watchOS 26 Beta Thread

[eboychik]

Most of my apps will not re-install after restoring my watch, running Watch OS 26 beta 2. I’m wondering if these apps are perhaps not yet officially compatible with 26.

Anyone else notice this?

 

[AM2354]

Yea I broke my move streak too 😔

It took me forever to get my watch to update to beta 2 watchOS 26 yesterday, I tried to get it to install the update once my iPhone finished updating to iOS 26 beta 2.





Hey everyone! Can you please make sure that y’all share feedback IDs hete once you’re done doing your feedback? It’s super important because if anyone else has the same issue as you,  can look into it and fix it in the next build. Thanks a bunch!



Oh no, that’s a bummer! It seems like a lot of people with Hermes Apple Watch series 9, 10, and even the Hermes Apple Watch Ultra 2 have reported the same issue - the watch face glitching. One person even said their battery got hit hard by this bug.

Would you mind sharing your feedback ID so others can refer to your feedback when they do their reporting on this bug? 😊 Fortunately, you have AppleCare+ on your watch.



🤯 how long does your ultra last after a full charge now? And how long did you have it + battery health?



That is why we mostly only see these changes in the buttons, Smart Stack and notifications. Just aesthetically consistent with the other oses

So, I had a fully charged watch at 8:00 AM and it's 6:00 PM EST, and I have 67% left on my watch.

 

[chrismcl]

Series 7 Hermes is down for me as well. It was bricked for a while, but I managed to get it going again.

No variation of restores or resets or settings seems to fix the issue. Even on the charger the battery charge is going backwards.

I’ve filed three separate issues with Apple. FB18319868 (Watch app crashing on iOS), FB18329009 (Watch faces crashing on WatchOS).

 

[DanRyb]

Series 7 Hermes is down for me as well. It was bricked for a while, but I managed to get it going again.

No variation of restores or resets or settings seems to fix the issue. Even on the charger the battery charge is going backwards.

I’ve filed three separate issues with Apple. FB18319868 (Watch app crashing on iOS), FB18329009 (Watch faces crashing on WatchOS).

Have you tried putting on low power mode? Do it for one of the day options, because otherwise it turns itself off. I got mine charged to 100% after I set lower power mode to leave on for like 3 days lol. I powered the watch off in the meantime.

 

[chrismcl]

Have you tried putting on low power mode? Do it for one of the day options, because otherwise it turns itself off. I got mine charged to 100% after I set lower power mode to leave on for like 3 days lol. I powered the watch off in the meantime.

Yes. Low power mode was the only way it would charge. I have also turned it off for now.

 

[goldmac2006]

So, I had a fully charged watch at 8:00 AM and it's 6:00 PM EST, and I have 67% left on my watch.

Dang that seems abnormal for an Ultra especially if it's in good battery health. Were you doing the following activities:
Cellular usage w/o iPhone in range of the Watch
Long runs/workouts
Siren

You may need to restart your watch and try to see if the battery improves.

I submitted to apple feedback that my Hermes S10 causes watch app to crash on the ios 27 beta 2 phone. I unpaired my watch from my phone (using the watch settings), and that allowed watch app to start on the phone finally. But when trying to re-pair it, the watch app on the phone crashes again everytime it gets past apple pay setup. I tried this while setting up the watch as new and from back, same crash each time. The Hermes watch is currently unusable.

I submitted feedback re: this: FB18344332 for reference.

FB18352838 is my feedback number. Also got hit by the battery bug, it drained faster than it could charge for me. Replacement shows up tomorrow. I'm going to leave it on watchOS 11.5 for now and I'm going to try to downgrade my phone to DB1 until DB3 comes out or there's a revised DB2

Added a comment to my feedback that it's the same issue as FB18344332

Series 7 Hermes is down for me as well. It was bricked for a while, but I managed to get it going again.

No variation of restores or resets or settings seems to fix the issue. Even on the charger the battery charge is going backwards.

I’ve filed three separate issues with Apple. FB18319868 (Watch app crashing on iOS), FB18329009 (Watch faces crashing on WatchOS).

Thanks for sharing your feedback on the watchOS 26 Hermes bug, Hermes users.

I appreciate your efforts to resolve this issue and update us on whether or not you got a fix for the bug.

Hopefully, when more folks report this bug to Apple, they are taking notice and will start working to fix it for Beta 3.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[ashan626]

Spent over 3 hours charging it to 100%, in ice 🤣 finally can close the rings today🤣. I'm going to send it to Apple Store after work.

 

[redcarian]

Apologies if I missed it, but has anyone actually had success in getting their Watch replaced or watchOS reinstalled under AppleCare?

My understanding is that AppleCare is a strictly hardware warranty, and installing a dev beta on your device would, on the face of it, fall outside its scope.

 

[rbart]

The OS downgrade is included in paid developer account.
At this point, I suppose only "real" developers are installing betas on Apple Watch ...

 

[planetf1]

There’s clearly awful issues with the Hermes watches.

How are users on regular edition (for example series 8) getting on?

 

[goldmac2006]

Most of my apps will not re-install after restoring my watch, running Watch OS 26 beta 2. I’m wondering if these apps are perhaps not yet officially compatible with 26.

Anyone else notice this?

❌ nope but didn’t you back up before the beta?

 

[goldmac2006]

Spent over 3 hours charging it to 100%, in ice 🤣 finally can close the rings today🤣. I'm going to send it to Apple Store after work.

😂 An Apple Watch taking an ice bath to combat heat issues and prevent slow charging. That’s quite the creative solution, but make sure the ice doesn’t melt and ruin the charger! 🤣

Slow charging and is that an Hermes Apple Watch? If so, what series is it and did you report the bug if it’s the same one? Another Hermes user reported similar battery issues like you.

There’s clearly awful issues with the Hermes watches.

How are users on regular edition (for example series 8) getting on?

Regular users like me are just experiencing a serious battery drain on this beta version. This time nosedive while sleep tracking.
Literally charging my watch right now.

So much trouble with the crashing game and the Hermes watch respringing. This is the worst bug I’ve ever encountered on a small scale among a certain type of Apple Watch users. What could Apple have done wrong?

 

[planetf1]

Regular users like me are just experiencing a serious battery drain on this beta version. This time nosedive while

With model watch? Hermes? Or standard? Which series?

Thanks

 

[goldmac2006]

With model watch? Hermes? Or standard? Which series?

Thanks

Apple Watch Series 6 gold SS 40mm.

 

[arovik]

The OS downgrade is included in paid developer account.
At this point, I suppose only "real" developers are installing betas on Apple Watch ...

It's been a long time since Apple opened up the developer beta for non(-paying) developers

 

[robbyrob01]

So I have a Series 10 Hermes and was getting the consistent re-springs when using the Hermes watch face. Even if I switched watch faces or removed them all. I was just testing some stuff out and this specific scenario seemed to work for me.

I tried adding a few different watch faces and ended up on the pride big numbers watch face (I was just picking at random). I got tired of messing with it so I just figured I would let it just die completely so nothing had a chance of staying on. When I turned the watch back on it seems to be okay for right now. I have not attempted to switch the watch face or open the app on my phone yet. Figured I would just not mess with it until it breaks again (if it breaks). Don't know if the actual watch face matters or not. But hopefully this will work for someone else.

 

[^^BIGMac]

LOL... hopefully Apple gets this fixed for the Hermes watches. Until I know for sure automatic updates has been turned off.

 

[redcarian]

The OS downgrade is included in paid developer account.
At this point, I suppose only "real" developers are installing betas on Apple Watch ...

Apple states there is no OS downgrade process for watchOS.

You can unenrol your Watch from the beta. Your watch will stop receiving beta versions, and it will then offer the next production version of watchOS. If history is a guide, this will be in September.

 

[rbart]

Apple states there is no OS downgrade process for watchOS.

You can unenrol your Watch from the beta. Your watch will stop receiving beta versions, and it will then offer the next production version of watchOS. If history is a guide, this will be in September.

I have seen lot of developers asking for factory downgrade.
It can be done in Apple Store, the watch is sent to support centre

 

[rbart]

It's been a long time since Apple opened up the developer beta for non(-paying) developers

Yes, but what’s the point to install so early and buggy release it if you don’t have an app to test and you only have one watch ?

 

[redcarian]

Yes, but what’s the point to install so early and buggy release it if you don’t have an app to test and you only have one watch ?

Absolutely none.

 

[redcarian]

I have seen lot of developers asking for factory downgrade.
It can be done in Apple Store, the watch is sent to support centre

But has anyone actually done this? There’s a lot of clear blue water between “asking for” and “receiving”.

Have you a link to support the contention that the Apple Store will entertain such a request?

I’m happy to be educated on this.

 

[eboychik]

❌ nope but didn’t you back up before the beta?

I did, yes! And thank you for responding!

 

[goldmac2006]

So I have a Series 10 Hermes and was getting the consistent re-springs when using the Hermes watch face. Even if I switched watch faces or removed them all. I was just testing some stuff out and this specific scenario seemed to work for me.

I tried adding a few different watch faces and ended up on the pride big numbers watch face (I was just picking at random). I got tired of messing with it so I just figured I would let it just die completely so nothing had a chance of staying on. When I turned the watch back on it seems to be okay for right now. I have not attempted to switch the watch face or open the app on my phone yet. Figured I would just not mess with it until it breaks again (if it breaks). Don't know if the actual watch face matters or not. But hopefully this will work for someone else.

LOL... hopefully Apple gets this fixed for the Hermes watches. Until I know for sure automatic updates has been turned off.

Hey Hermes users! I’m hoping if you’d be cool with me sending in a tip to the MacRumors editors. They can write a story about this major issue in watchOS 26 beta 2. I remember they did write something similar back in the iOS 18 days when the battery life in some betas was really bad too especially on iPhone 16 models.

I did, yes! And thank you for responding!

Compatibility wise- these apps you had on your watch should be compatible on watchOS 26.

So I think you can still reinstall them as sometimes it’s common even if you unpair and pair your watch again for apps to go away like that. Check the Apple Watch app where you can reinstall the apps by scrolling through the bottom of the list in the Apple Watch apps>My Watch. It should show which compatible apps you can install back on your watch

 

[kitt9000]

Hey Hermes users! I’m hoping if you’d be cool with me sending in a tip to the MacRumors editors. They can write a story about this major issue in watchOS 26 beta 2. I remember they did write something similar back in the iOS 18 days when the battery life in some betas was really bad too especially on iPhone 16 models.



Compatibility wise- these apps you had on your watch should be compatible on watchOS 26.

So I think you can still reinstall them as sometimes it’s common even if you unpair and pair your watch again for apps to go away like that. Check the Apple Watch app where you can reinstall the apps by scrolling through the bottom of the list in the Apple Watch apps>My Watch. It should show which compatible apps you can install back on your watch
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PLease do! I was considering sending a tip to macrumors, but wasn't sure if it needed to be stated to the entire macrumors audience since we're a small group. But honestly, I agree with you that this needs to be at least mentioned at this point, maybe front page, as it may get Apple's attention and prevent any other hermes users from stepping into beta 2 (as my watch now sits in a drawer for 2 weeks).