Should I update to watchOS 4?

[Feyl]

Hi all,

I don't want to update my iPhone to iOS 11 yet, but I would like to update my watch to watchOS 4. So my question is, is it really worth to lose iOS 10 and update my devices now? Are there any features that you would miss with watchOS 3?

 

[Rmpaul211]

Hi all,

I don't want to update my iPhone to iOS 11 yet, but I would like to update my watch to watchOS 4. So my question is, is it really worth to lose iOS 10 and update my devices now? Are there any features that you would miss with watchOS 3?

Depends on what phone you have. For me I wanted ios4 and ios11 has messed up my phone. I’m currently using the iPhone 6 I wish I could’ve stayed with iOS 10. But then my phone and watch wouldn’t have been compatible.

 

[OriginalAppleGuy]

I believe Watch OS 4.0 fixes many bugs that existed in 3.3. I had a case open with bugreport for my watch rebooting erroneously. The second 4 was released, Apple techs asked me to check my watch. After having it installed since launch day, no issues. But it does need more time to bake in.

Though iOS 11 may not be perfect, I haven't had any issues I couldn't live with until they fix them later on.

 

[Neodym]

I don't want to update my iPhone to iOS 11 yet, but I would like to update my watch to watchOS 4.

If I remember correctly, you need iOS 11 to update your watch to watchOS 4.

 

[44267547]

If I remember correctly, you need iOS 11 to update your watch to watchOS 4.

That is correct. iOS 11 and watchOS 4 have to be compatible with each other in order to update the Apple Watch.

 

[Feyl]

I believe Watch OS 4.0 fixes many bugs that existed in 3.3. I had a case open with bugreport for my watch rebooting erroneously. The second 4 was released, Apple techs asked me to check my watch. After having it installed since launch day, no issues. But it does need more time to bake in.

Though iOS 11 may not be perfect, I haven't had any issues I couldn't live with until they fix them later on.

Well, I haven't encountered any bugs on 3.2.3 yet, but it's surely good to hear that the new update works well.

Which version of the watch do you have? I have the original S0 watch and I have concerns about performance and battery life. There are people who say that the performance is better and there are people who say it's almost unusable. I just don't want to break my perfectly working watch.

 

[-Ryan-]

Well, I haven't encountered any bugs on 3.2.3 yet, but it's surely good to hear that the new update works well.

Which version of the watch do you have? I have the original S0 watch and I have concerns about performance and battery life. There are people who say that the performance is better and there are people who say it's almost unusable. I just don't want to break my perfectly working watch.

The view of many people is that the S0 has always been almost unusable from the day it was released. I use my S0 daily, and although it's not particularly pleasant to use, I only use first party apps so it's not too bad. I don't think there's been any further slowdown from WatchOS 3 to 4. As you probably know, third party apps are painful.

 

[Feyl]

If I remember correctly, you need iOS 11 to update your watch to watchOS 4.

I know, that's why I mentioned that I don't want to update just yet. There are some things that I really don't like in iOS 11 and there are things that I really like in watchOS 4. If only Apple would allow us to downgrade and test our watches on the latest update, like they do with iOS for a short time until they stop signing it.
[doublepost=1507017320][/doublepost]

The view of many people is that the S0 has always been almost unusable from the day it was released. I use my S0 daily, and although it's not particularly pleasant to use, I only use first party apps so it's not too bad. I don't think there's been any further slowdown from WatchOS 3 to 4. As you probably know, third party apps are painful.

You're right. Stock apps loads pretty quickly, especially when you have lots of them already opened in the background, then it's instantaneous. I didn't really use third party apps like Twitter anyway, because it's always faster and more convenient to do this stuff on your phone regardless of the version of your watch.

 

[OriginalAppleGuy]

Well, I haven't encountered any bugs on 3.2.3 yet, but it's surely good to hear that the new update works well.

Which version of the watch do you have? I have the original S0 watch and I have concerns about performance and battery life. There are people who say that the performance is better and there are people who say it's almost unusable. I just don't want to break my perfectly working watch.

I have the S2.

 

[AppleFan360]

For me I wanted ios4 and ios11 has messed up my phone.

What exactly does that mean? iOS 11 might change a few things on your phone but what exactly did it "mess up"?
[doublepost=1507034851][/doublepost]

If I remember correctly, you need iOS 11 to update your watch to watchOS 4.

That's pretty much the case. You cannot update the watch until the phone is on iOS 11. I know this from personal experience.

 

[zhenya]

I'm still using a S0 and performance is about the same as 3.2.3 and battery life has improved. Overall usability has again gone up with Os4 though. Lots of little tweaks that make the watch more functional.

 

[icewolf247]

Hi all,

I don't want to update my iPhone to iOS 11 yet, but I would like to update my watch to watchOS 4. So my question is, is it really worth to lose iOS 10 and update my devices now? Are there any features that you would miss with watchOS 3?

Do you use the watch to view and control your music? If so, don't upgrade as this has been removed

I'm sure watchos 4 has added a lot to the watch but for me, what it has removed is far worse

 

[Rmpaul211]

What exactly does that mean? iOS 11 might change a few things on your phone but what exactly did it "mess up"?
[doublepost=1507034851][/doublepost]
That's pretty much the case. You cannot update the watch until the phone is on iOS 11. I know this from personal experience.

For me personally ios11 has caused major lag. Since I have updated my software my battery performance has been terrible, when I’m on YouTube and I receive a text message my phone freezes up. If I’m watching Netflix or on YouTube and I receive a call the screen freezes up and I can’t answer the phone call. When I rotate my screen while texting it’ll have a split screen one side horizontally and one side vertically. Al these issues I didn’t run into until I updated my software

 

[Feyl]

Do you use the watch to view and control your music? If so, don't upgrade as this has been removed

I'm sure watchos 4 has added a lot to the watch but for me, what it has removed is far worse

Yeah, I heard about this one. It sucks...

 

[AppleFan360]

For me personally ios11 has caused major lag. Since I have updated my software my battery performance has been terrible, when I’m on YouTube and I receive a text message my phone freezes up. If I’m watching Netflix or on YouTube and I receive a call the screen freezes up and I can’t answer the phone call. When I rotate my screen while texting it’ll have a split screen one side horizontally and one side vertically. Al these issues I didn’t run into until I updated my software

That stuff is not normal so you obviously have an underlying issue somewhere. I know it's a pain but you might want to try backing up your phone then setting up your phone as new to see if you still have those issues. That way you can find out if it's a problem with your software or hardware. Either that or visit the Apple Store. They have diagnostic tools to find out what could be wrong.

 

[lazerbrains]

Do you use the watch to view and control your music? If so, don't upgrade as this has been removed

I'm sure watchos 4 has added a lot to the watch but for me, what it has removed is far worse

I still haven't updated but was thinking about it, until I read this. Has this functionality been implemented again in any subsequent updates? I use this feature second to only fitness tracking.

 

[Der Keyser]

Yes, it’s in 4.3, but a word of warning: Your watch will not become faster with wOS4. It’s really laggy at certain tasks on everything but the new watch 3. Especially the activity app is borderline useless - takes 5 -10 sec to respond to input from launch.

 

[lazerbrains]

Yes, it’s in 4.3, but a word of warning: Your watch will not become faster with wOS4. It’s really laggy at certain tasks on everything but the new watch 3. Especially the activity app is borderline useless - takes 5 -10 sec to respond to input from launch.

Thanks, I think that makes my decision for me. I have a Series 0 Apple Watch and use it primarily for listening to music and the Activity app. So it sounds like this update will only make my watch worse. I guess I'll just stay where I am at.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Lennyvalentin]

I have the original S0 watch and I have concerns about performance and battery life.

You are right to be concerned; performance and battery life both tanked for me on my S0 on wOS4, although battery is perhaps a little bit better now on the latest wOS 4.3 than it was previously.

Still, you shouldn't sit with old software in your devices; that is not safe in this day and age. You could get hacked, have your devices ransacked of personal data or worse. Also, wOS 4 is markedly more polished than wOS 3 was even on older watches and even with the performance degradation; especially now on version 4.3, as previously mentioned.

Take it on the chin and update. It's better to be safe than sorry, plus you'll get the vertical scrolling dock, better laid-out and more informational workout app with music controls built in, better heartrate app and more, plus the new charging animation (which is super important! )