Apple Releases WatchOS 2 With Native App Support, New Watch Faces, Nightstand Mode, and More

Update to v2.0 -- Lessons Learned
  • Be PATIENT ... the update takes a LONG time to complete and (in my case) hit some surprising road blocks.
  • DO NOT interrupt the update ... to avoid "bricking" your watch
  • You MIGHT get false messages ... see below
Here is what I experienced
1) During three separate attempts, my update appeared to hang up (for over 20-30 minutes at a time) during the "Verifying" step. The spinning gear stopped and there was NO sign of any progress. Apple tech support initially said it was because the servers were very busy.
MY FIX:
  • The Apple Tech checked with a "more senior" engineer who suggested restarting the watch - hold both buttons.
  • That worked -- the watch face changed to a white Apple logo and "install progress dots" started circling the logo
2) After 15-20 minutes, the update "stalled again" after the install progress dots were about 1/3 of the way around the logo. An error message on the iPhone said "watchOS update could not be loaded because OpenTable is installed and an update to that app is not available." The watch App on the phone said the watch software was 1.0.1 and no updates available.
MY FIX:
  • I deleted the OpenTable app from the iPhone
  • Closed the watch App (from running in the background)
  • Re-launched the watch App ...
  • The watch face lit up and the install progress dots started again
3) After another 20-30 minutes the install progress dots disappeared (when about 3/4 of the way around) and the watch went to sleep.
MY FIX:
  • I resisted temptation to fuss with it again ... just left the watch on the charging stand
  • After another 10 minutes or so, the watch turned on showing the time
  • The watch App showed the software version was 2.0
  • Everything is working fine.
This was certainly a lot "goofier" than normal Apple updates ... partly because of the heavy server load with millions of people trying to do the update. BUT I also believe it is because the progress indicators are not as accurate as they should be and watch App error messages don't always tell the whole story.

Hope my experience helps you avoid problems with your update.
 
Installed last night in the UK. Kicked it off 6pm UK time (1pm EST), initially it said 4 hours but was downloaded in 1 1/2 hours. Took from 7:30pm - 8pm to prepare and verify and from 8pm to 8:30 to install. It needed one reboot (i had to unlock it to re-commence the install). No dramas, just a little slow i suppose.

Initial thought is a vast improvement - i was initially worried about battery as it went from 96% to 40% in around 3 hours, but I was playing a lot :)

Today i took it off charge at 8am and it is down to 79% in just shy of 6 hours - not bad at all.

The weather app is so much quicker. Dark sky is good too - to those who only see a temperature, try putting the complication in the main modular window or at the bottom of Utility or Mickey Mouse as more info is available there.

The whole watch seems snappier and I can't wait to see what new apps come out!
 
iCloudStrife said:
A solution I tried (successfully) is to go into the Health app on my iPhone and change my Active Energy health data category from using kJ to kCal. If it’s already kCal, change it to kJ and then back to kCal. This should propagate to your Watch as well.

Give that a shot.
Click to expand...
It worked, many thanks!
 
normwood said:
Thanks...this got it working.

But, having just the Dark Sky rain drop thingy is of little value to me. I want to see the temperature as with the stock app..
Click to expand...

Misunderstood your post. You were referencing the Dark Sky complication. Right now, mine has an umbrella and the word 'soon' underneath. Guess we will be seeing more as the weather changes.
 
As i was downloading I read on my iphone what the upgrade is about, new watch faces etc and then ..... says" Third party app COMPLICATIONS" I SWEAR !!!! no thanks
 

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I must be the only one without any problems. Said an hour remaining and actually took exactly that. No issues with verifying or installing. Was much better than ios9 for me. Guess I was lucky.
 
It took about 2 hours total for me to update mine. So far, the changes seem fairly minimal. The new picture faces are cute but they don't let me show much info. So.... Kinda pointless. I do really like the night-stand mode though. Worked well. Waiting for new interesting native apps. (Besides PC Calc)
 
Battery life (so far today) is actually better than 1.0.1 I usually end my day between 55% and 65% (all notifications except mail, calendar, and text are disabled) so we will see for sure in about 12 hours.

I have noticed that the response time between lifting my arm to look and when the screen lights up to be reduced greatly.

The ten-minute heart rate thing is actually doing it every 10 minutes finally.

So far the third party native apps are pretty crashy or routinely give me "unable to determine location" and "unable to connect" more often and don't really seem to launch that much faster or when they do, the cached previous launch takes just as long to update as launching the apps I know are still not native. I don't know what I was expecting here, but I should guessed it would be like this.

Took just shy of 4 hours to completely install (well after the rush started in the wee hours this morning). Lots of pauses, slowness, app closing and restarting... Worst experience updating an Apple product OTA yet.

I highly recommend an uninstall of all third party apps before the update as I had to uninstall/reinstall all of mine anyway before they even began to work right.
 
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MacRumors said:



Apple today released watchOS 2 to the public, making the first major update to the watchOS software available to all Apple Watch owners. The update requires iOS 9 and can be downloaded over-the-air through the Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General --> Software Update.

watchOS 2 was originally scheduled to launch on Wednesday, September 16 alongside iOS 9, but Apple delayed the launch in order to address a major bug that was found shortly before the software was set to debut.

As the first significant update to watchOS, watchOS 2 introduces a lot of new features to the Apple Watch, mainly through new developer tools. watchOS 2 brings native apps that run on the watch itself instead of the iPhone, and it lets developers access several sensors and hardware features including the Taptic Engine, heart rate monitor, microphone, and accelerometer.

timelapsewatchfaces-800x297.jpg

The new time-lapse watch faces in watchOS 2​

Along with these features for developers, which will lead to more complex and full-featured third-party apps that run much more smoothly, watchOS 2 also includes new watch faces (photo album and time-lapse), third-party Complications, a tweak that makes the screen stay on for up to 70 seconds when activated, and Activation Lock.

There's also a new Time Travel feature for viewing past and upcoming events in a watch face Complication, and a Nightstand mode that's activated when the watch is charging, displaying the time.

nightstandmode-800x465.jpg

Nightstand mode​

More details on what's new in watchOS 2 can be found in our dedicated watchOS 2 roundup, which includes all of the features the update brings, big and small. Discussion on new features in watchOS 2 is also taking place in our dedicated Apple Watch forum, and we encourage all of our readers to join in with new discoveries and questions about the update.

Article Link: Apple Releases WatchOS 2 With Native App Support, New Watch Faces, Nightstand Mode, and More
Click to expand...
Diaz72 said:
Awesome! I was afraid they were gonna hold off longer! Time to download!
Click to expand...

can i do the update without connecting watch to charger?
 
I'm guessing complications are not able to be added to the photo watch face? That's a bummer.

I thought the ability to play music via Apple Watch speaker was enabled too...

Battery life is going very well today on watch os2.
 
Scrub175 said:
I'm guessing complications are not able to be added to the photo watch face? That's a bummer.

I thought the ability to play music via Apple Watch speaker was enabled too...

Battery life is going very well today on watch os2.
Click to expand...

I was quite bummed about that too.

I can see why, from a design point, as it may be hard to view exactly what is going on in the complications depending on where the complication is and what level of brightness is in the image behind it.

Still would have been nice to let the consumer decide that themselves.
 
JackANSI said:
I was quite bummed about that too.

I can see why, from a design point, as it may be hard to view exactly what is going on in the complications depending on where the complication is and what level of brightness is in the image behind it.

Still would have been nice to let the consumer decide that themselves.
Click to expand...

True true. I wouldn't have had as many complications, but an option would be nice plus the ability to change colors of the clock font. Small steps I reckon.
 
Seanm87 said:
I must be the only one without any problems. Said an hour remaining and actually took exactly that. No issues with verifying or installing. Was much better than ios9 for me. Guess I was lucky.
Click to expand...

No, your not the only one. I updated two watches last night, each one too about 90 minutes start to finish with no problems

Scrub175 said:
I'm guessing complications are not able to be added to the photo watch face? That's a bummer.

I thought the ability to play music via Apple Watch speaker was enabled too...

Battery life is going very well today on watch os2.
Click to expand...

My post update battery life is great so far. I charged it last night before going to bed, ran a sleep monitor program while I slept and, at 11:05 AM local time I have 81% battery life left.

trauma62 said:
As i was downloading I read on my iphone what the upgrade is about, new watch faces etc and then ..... says" Third party app COMPLICATIONS" I SWEAR !!!! no thanks
Click to expand...

Perhaps you don't know what complications mean in relation to a watch or, perhaps, it's a lame attempt at humor?
 
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My battery life is horrendous after update. Put it on at 8 am and it's already dead. Even went thru reserve power completely.

Not sure what to do...
 
Seanm87 said:
I must be the only one without any problems. Said an hour remaining and actually took exactly that. No issues with verifying or installing. Was much better than ios9 for me. Guess I was lucky.
Click to expand...

You're not alone.
No problems whatsoever for us, and it took all of 15 mins on both my wifes and mine.
(We were both on 2.0 GM)

Liking this update a lot.
Not that it still hasn't got its quirks, but over all, a good update for us
 
isteal said:
My battery life is horrendous after update. Put it on at 8 am and it's already dead. Even went thru reserve power completely.

Not sure what to do...
Click to expand...
I had a very bizarre thing happen to me yesterday, before I updated. Normally I finish my work day (4:30) with 60-80% battery, depending on what I've been doing. Yesterday it was at 40% at about 2PM. I checked about 15 minutes after the update was available if I could see it, and I downloaded it at work but didn't install it. Very odd.

Today it seems back to normal, slightly lower, but I'm sure that's because I've been messing with it more than usual today. My favorite new features are the new colors for the watch faces, and the apparent return to taking your pulse every ~10 minutes, which should result in better tracking.

Still searching for native watch apps, and how to find them. (If there's a thread about that, I haven't really tried that hard yet.)
 
LaraCroft835 said:
anyone got anything intelligent to say re Watch OS 2 ? not overly interested in your connection times or how frustrated you are with having to wait for a OS
Click to expand...
I think the majority of people are trying to share their experiences to help others sort out what may be issues so that we all can update our watches with the minimum of frustration.
Your contribution?
 
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