Apple Seeds Fifth WatchOS 2 Beta to Developers

[japaso]

So from what I see Beta 4 was a complete disaster. Siri barely functioned and the watch would disconnect reconnect from phone. Also it would randomly not turn on. Some new stuff I found (also could be from previous betas) New Butterflies, Flowers and Jellyfish, the 70 seconds (Odd choice)

Things not working: Timelapse Freezes constantly, Hey Siri doesn't work, Some Apps crash (normal). More stable still some bugs.

I cannot speak for apps crashing - as I have not used many this morning, but I can say that following the upgrade and a full reset (set-up as new watch) - "Hey Siri" works, location works, heath data syncing work, battery is not noticeably faster to drain (vs. 1.01.). This was my first plunge into the WatchOS 2 waters and after the reset I am quite pleased. (I might even say that wrist detection is faster than I've seen it before.)

 

[PTVMan]

I cannot speak for apps crashing - as I have not used many this morning, but I can say that following the upgrade and a full reset (set-up as new watch) - "Hey Siri" works, location works, heath data syncing work, battery is not noticeably faster to drain (vs. 1.01.). This was my first plunge into the WatchOS 2 waters and after the reset I am quite pleased. (I might even say that wrist detection is faster than I've seen it before.)

When you say set up as new watch does that mean you didn't restore from a previous watch backup?

 

[japaso]

When you say set up as new watch does that mean you didn't restore from a previous watch backup?

Exactly. Initially - after upgrading to beta 5 - I was experiencing the same problems outlined in this thread. This morning I reset all content and settings and set the watch up as new (w/o restoring from a backup.) Everything seems to be going well now.

 

[zaneliu]

Current location weather worked for me this way: Tapped weather in watch face, got to weather and received a message that a weather update was not available for this location (or similar wording). Then I pulled down that display in order to refresh and got updated weather for my current location.

EDIT: Own location does work here on WatchOS 2 beta 5.

Hmm, for me I don't even see the current location tab in weather. It's just my preset locations. I tried your method nonetheless and it still didn't work

 

[sss4r]

Speaking of Siri on Watch:

1. Is there supposed to be voice feedback?

2. Anybody else ever encounter Siri responding to "Hey Siri" from several devices at once, such as a couple tablets, phone, and watch? I suppose I could turn the listening off on all my devices except the watch. But when I'm in my car, I want the dash-mounted phone to respond, I think.

Plus I want the power settings to be different in the car. Maybe there needs to be a car mode/context which can have different settings. Another context would be for when the device is plugged in, I want power settings to be different as well.

 

[GIZBUG]

Speaking of Siri on Watch:

1. Is there supposed to be voice feedback?

No

 

[MrGimper]

Thanks. I'm going to wait until the official release. There is no way I'm taking a chance on losing that data. Although, if you're backing up your iPhone to iCloud, couldn't it be recovered by doing a restore?

Also remember that health data is only backed up via iTunes if you set your backup to be encrypted and have a password. If you don't do this, your health data is not backed up and obviously will be lost if you restore your device.

 

[RichTF]

Beta 5 also corrects the Astronomy watch face to be accurate when it's near sunrise and sunset, as described here:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/astronomy-sunrise.1884171/

 

[SvP]

There's no multicolor option for utility. It's always colored

I was trying to show you that the Modular (not utility) face indeed has a multicolor option now, but i can't seem to get a screenshot anymore.

Can anyone confirm or deny the screenshot-feature stopped working?

 

[dbrose]

Screenshot working here

This happened in beta 4

 

[Tech198]

"Sleep settings - There's a Settings option that will keep the Apple Watch's screen active and turned on for 70 seconds."

with reduce battery life.

 

[SvP]

Screenshot working here
View attachment 573815

This happened in beta 4

Thanks! I restored and it's working again.

 

[zaneliu]

Exactly. Initially - after upgrading to beta 5 - I was experiencing the same problems outlined in this thread. This morning I reset all content and settings and set the watch up as new (w/o restoring from a backup.) Everything seems to be going well now.

Yeah I wish I could do that but then I'd lose all my workout data.

 

[roboats]

So far so good on Beta 5, Swipe up and down work very fluently again, the only thing i had to do was change my watch face from modular to any other one and back to get my Town name to appear above the weather forecast, before i did that it just said Weather

It's stable to use every day?

 

[roboats]

Digital seconds, Apple, PLEASE! My God.

I KNOW RIGHT! Please, 9:41:59 format pleaseeeeeee!

 

[roboats]

Is it worth the bugs to update? (b5)

 

[birnando]

Is it worth the bugs to update? (b5)

If you are coming from an earlier beta, absolutely.
If, on the other hand, you are on 1.0.1, well then I'd think about the new functionality vs stability.
Personally I went for it, but others may feel that a stable system is more important than new features.

 

[Futhark]

Is it worth the bugs to update? (b5)

I'd personally hold off but this has been the best beta so far.

I'm surprised how much I use my watch as my clock sitting on my bedside table since updating to 2.0

Also noticed I now can't get Hey Siri voice activation to work.

 

[zaneliu]

If you don't care about the loss of hey siri or location services then go for it.

 

[timneedscoffee10]

So completely anecdotal ... but I seem to be having much fewer issues with the apple watch and my tattoos after installing Watch OS 2 Beta 5 (I skipped the earlier betas). My company's corporate MDM policy enables the "wrist detection" and "unlock using iPhone" settings on the watch. Using 1.0.1, my watch needed to be positioned carefully over a lighter portion of my wrist tattoo for it to detect that it was being work, so that I could unlock the device using my iPhone. This meant I was wearing the band a bit snugger than I like to keep the watch face in place during the day, but even still, the watch would lock several times a day despite the fact that I was still wearing it and still in range of my phone.

Since I installed the beta yesterday, I've noticed that I can wear my watch more loosely, and have not seen the device lock itself until I actually remove it from my wrist. Just now, I even repositioned the watch over a darker (black) portion of my tattoo, and while it took a couple attempts, I was able to unlock it.

I wonder if Apple either increased the sensor intensity, or decreased the "wrist detection" sensitivity? Whatever they did, it seems more reliable for me now, as a tattooed Apple Watch owner!

 

[andybno1]

If you don't care about the loss of hey siri or location services then go for it.

location services working fine for me, weather finds me maps finds me even a bus app finds me and give bus stops

 

[timneedscoffee10]

location services working fine for me, weather finds me maps finds me even a bus app finds me and give bus stops

Ditto. Location services in maps and weather works fine. "Hey Siri" isn't working, but Siri works great when activated via Digital Crown. The only issue I have on this beta is that some 3rd party apps (ones I can live without) crash on open. But all the built-in apps work great so far.

This beta feels more responsive than 1.0.1 too.

 

[zaneliu]

Yeah must be some weird thing that's happened to my watch because I have severe battery drain as well. I'll go for repair my watch and hope for the best!

 

[timneedscoffee10]

Yeah must be some weird thing that's happened to my watch because I have severe battery drain as well. I'll go for repair my watch and hope for the best!

Did you try unpairing your watch and setting up as a new one? There's been quirks associated with in-place upgrades that seem to go away when the watch is setup as new with the beta.

 

[simbo123]

Just a report on battery life for my 38mm sport.
With OS 1 & 1.0.1 I got about 30 hours
With OS 2 beta 4 I got about 22 hours
With beta 5 I'm getting about 40 hours!!!!!!! Around 2.5% loss per hour! Mint!!!
Anyone else?