Apple Seeds Third Beta of watchOS 4.3 to Developers

[MacRumors]

Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming watchOS 4.3 update to developers, two weeks after seeding the second beta and two days after releasing watchOS 4.2.3, a minor update focusing on bug fixes.

Once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Apple Developer Center, the new watchOS beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General --> Software update.

To install the update, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it has to be placed on the charger, and it needs to be in range of the iPhone it's paired to.

watchOS 4.3 introduces support for Nightstand mode in portrait orientation, a feature that was previously only available when the watch was placed in landscape orientation. There's also a new charging animation when the Apple Watch is placed on the charger, and your Activity data is now displayed on the Siri watch face.

In watchOS 4.3 beta 3, the Apple Watch's battery complication more accurately reports battery life. In the release notes, Apple says the battery complication "no longer reports remaining battery percentage in increments of 5."

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The watchOS 4.3 update brings the return of a much-desired feature that allows music playing on the iPhone to be controlled using the Music app on the Apple Watch. In prior versions of watchOS, starting with watchOS 4, the Music app could only be used to control music playing on the watch itself. With tvOS 11.3 installed, there's also an option to control music playing on the Apple TV with the watch.

Apple plans to release watchOS 4.3 to the public in the spring, and until then, it will be limited to developers. Apple offers public betas of tvOS, iOS, and macOS, but watchOS betas are not available for public beta testers.

Article Link: Apple Seeds Third Beta of watchOS 4.3 to Developers

 

[atomic.flip]

Really? Not a single comment yet? I guess WatchOS just isn’t that sexy anymore. LOL

 

[MrGimper]

Really? Not a single comment yet? I guess WatchOS just isn’t that sexy anymore. LOL

It's probably more to do with less people trying watchOS betas as there is no user-accessible rollback option.

 

[Solver]

Well it does fix the battery percentage in multiple of fives problem.

 

[thatguysuraj]

Really? Not a single comment yet? I guess WatchOS just isn’t that sexy anymore. LOL

I'm surprised as well, since watchOS 3 looks like a nice update. Restored local iPhone music library and Siri watch face has activity information. Just hoping iCloud Message sync comes soon as i hate deleting old threads from my watch

 

[emiaj]

there’s a new app launch animation!

 

[tkukoc]

Really? Not a single comment yet? I guess WatchOS just isn’t that sexy anymore. LOL

Not much to get excited about with updates like these. Now WatchOS 5.. there's something to get excited about.

Though the animation changes are super nice.. they need to make the charging animation the same for the iphone.

 

[Starship67]

Hopefully it fixes my Apple Pay.


Edit: all fixed working as normal now.

 

[QuarterSwede]

Not much to get excited about with updates like these. Now WatchOS 5.. there's something to get excited about.

Though the animation changes are super nice.. they need to make the charging animation the same for the iphone.

I liked your statements although, I’d argue that adding back starting playback on the iPhone from the AW Music app is exciting.

 

[thatguysuraj]

View attachment 751956 there’s a new app launch animation!

That actually looks really cool! Notice anything else so far with beta 3? Performance wise? Which watch are you using?

 

[emiaj]

Is it new that when pressing and hold the side button, there’s a haptic feedback for the emergency menu? (Same behavior as iPhone)

Also, when turning on the watch, as soon as it jumps to the passcode screen, there’s also a haptic feedback now. This is good because the watch normally takes a long time to launch, and before I had to check if it’s launched 2 or 3 times.

I couldn’t recall the same things happen before this beta...
[doublepost=1519241745][/doublepost]

That actually looks really cool! Notice anything else so far with beta 3? Performance wise? Which watch are you using?

I think there’s 2 new haptic feedbacks (watch launch to passcode screen and the emergency menu), but not totally sure that they didn’t exist before (see my previous post).

In general, this beta has been smooth so far on my Apple Watch series 2.

 

[MrGimper]

Is it new that when pressing and hold the side button, there’s a haptic feedback for the emergency menu? (Same behavior as iPhone)

Also, when turning on the watch, as soon as it jumps to the passcode screen, there’s also a haptic feedback now. This is good because the watch normally takes a long time to launch, and before I had to check if it’s launched 2 or 3 times.

I couldn’t recall the same things happen before this beta...
[doublepost=1519241745][/doublepost]

I think there’s 2 new haptic feedbacks (watch launch to passcode screen and the emergency menu), but not totally sure that they didn’t exist before (see my previous post).

In general, this beta has been smooth so far on my Apple Watch series 2.

I would agree that, in my opinion, the haptic just before the passcode screen is new.

 

[tkukoc]

I liked your statements although, I’d argue that adding back starting playback on the iPhone from the AW Music app is exciting.

Ah yes, forgot about that. That's actually quite a huge addition.

 

[MrGimper]

Ah yes, forgot about that. That's actually quite a huge addition.

This was the only feature removal that really did my head in. So glad it's (partly) back.....

 

[Xaositek]

Well it does fix the battery percentage in multiple of fives problem.

Yes it does.

 

[Thai]

Apple Pay fixed??

 

[mikesch]

I don’t know what "magic" Apple applied to this beta, but apps now seem to launch almost instantly on my Series 2.

 

[brian3uk]

Really? Not a single comment yet? I guess WatchOS just isn’t that sexy anymore. LOL

Still sexy but also takes WAYYYY too long to update to get excited every time.

 

[jonnysods]

I don’t know what "magic" Apple applied to this beta, but apps now seem to launch almost instantly on my Series 2.

Oh please tell me that kind of response time can be possible again!!

 

[AppleMad98004]

I don’t know what "magic" Apple applied to this beta, but apps now seem to launch almost instantly on my Series 2.

I know... I always wonder why it takes so many releases to get to the type of speed this one has.

 

[Thai]

Apple Pay fixed??

Yes it is fixed.

 

[Donfor39]

Yes it is fixed.

Hopefuly.wondered how many clicks are required for a successful transaction as seemed intermittent-is the double side button click always required.

Edited successfully purchased petrol this morning.
No double clicks required via watch since os upgrade.

 

[chinito77]

Siri broke on my Series 3 last night after the update. It won't respond to voice, have to hold down the Crown. Hey Siri broke on anyone else's watch?

 

[Starship67]

Siri broke on my Series 3 last night after the update. It won't respond to voice, have to hold down the Crown. Hey Siri broke on anyone else's watch?

If you haven’t, restart the watch.

 

[chinito77]

If you haven’t, restart the watch.

Thanks but unfortunately, that made it worse. Not only does Hey Siri not work but holding down the crown will start up Siri but it says that it cannot communicate. I'm unpairing it now, hopefully after I pair it again, will it work once more.

I swear, that this watch was blazing quick when I first got it but it's gotten slower and dumber with each new update.