Apple Seeds Sixth Beta of watchOS 9 to Developers

[MacRumors]

Apple today seeded the sixth beta of an upcoming watchOS 9 update to developers for testing purposes, with the new beta coming one week after Apple released the fifth beta to developers.

To install ‌watchOS 9, developers will need to download the configuration profile from the Apple Developer Center. Once installed, ‌watchOS 9‌ 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.

watchOS 9 introduces four new watch faces, including Lunar, Playtime, Metropolitan, and Astronomy, plus it includes updates to some existing watch faces and complications. The ECG app now supports AFib History for tracking how long a person has been in atrial fibrillation.

The sleep tracking feature now includes sleep stages, letting the Apple Watch track when users are in REM, Core, or Deep sleep, and Apple has added a Medications app. The Medications app lets users manage and track their medications, vitamins, and supplements, with reminders when it's time to take them.

Updates to the Workout app add custom workouts and improvements for runners, triathletes, and swimmers. Fitness+ workouts now support streaming to certain third-party TVs for those who don't have an Apple TV, and notifications have been redesigned to be less obtrusive when the watch's screen is active.

Other new features include a CallKit API that allows VOIP calls to be answered on Apple Watch, Apple Watch Mirroring for controlling the Apple Watch with an iPhone, Quick Actions for doing more with a double pinch gesture, and updates to the Reminders and Calendar apps.

Article Link: Apple Seeds Sixth Beta of watchOS 9 to Developers

 

[ct2k7]

Go- Install!

 

[cvam1985]

The earth face covers the time, even only partially … but why would you have a watch face cover the time at all?

 

[mavis]

The earth face covers the time, even only partially … but why would you have a watch face cover the time at all?

Why would a watch face use rounded-tip watch hands that sort of point to the general time rather than pointed hands that show the precise time, at a glance? Why would a watch face show twice as many tick marks around the dial (at 30 second intervals, with no distinction between minute and half-minute intervals) than is necessary or even useful and then use a rounded-tip watch hand to further obfuscate the current time? 🤣 🙄

Because Apple.

 

[Spike1999]

The sleep tracking functionality will be amazing, especially REM tracking

 

[fischersd]

Hmm...we got the public iOS & TVOS betas the same day - why not the WatchOS beta?

 

[cosmogfd]

Why would a watch face use rounded-tip watch hands that sort of point to the general time rather than pointed hands that show the precise time, at a glance? Why would a watch face show twice as many tick marks around the dial (at 30 second intervals, with no distinction between minute and half-minute intervals) than is necessary or even useful and then use a rounded-tip watch hand to further complicate the act of reading the current time? 🤣 🙄

Because Apple.

Some of us don’t find it complicated. Even the clock on my wall doesn’t have any numbers or markings at all, just hands. I can read the time from it just fine and don’t find it any harder to read than a normal clock.

 

[xDKP]

Really hope the Ghost-run-route-feature is back - was removed in the last beta and really loved it

 

[mavis]

Some of us don’t find it complicated. Even the clock on my wall doesn’t have any numbers or markings at all, just hands. I can read the time from it just fine and don’t find it any harder to read than a normal clock.

I never said it was complicated, I said it was imprecise. I need to know the exact time (to the second) several times a day, so I find most of Apple's watch faces basically useless.

 

[xDKP]

I never said it was complicated, I said it was imprecise. I need to know the exact time (to the second) several times a day, so I find most of Apple's watch faces basically useless.

A couple of the watch faces now support digital time as a complication - but kind of a mixed bag

 

[mavis]

A couple of the watch faces now support digital time as a complication - but kind of a mixed bag

Yeah, I was so excited when they finally introduced that complication last year. 🤣