Gurman: Widgets to Be 'Central Part' of watchOS 10's Interface

[MacRumors]

watchOS 10 will introduce an all-new system of widgets for interacting with the Apple Watch, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman explained that widgets will become a "central part" of the Apple Watch's interface with watchOS 10. He compared the new system to Glances, the widgets interface that launched on the original Apple Watch before being scrapped within a few years, and the style of widgets that iOS 14 brought to the iPhone.

The Siri watch face introduced in watchOS 4.​

The new interface will apparently be "reminiscent" of the Siri watch face that was introduced in watchOS 4, but as an overlay for any Apple Watch face. "It's also similar to widget stacks, a feature in iOS and iPadOS that lets users pile many widgets into one and scroll through them," Gurman added.

The plan is to let users scroll through a series of different widgets — for activity tracking, weather, stock tickers, calendar appointments and more — rather than having them launch apps.

Apple is also apparently testing changes to the functions performed by the Apple Watch's buttons. For example, a press of the Digital Crown may now launch the new widgets view, rather than navigate to the home screen.

Gurman believes that the move is an admission that an iPhone-like app experience "doesn't always make sense on a watch" since "Apple Watch apps have barely caught on." Due to being a radical departure from the app-centric experience existing Apple Watch users are used to, Apple may make the new interface optional.

The changes are part of what Gurman claims will be one of the Apple Watch's biggest software updates since its introduction and the most significant change to the Apple Watch this year, as only minor hardware updates are expected to be unveiled later this year.

Article Link: Gurman: Widgets to Be 'Central Part' of watchOS 10's Interface

 

[appleguy123]

What are the odds of me getting this on my series 4? 😂🙏🏼

 

[lazyrighteye]

Ha. I was wondering the same about my s5. 🤪

 

[DMG35]

I'd just be happy if Apple would open up a watch face store where devs could submit their own watch faces based on some parameters that Apple set. There are so many cool faces that would come out of that. Maybe one day.

 

[mystery hill]

Would be nice if we can use stand-alone cellular plans that don’t require being attached to the iPhone’s plan.

 

[andrewxgx]

yeah, get rid of the digital crown while your at it and replace it with simple buttons

 

[mystery hill]

yeah, get rid of the digital crown while your at it and replace it with simple buttons

And add a notch also.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Hopefully, these widgets do not drain the battery life of the Apple Watch. That’s the most important thing for me.

 

[Motawa]

nice. just like the tiles on wearos3. very handy

 

[WarmWinterHat]

As long as they leave the modular screen alone, it's fine by me. I've had the face, except for updating to the new modular, since 2017.

List/collection of circles for apps suck. If I could pare the down to a few useful widgets, that would be great.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

And add a notch also.

Well, this looks awkward! 🥴

 

[Kylo83]

I never even use widgets on iPhone because they are not interactive so what’s the point

 

[mikedis]

Well, this looks awkward! 🥴

View attachment 2195535

If the Watch ever gets a camera, it's gotta be under the display, right?

Not that I feel like there's ever going to be a need for one.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Here is one concept. The widgets look cool but the problem is you can only have one widget activated at a time. Unless Apple decides to make the Apple Watch screen bigger which I don’t see it happening this year.

 

[Aston441]

No one writes apps for the watch because it's the most locked down OS ever. You cannot access anything, or do anything outside of Apple's strict prison rules.

 

[AppleTO]

It seems like a lot of companies are finding that maintaining a watch app is not worth it. It seems like half the apps my wife had on her original SE (when it originally came out) have been discontinued.

 

[Mr. Awesome]

Nice. The return of Glances, but this time the Watch actually has the processing power and RAM to keep them updated instead of taking 30 seconds to load each one.

 

[Octavius8]

And add a notch also.

And a camera.

 

[Realityck]

WWDC 2023: June 5 to June 9. The next Worldwide Developers Conference will kick off in-person at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. The first day will be the big keynote address, followed by developer sessions online throughout the week. This event is where Apple’s planning to debut its new headset, alongside the initial version of xrOS and fresh MacBooks, plus updates to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS.

well his expectations are set very low. Text is from his article. 35 days to go.

 

[dantracht]

Curious about this.

 

[Premium1]

Ah yes, nothing like widgets on a tiny device. Hope they beef them up on IpadOS/IOS too then.

 

[klasma]

I read this as “Widgets to Be 'Central Park' of watchOS 10's Interface” at first. Wat?

 

[bLackjackj]

Apple: "Mark pleeese,..you need to shift the focus off VR...quick! Get 'em talking Apple Watch!"

 

[jimbobb24]

I use apps that make sense on a watch like Nike, running apps, cycling apps. Most the other apps just don’t need to be on a watch.

 

[jz0309]

don't use widgets on my iPhone, don't need them.
don't bloat watchOS up Apple