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Apple Releases watchOS 26.5 With New Pride Luminance Watch Face

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Apple today released watchOS 26.5, the fifth major update to the watchOS 26 operating system that came out in September. watchOS 26.5 comes a month and a half after Apple released watchOS 26.4.

watchos-26-gradient-light.jpg

watchOS 26.5 can be downloaded for free on an iPhone running iOS 26.5 by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update, or initiating an update in the Settings app on the watch. To install the new software, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery and it needs to be placed on a charger.

Apple-Announces-2026-Pride-Band-Watch-Face-and-iPhone-Wallpaper-Feature.jpg

watchOS 26.5 adds a new Pride Luminance watch face. It also fixes a bug with dual SIM iPhones and an issue that could cause audio alerts to fail to play in the Workout app. Apple's release notes for the update are below.
This update includes the following enhancements and bug fixes:
- Pride Luminance watch face that dynamically refracts a spectrum of colors, is available to add from the Face Gallery
- Fixes an issue where Messages on Apple Watch may use SMS instead of iMessage when paired with a dual SIM iPhone
- Fixes an issue where Workout app audio alerts could fail to play if the phone was not nearby Apple Watch
For information on the security content of Apple software please visit this website: https://support.apple.com/100100
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More on the features in watchOS 26 can be found in our watchOS 26 roundup.

Article Link: Apple Releases watchOS 26.5 With New Pride Luminance Watch Face
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/05/11/apple-releases-watchos-26-5/
  • Wow
Reactions: Z-4195
Can you kindly remind me once again (I could search old threads but I'm lazy) how to update Watch OS the fast way, that is, via wifi instead of bluetooth?
 
I'm on the latest Apple watch, full charge and plenty of free space on the watch, and the Preparing stage is taking Foorreeevveerrr..... I initiated the update from the watch (not the phone). The download didn't take long but the Preparing stage is awful. WTH Apple...

I don't mind doing updates on any of my devices EXCEPT the Apple watch. You have to put it on a charger, the updates take too long. I think Apple could make this process less of a PITA.

Sorry, for the rant, but obviously I have time on my hands while I update my watches. LOL
 
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dmccombs said:
I'm on the latest Apple watch, full charge and plenty of free space on the watch, and the Preparing stage is taking Foorreeevveerrr..... I initiated the update from the watch (not the phone). The download didn't take long but the Preparing stage is awful. WTH Apple...

I don't mind doing updates on any of my devices EXCEPT the Apple watch. You have to put it on a charger, the updates take too long. I think Apple could make this process less of a PITA.

Sorry, for the rant, but obviously I have time on my hands while I update my watches. LOL
Click to expand...
I was just thinking this. Out of all my apple devices, my watch is the most disruptive when it comes to updates. Why can’t it just update when I sleep at night? I guess that might threaten the alarm if it doesn’t work… but still… my watch has been off now for an hour… lol

I wear my watch 24/7 except when I shower. Agreed… the preparing stage is really painful.
 
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dmccombs said:
I'm on the latest Apple watch, full charge and plenty of free space on the watch, and the Preparing stage is taking Foorreeevveerrr..... I initiated the update from the watch (not the phone). The download didn't take long but the Preparing stage is awful. WTH Apple...

I don't mind doing updates on any of my devices EXCEPT the Apple watch. You have to put it on a charger, the updates take too long. I think Apple could make this process less of a PITA.

Sorry, for the rant, but obviously I have time on my hands while I update my watches. LOL
Click to expand...
yup, its ridiculous. makes no sense why it takes so long or even why it needs to be on a charger...aside from the obvious battery drain of it taking toooo long
 
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Just updated, also not seeing the new Luminance face as an option. Edit: Forced closed the Apple Watch App and restarted then the Luminance watch face was available.
 
Last edited:
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BigMcGuire said:
I was just thinking this. Out of all my apple devices, my watch is the most disruptive when it comes to updates. Why can’t it just update when I sleep at night? I guess that might threaten the alarm if it doesn’t work… but still… my watch has been off now for an hour… lol

I wear my watch 24/7 except when I shower. Agreed… the preparing stage is really painful.
Click to expand...

To this day, the Watch/iPhone relationship could use much improvement in terms of the UX.

S3 owners will remember how frustrating it was to try to update with the later OS versions, but see it fail due to insufficient free space requirements until it was finally addressed.

With my 17P and U2, I've now run into what I think is a bug, twice, whereby the update process stalls, because when after the download and preparation stages finally finish, it then requires passcode entry on the watch to proceed with the installation…

…except that with the watch on the charger, as instructed, no prompt ever appears, or appears and disappears so quickly that it can be missed, leaving the watch in a "Verifying" stage stall.

Having experienced that before, taking the watch off the charger, then 1) entering the code to unlock, then 2) entering the code again to authorize the update, allows it to proceed with the actual installation. For 26.5, that last step took a minute or two at most.

However, miss the prompt, and it will sit there stalled, requiring the manual intervention as described, and probably leaving the user to wonder WTH is taking so long…

Worse, it doesn't do this with every update.
 
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BigMcGuire said:
I was just thinking this. Out of all my apple devices, my watch is the most disruptive when it comes to updates. Why can’t it just update when I sleep at night? I guess that might threaten the alarm if it doesn’t work… but still… my watch has been off now for an hour… lol

I wear my watch 24/7 except when I shower. Agreed… the preparing stage is really painful.
Click to expand...

I basically only use my watch for workout tracking and sleep tracking. I do not wear it outside of those periods.

Why the heck does it insist on wanting to update overnight? While it's tracking my sleep? Damn thing never figures out "hey I'm always charging 6a-9p, I should update sometime around there instead!"

Nah. "Sorry, we were unable to update your watch because you insist on using its features."
 
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I will NOT update my Ultra watch 3 ever. It works just fine and I will not make the same mistake I made updating from iOS 18 to 26. Apple is OUT OF CONTROL with bad OS updates and ruining our expensive devices. No thanks!!
 
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Winterpark said:
I will NOT update my Ultra watch 3 ever. It works just fine and I will not make the same mistake I made updating from iOS 18 to 26. Apple is OUT OF CONTROL with bad OS updates and ruining our expensive devices. No thanks!!
Click to expand...
Battery life has significantly improved from OS updates since I’ve gotten my Apple Watch Ultra 3 in September. You’re welcome to do what you want. 🙂
 
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