Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
66,619
35,929


Apple today seeded the seventh beta of the upcoming watchOS 8 update to developers for testing purposes, with the update coming one week after Apple released the sixth watchOS 8 beta.

watchOS-8-on-Apple-Watch-feature.jpg

To install ‌watchOS 8‌, developers will need to download the configuration profile from the Apple Developer Center. Once installed, ‌watchOS 8‌ can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General > Software update.

To update to new software, an Apple Watch needs to have 50 percent battery life, it must be placed on the charger, and it needs to be in range of the ‌iPhone‌. It's not recommended to install ‌watchOS 8‌ on a main Apple Watch as the software may be unstable at this early date.

watchOS 8 has several new features that are extensions of new features introduced in iOS 15. There are improvements to Wallet that allow it to hold keys for unlocking hotel, car, and home doors, plus Apple will let U.S. users add their IDs to Wallet later this year.

Apple overhauled the Home app, and for the Workout app, there are new Tai Chi and Pilates workout types, and the Breathe app has been renamed to Mindfulness thanks to a new Reflect session that invites users to get into a positive state of mind. When sleeping, the Apple Watch now measures respiratory rate.

Focus mode from iOS 15 syncs to the watch so users can stay on task, and in the Messages app, Scribble, dictation, and emojis can be combined within the same message, making it easier to communicate. Dictated text can be edited, and GIFs can be sent right from the watch.

There's a new Portrait watch face, and the Photos app has been updated with support for Memories and Featured Photos. A new Find My app lets items be located right on the wrist, and there are also new updates for Music, Weather, Timers, and more, along with a new Contacts app.

Article Link: Apple Seeds Seventh Beta of watchOS 8 to Developers [Update: Public Beta Available]
 
Last edited:
Beta 6 has been great for me on the series 6, can't complain whatsoever. It's actually a lot quicker showing the contents of notifications than OS 7 was and OS/app stability and performance has been rock solid so far. Battery life has actually been great as well, pretty much on par with OS 7 for me.
 
Beta 6 has been great for me on the series 6, can't complain whatsoever. It's actually a lot quicker showing the contents of notifications than OS 7 was and OS/app stability and performance has been rock solid so far. Battery life has actually been great as well, pretty much on par with OS 7 for me.
Agree. Only problem I had/have is it takes forever to download. Install still is quick tho.
 
Anyone on a Series 4? Curious what their experience is like. What is the build number of this beta on watch?
 
Beta 6 has been great for me on the series 6, can't complain whatsoever. It's actually a lot quicker showing the contents of notifications than OS 7 was and OS/app stability and performance has been rock solid so far. Battery life has actually been great as well, pretty much on par with OS 7 for me.
Tell me more!! My AW6 is still stock 7.0.1. I won't be able to move up to iOS 15 because 7.4 minimum is needed and I got mixed feelings on updating. I'm concerned about battery life. Right now I charge my watch every two days, reaching 48 hours between charges and with at least a 20-25% of battery remaining. I would love to read more stats on how your AW6's battery is holding up with watchOS 8. (AOD=Off)

Thanks in advance :D
 
With 7.6.1 and all prior previous versions I usually had 1 day 8hrs roughly plus or minus 3hrs depending on usage with my series 6 44mm with AOD on including the noise level feature. So far on beta 6 I was getting about the same and going by my current battery life on beta 7 that may be the same.

If you run with AOD off I'd say you should get close to that 48hrs of usage.

My watch is from release day and is reporting 93% health at the moment.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Braderunner
It's the public beta available? I'm in the iOS 15 beta and thinking about install WatchOS beta also... never had any WatchOS beta
 
It's the public beta available? I'm in the iOS 15 beta and thinking about install WatchOS beta also... never had any WatchOS beta
Not sure, I usually just download the profiles from a site you can easily find on Google. My only concerns regarding the AW are if the beta is stable enough and the battery life; they say that the build version has the 'a' in it, meaning that its either the final version or a candidate of it. Since you can't roll-back when it comes to firmwares on the AW, its kind of scary to take the plunge. Let me know if you decide to go forward with it! cheers
 
  • Like
Reactions: jfim88
Anyone on a Series 4? Curious what their experience is like. What is the build number of this beta on watch?
It's been fine on my series 4 aside from the battery life, which has been significantly worse by about two to three hours on average. (Battery health is at 92%.)

I'm hoping the public channel sees beta 7 today, but I wouldn't hold my breath -- the release cycle between developer and public betas for WatchOS is not as predictable as what we are used to with iOS.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jfim88
Watch PB is just released. Hope it's not a backwards step, my watch has been running great on the last beta. It says it's Public Beta 6.
 
Had some issues installing this beta. after the update was prepared, the screen was black and not responsive. After a long wait I force rebooted and then it was stuck on the Apple logo. After about 30 minutes I force rebooted again and luckily the install commenced.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.