right on their wrist.2 And when the user responds, their texts can be instantly translated for the person they're having a conversation with. Live Translation will be available on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra® 2, with an Apple Intelligence-supported iPhone. Additionally, for users whose device language is set to English, Apple Watch will intelligently suggest relevant actions in Messages using the context of a conversation, like starting a Check In when a friend asks a user to share when they arrive home, or using Apple Cash® when a user is asked to contribute to a group gift. Customizable Backgrounds set on iPhone will also appear on Apple Watch to make conversations feel more personal and distinct, and users can respond to polls right on their wrist. Smart Replies get even more precise for users whose device language is set to English, with an improved on-device language model that can generate relevant responses based on the content of a conversation.3 Notifications Are Easier to Manage Notifications are even easier to manage with a simple wrist flick gesture on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2. When a user raises their wrist to check a notification but isn't ready to respond, they can quickly turn their wrist over and back to dismiss the notification. The wrist flick gesture can be used to dismiss notifications and incoming calls, silence timers and alarms, and return to the watch face. It uses the accelerometer and the gyroscope — along with a machine learning model — to analyze a user's wrist movement. Wrist flick joins the double tap gesture to allow users to do even more on Apple Watch with only one hand, for times when the user's other hand is occupied, such as when walking the dog, cooking, or holding a cup of coffee. Apple Watch can also now automatically adjust the speaker volume based on the ambient noise in a user's surroundings for notifications, timers, alarms, incoming calls, and Siri®, allowing them to stay connected without worrying about disturbing those around them. Additional updates in watchOS 26: The Notes app comes to Apple Watch, allowing users to access their notes right on their wrist. Users can also pin and unlock notes, complete checklist items, and create new notes with Siri, dictation, and the keyboard. Hold Assist and Call Screening come to the Phone app, when an iPhone is nearby. When a user is waiting for a live agent, Hold Assist recognizes once a live agent is available and notifies the user to return to the call.4 Call Screening helps users manage incoming phone calls from unknown numbers more efficiently by collecting a name and reason for the call before their phone rings, so they can make an informed decision on whether to pick up, decline the call, or ask for more information.5 For users who are deaf or hard of hearing, Live Listen® controls come to Apple Watch with a new set of features, including real-time Live Captions of what their iPhone hears on a paired Apple Watch while listening to the audio.6 Apple Watch serves as a remote control to start or stop Live Listen sessions on a paired iPhone, or jump back into a session to capture something that may have been missed. The Photos face will now shuffle images based on Featured content from Photos, so users can see images of their most meaningful moments every time they raise their wrist or tap the display. Users can now explore and discover watch faces more easily with the redesigned watch face gallery on Apple Watch and in the Watch app on iPhone, with faces grouped into collections. New Tools for Developers Developers are able to take advantage of new APIs in watchOS 26 across design, the Smart Stack, and more. Developers can use new SwiftUI® APIs to adopt the beautiful new design materials of watchOS 26. With the Control Widget API, developers can create custom controls to be added to the Control Center, Action Button, or Smart Stack widget, and the Smart Stack Relevance API allows third-party widgets to be added to the Smart Stack with new signals like Points of Interest, with user permission to incorporate location data. For example, the Smart Stack can intelligently show a widget for Slopes when users arrive at a ski resort with improved location APIs, and now Dark Noise can add a custom control to Control Center so users can easily turn on a sleep soundscape without picking up their iPhone. Availability All of these features are available for testing starting today through the Apple Developer Program at and a public beta will be available through the Apple Beta Software Program next month at watchOS 26 will be available this fall as a free software update for Apple Watch Series 6 or later, Apple Watch SE® (2nd generation), and all Apple Watch Ultra models, paired with iPhone 11 or later, running iOS 26. The Apple Intelligence features detailed require supported devices, which include all iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max that have Apple Intelligence enabled and Siri and device language set to the same supported language. Features are subject to change. Some features may not be available in all languages or regions, and availability may vary due to local laws and regulations. For more information about availability, visit Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro. Apple's six software platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS, and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, iCloud, and Apple TV+. Apple's more than 150,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth and to leaving the world better than we found it. Footnotes 1. Apple Music subscription is required for automatic music selection.2. Live Translation in Messages will be available on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 when paired with an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone. Live Translation in Messages supports English (U.S., UK), French (France), German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Spain), and Chinese (simplified).3. Updates to Smart Replies will be available on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2.4. Hold Assist requires iPhone nearby, and supports English (U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Singapore, UK), French (France), German (Germany), Japanese, Mandarin Chinese (China mainland), Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Spain).5. Call Screening requires iPhone nearby, and supports Cantonese (China mainland, Hong Kong, Macao), English (U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Africa, UK), French (Canada, France), German (Germany), Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese (China mainland, Macao, Taiwan), Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain).6. Live Captions support English (U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Singapore, UK), German (Germany), French (Canada, France), Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Spain), Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese (China mainland), and Cantonese (China mainland, Hong Kong). NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit Apple Newsroom ( or email Apple's Media Helpline at © 2025 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, watchOS, Apple Intelligence, Apple Watch, iPhone, Apple Music, Apple Watch Ultra, Apple Cash, Siri, Live Listen, SwiftUI, and Apple Watch SE are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. View source version on Contacts Nikki RothbergApplenrothberg@ Clare VarellasApplecvarellas@ Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Wire
2 hours ago
- Business Wire
watchOS 26 delivers more personalized ways to stay active, healthy, and connected
CUPERTINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apple® today previewed watchOS® 26, offering a beautiful new look and even more intelligence for a more personalized experience, to support users in staying active, healthy, and connected. A new design with Liquid Glass makes features like the Smart Stack, Control Center, the Photos watch face, and in-app navigation and controls more expressive, while maintaining the instant familiarity of watchOS. Apple Intelligence™ enhances the fitness experience with Workout Buddy, which provides personalized, spoken motivation. The Workout app features a new layout, and offers music to listen to based on a user's tastes and the workout type. watchOS 26 makes everyday interactions even more convenient with Smart Stack hints and updates to Messages, and introduces a new one-handed wrist flick gesture to easily dismiss notifications. 'Apple Watch is an indispensable companion for millions of people around the world, and watchOS 26 uses intelligence to offer an even more personalized experience,' said David Clark, Apple's senior director of watchOS Engineering. 'From a gorgeous new design, to Workout Buddy with Apple Intelligence, personalized music suggestions in the Workout app, and more intelligence in the Smart Stack and Messages, we're excited about the many ways watchOS 26 will support each user in staying active, healthy, connected, and safe throughout their day.' A Beautiful New Design A gorgeous new software design with Liquid Glass brings a fresh look to watchOS 26. Across apps, this new design enables a vibrant and expressive experience that reflects and refracts content using real-time rendering, which brings even more focus to content and makes using Apple Watch® even more delightful. Smart Stack widgets, Smart Stack hints, notifications, Control Center, and in-app controls and navigation will adopt the new design. The popular Photos watch face is enhanced with numerals made of Liquid Glass, allowing users to see even more of their photo. Apple Intelligence Comes to Fitness with Workout Buddy Workout Buddy is a first-of-its-kind fitness experience with Apple Intelligence that incorporates a user's workout data and their fitness history to generate personalized, motivational insights during their session, based on data like heart rate, pace, distance, Activity rings, personal fitness milestones, and more. For example, as a user starts a run, Workout Buddy will give a personalized pep talk that may remind them of their running mileage for the week so far, or share how they are doing against their Activity ring goals: 'Way to get out for your run this Wednesday morning. You're 18 minutes away from closing your Exercise ring. So far this week, you've run 6 miles. You're going to add to that today.' During the workout, Workout Buddy can mark key moments like their mile splits, or tell them if they hit a new milestone based on their fitness history: 'Mile four. You picked up the pace and ran that last one in 8 minutes and 28 seconds.' 'Hey, check this out. Your total running distance for the year just crossed the 200-mile mark! That's a lot of running!' When a user ends a workout, Workout Buddy will recap their workout stats and congratulate them on their achievements: 'Way to get your workout in! You went 4.3 miles in just over 38 minutes. Your average pace was 8 minutes and 58 seconds, and your average heart rate was 128. That was your longest run of the last 28 days. What will you do next?' To offer meaningful inspiration in real time, Workout Buddy analyzes data privately and securely, with Apple Intelligence. A new text-to-speech model then translates insights into a dynamic generative voice built using voice data from Fitness+ trainers, so it has the right energy, style, and tone for a workout. Workout Buddy will be available on Apple Watch with Bluetooth headphones, and requires an Apple Intelligence-supported iPhone® nearby. It will be available starting in English, across some of the most popular workout types: Outdoor and Indoor Run, Outdoor and Indoor Walk, Outdoor Cycle, HIIT, and Functional and Traditional Strength Training. Additional Updates to the Workout Experience The Workout app is one of the most popular apps on Apple Watch, and in watchOS 26, it debuts the biggest update to its layout and navigation since its introduction. Four new buttons in the corners of the app make it easier for users to access their favorite features to customize workouts, like Workout Views, Custom Workout, Pacer, Race Route, and more. To add inspiration, users can set up music and podcasts right in the Workout app to automatically play when they start a workout. For users' convenience, Apple Music® can now select the best playlist for a user's workout based on the workout type and their personal tastes. 1 Alternatively, users can see suggestions for playlists or podcasts based on what they've recently listened to during that particular workout type. The Smart Stack Becomes Even More Proactive The Smart Stack is designed to help users quickly access important information from any watch face. In watchOS 26, the Smart Stack improves its prediction algorithms by incorporating more contextual data, sensor data, and data from a user's routine to provide Smart Stack hints, a proactive prompt for actionable suggestions that are immediately useful. Made of Liquid Glass, Smart Stack hints will appear on the display as a gentle visual prompt. For example, a hint for Backtrack may appear when a user is in a remote location with no connectivity, or a hint for a Pilates workout may show up when a user arrives at a studio location at their usual time. Added Convenience in Messages Apple Watch now supports Live Translation in Messages with Apple Intelligence, allowing incoming texts to be automatically translated into a user's preferred language, right on their wrist. 2 And when the user responds, their texts can be instantly translated for the person they're having a conversation with. Live Translation will be available on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra® 2, with an Apple Intelligence-supported iPhone. Additionally, for users whose device language is set to English, Apple Watch will intelligently suggest relevant actions in Messages using the context of a conversation, like starting a Check In when a friend asks a user to share when they arrive home, or using Apple Cash® when a user is asked to contribute to a group gift. Customizable Backgrounds set on iPhone will also appear on Apple Watch to make conversations feel more personal and distinct, and users can respond to polls right on their wrist. Smart Replies get even more precise for users whose device language is set to English, with an improved on-device language model that can generate relevant responses based on the content of a conversation. 3 Notifications Are Easier to Manage Notifications are even easier to manage with a simple wrist flick gesture on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2. When a user raises their wrist to check a notification but isn't ready to respond, they can quickly turn their wrist over and back to dismiss the notification. The wrist flick gesture can be used to dismiss notifications and incoming calls, silence timers and alarms, and return to the watch face. It uses the accelerometer and the gyroscope — along with a machine learning model — to analyze a user's wrist movement. Wrist flick joins the double tap gesture to allow users to do even more on Apple Watch with only one hand, for times when the user's other hand is occupied, such as when walking the dog, cooking, or holding a cup of coffee. Apple Watch can also now automatically adjust the speaker volume based on the ambient noise in a user's surroundings for notifications, timers, alarms, incoming calls, and Siri®, allowing them to stay connected without worrying about disturbing those around them. Additional updates in watchOS 26: The Notes app comes to Apple Watch, allowing users to access their notes right on their wrist. Users can also pin and unlock notes, complete checklist items, and create new notes with Siri, dictation, and the keyboard. Hold Assist and Call Screening come to the Phone app, when an iPhone is nearby. When a user is waiting for a live agent, Hold Assist recognizes once a live agent is available and notifies the user to return to the call. 4 Call Screening helps users manage incoming phone calls from unknown numbers more efficiently by collecting a name and reason for the call before their phone rings, so they can make an informed decision on whether to pick up, decline the call, or ask for more information. 5 For users who are deaf or hard of hearing, Live Listen® controls come to Apple Watch with a new set of features, including real-time Live Captions of what their iPhone hears on a paired Apple Watch while listening to the audio. 6 Apple Watch serves as a remote control to start or stop Live Listen sessions on a paired iPhone, or jump back into a session to capture something that may have been missed. The Photos face will now shuffle images based on Featured content from Photos, so users can see images of their most meaningful moments every time they raise their wrist or tap the display. Users can now explore and discover watch faces more easily with the redesigned watch face gallery on Apple Watch and in the Watch app on iPhone, with faces grouped into collections. New Tools for Developers Developers are able to take advantage of new APIs in watchOS 26 across design, the Smart Stack, and more. Developers can use new SwiftUI® APIs to adopt the beautiful new design materials of watchOS 26. With the Control Widget API, developers can create custom controls to be added to the Control Center, Action Button, or Smart Stack widget, and the Smart Stack Relevance API allows third-party widgets to be added to the Smart Stack with new signals like Points of Interest, with user permission to incorporate location data. For example, the Smart Stack can intelligently show a widget for Slopes when users arrive at a ski resort with improved location APIs, and now Dark Noise can add a custom control to Control Center so users can easily turn on a sleep soundscape without picking up their iPhone. Availability All of these features are available for testing starting today through the Apple Developer Program at and a public beta will be available through the Apple Beta Software Program next month at watchOS 26 will be available this fall as a free software update for Apple Watch Series 6 or later, Apple Watch SE® (2nd generation), and all Apple Watch Ultra models, paired with iPhone 11 or later, running iOS 26. The Apple Intelligence features detailed require supported devices, which include all iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max that have Apple Intelligence enabled and Siri and device language set to the same supported language. Features are subject to change. Some features may not be available in all languages or regions, and availability may vary due to local laws and regulations. For more information about availability, visit Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro. Apple's six software platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS, and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, iCloud, and Apple TV+. Apple's more than 150,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth and to leaving the world better than we found it. Footnotes 1. Apple Music subscription is required for automatic music selection. 2. Live Translation in Messages will be available on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 when paired with an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone. Live Translation in Messages supports English (U.S., UK), French (France), German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Spain), and Chinese (simplified). 3. Updates to Smart Replies will be available on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2. 4. Hold Assist requires iPhone nearby, and supports English (U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Singapore, UK), French (France), German (Germany), Japanese, Mandarin Chinese (China mainland), Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Spain). 5. Call Screening requires iPhone nearby, and supports Cantonese (China mainland, Hong Kong, Macao), English (U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Africa, UK), French (Canada, France), German (Germany), Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese (China mainland, Macao, Taiwan), Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain). 6. Live Captions support English (U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Singapore, UK), German (Germany), French (Canada, France), Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Spain), Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese (China mainland), and Cantonese (China mainland, Hong Kong). © 2025 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, watchOS, Apple Intelligence, Apple Watch, iPhone, Apple Music, Apple Watch Ultra, Apple Cash, Siri, Live Listen, SwiftUI, and Apple Watch SE are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
CNET
6 days ago
- Health
- CNET
These 7 Favorite Apple Watch Tips Assist Me Every Day
You know your Apple Watch is capable of doing a lot, whether that's tracking your health metrics or managing multiple timers when cooking dinner. But it's easy to treat it mostly as a timepiece, even though it always feels like there's more happening beneath the watch face that you're not fully using. That's why I've put together seven of my favorite Apple Watch tips, each of which I use nearly every day to save me time and trouble. See also: Did you think you were stuck with just the built-in watch faces? Learn how to expand the variety of timekeeping designs. And if you have an old Apple Watch in a drawer, see how to extend its utility. Swipe between watch faces (again) Until WatchOS 10.0, you could swipe from the left or right edge of the screen to switch active watch faces, a great way to quickly go from an elegant workday face to an exercise-focused one, for example. Apple removed that feature, likely because people were accidentally switching faces by brushing the edges of the screen. Swipe from the edge to switch between faces. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET However, the regular method involves more steps (touch and hold the face, swipe to change, tap to confirm) and people realized that the occasional surprise watch face change wasn't really so bad. Therefore, as of version 10.2, including the current WatchOS 11.2, you can turn the feature on by toggling a setting: Go to Settings > Clock and turn on Swipe to Switch Watch Face. Stay on top of your heart health with Vitals Wearing your Apple Watch while sleeping offers a trove of information -- and not just about how you slept last night. If you don the timepiece overnight, it tracks a number of health metrics. A new feature in WatchOS 11 gathers that data into the Vitals app that reports on the previous night's heart rate, respiration, body temperature (on recent models) and sleep duration. The Vitals app can also show data collected during the previous seven days -- tap the small calendar icon in the top-left corner. (If you own a watch model sold before Jan. 29, 2024, you'll also see a blood oxygen reading. On newer watches in the US, that feature is disabled due to an intellectual property infringement fight.) The Vitals app reports heart and health trends collected while you sleep. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET How is this helpful? The software builds a baseline of what's normal for you. When the values stray outside normal ranges, such as irregular heart or respiratory rates, the Vitals app reports them as atypical to alert you. It's not a medical diagnosis, but it can prompt you to get checked out and catch any troubles early. Make the Smart Stack work for you Bring up the Smart Stack using the crown or by swiping. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET The Smart Stack is a place to access quick information that might not fit into what Apple calls a "complication" (the things on the watch face other than the time itself, such as your Activity rings or the current outside temperature). When viewing the clock face, turn the digital crown clockwise or swipe from the bottom of the screen to view a series of tiles that show information such as the weather or suggested photo memories. This turns out to be a great spot for accessing features when you're using a minimal watch face that has no complications. Choose which Live Activities appear automatically The Smart Stack is also where Live Activities appear: If you order a food delivery, for example, the status of the order appears as a tile in the Smart Stack (and on the iPhone lock screen). And because it's a timely activity, the Smart Stack becomes the main view instead of the watch face. Live Activities like mobile orders appear in the Smart Stack. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET Some people find that too intrusive. To disable it, on your watch open the Settings app, go to Smart Stack > Live Activities and turn off the Auto-Launch Live Activities option. You can also turn off Allow Live Activities in the same screen if you don't want them disrupting your watch experience. Apple's apps that use Live Activities are listed there if you want to configure the setting per app, such as making active timers appear but not media apps such as Music. For third-party apps, open the Watch app on your iPhone, tap Smart Stack and find the settings there. Add and pin favorite widgets in the Smart Stack When the Smart Stack first appeared, its usefulness seemed hit or miss. In WatchOS 11, Apple seems to have improved the algorithms that determine which widgets appear -- instead of it being an annoyance, I find it does a good job of showing me information in context. But you can also pin widgets that will show up every time you open the stack. For example, I use 10-minute timers for a range of things. Instead of opening the Timers app (via the App list or a complication), I added a single 10-minute timer to the Smart Stack. Here's how: View the Smart Stack by turning the Digital Crown or swiping from the bottom of the screen. Touch and hold the screen to enter the edit mode. Tap the + button and scroll to the app you want to include (Timers, in this example). Tap a tile to add it to the stack; for Timers, there's a Set Timer 10 minutes option. If you want it to appear higher or lower in the stack order, drag it up or down. Tap the checkmark button to accept the change. Add specific widgets to the Smart Stack. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET The widget appears in the stack, but it may get pushed down in favor of other widgets the watch thinks should have priority. In that case, you can pin it to the top of the list: While editing, tap the yellow Pin button. That moves it up, but Live Activities can still take precedence. Use the watch as a flashlight You've probably used the flashlight feature of your phone dozens of times, but did you know the Apple Watch can also be a flashlight? Instead of a dedicated LED (which phones also use as a camera flash), the watch's full screen becomes the light emitter. It's not as bright as the iPhone's, nor can you adjust the beam width, but it's perfectly adequate for moving around in the dark when you don't want to disturb someone sleeping. To activate the flashlight, press the side button to view Control Center and then tap the Flashlight button. That makes the entire screen white -- turn the Digital Crown to adjust the brightness. It even starts dimmed for a couple of seconds to give you a chance to direct the light away so it doesn't fry your eyes. Your Apple Watch can double as a hands-free flashlight. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET The flashlight also has two other modes: Swipe left to make the white screen flash on a regular cadence or swipe again to make the screen bright red. The flashing version can be especially helpful when you're walking or running at night to make yourself more visible to vehicles. Press the Digital Crown to turn off the Flashlight and return to the clock face. Pause your Exercise rings if you're traveling or ill Closing your exercise, movement and standing rings can be great motivation for being more active. Sometimes, though, your body has other plans. Until WatchOS 11, if you became ill or needed to be on a long-haul trip, any streak of closing those rings that you built up would be dashed. Now, the watch is more forgiving (and practical), letting you pause your rings without disrupting the streak. Open the Activity app and tap the Weekly Summary button in the top-left corner. Scroll all the way to the bottom (take a moment to admire your progress) and tap the Pause Rings button. You can choose to pause them for today, until next week or month, or set a custom number of days. Give yourself a break when needed and pause your exercise rings. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET When you're ready to get back into your activities, go to the same location and tap Resume Rings. Bypass the countdown to start a workout Many workouts start with a three-second countdown to prep you to be ready to go. That's fine and all, but usually when I'm doing an Outdoor Walk workout, for example, my feet are already on the move. Instead of losing those steps, tap the countdown once to bypass it and get right to the calorie burn. How to force-quit an app (and why you'd want to) Don't forget, the Apple Watch is a small computer on your wrist, and every computer will have glitches. Every once in a while, for instance, an app may freeze or behave erratically. On a Mac or iPhone, it's easy to force a recalcitrant app to quit and restart, but it's not as apparent on the Apple Watch. Here's how: Double-press the Digital Crown to bring up the list of recent apps. Scroll to the one you want to quit by turning the crown or dragging with your finger. Swipe left on the app until you see a large red X button. Tap the X button to force-quit the app. You can force-quit an app on the Apple Watch. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET Keep in mind this is only for times when an app has actually crashed -- as on the iPhone, there's no benefit to manually quitting apps. These are some of my favorite Apple Watch tips, but of course there's a lot more to the popular smartwatch. Be sure to also check out which new health features are expected in the next models and Lexy Savvides' review of the Series 10.
