watchOS 26 Removes These Apple Watch Faces

[MacRumors]

Apple has removed several Apple Watch faces that are options in watchOS 11, nixing the Fire/Water, Gradient, Liquid Metal, Vapor, and Toy Story watch faces, according to a post on Reddit.

Apple tends to quietly remove some watch face options when it launches a new version of iOS, so it is not a huge surprise to see these go missing. It is not clear why Apple picked these watch faces in particular, but it could be because they were used less often.

Apple didn't add new watch faces with watchOS 26, but some watch faces have new Liquid Glass-inspired design options.

Article Link: watchOS 26 Removes These Apple Watch Faces

 

[Ankaa]

For some reason, Apple tends to remove minimalist analog watch faces. After losing Numerals with the last watchOS update, now losing Gradient starts to feel personal. Some of us like minimalist clean analog options.

 

[Unami]

I liked the idea of the fire/water/Liquid Metal/... watchfaces, but never liked how they looked on my watch. Especially the look of the watch hands and the hard border on the edge of the background. I totally forgot about toy story. (Snoopy is great, though.)

Gradient didn't look too bad but i honestly never used it. I wished, Apple would keep those old faces around and reasonably up to date, maybe in a "collectors" drawer, only available for people who had an Apple Watch back then when the face was en vogue. Like an achievement

 

[tennisproha]

Really not cool. Many of these are very unique watch faces so there's really no reason to remove them unless they're IP like Toy Story.

 

[MacFan782040]

I still find it crazy we don't have custom watch faces.

What is the reasoning?

 

[Ankaa]

there's really no reason to remove them

There really isn't and I don't understand why Apple would remove any watch faces at any point to begin with.

 

[7thson]

Editorial query: why use an image of a watch face that isn’t being removed in an article about the removal of watch faces? Is the payoff worth it when the reader realizes, with relief, that the Photos watch faces isn’t being removed?
Edit: disregard. Title and images changed.

 

[xander49x]

I was right not to test the new system, I'm using the fire,water,liquid metal watchface on my watch, will not be updating to the new system.

 

[a.coward]

(Snoopy is great, though.)

They day they get rid of Snoopy is the day I abandon the Apple ecosystem. :-}

 

[xmarcuswildx]

Dude I thought I was losing my mind and couldn’t repeat my setup. Had no idea.

 

[BelgianChoklit]

iWont miss any of those, all of those are useless

 

[fatTribble]

Geez, I think of the gradient face as one of the newer ones.

 

[Ankaa]

iWont miss any of those, all of those are useless

All of those are useless - to you.

Can we please stop projecting our own preferences onto everyone else, already.

 

[profwafflez]

I'm still waiting for a digital watch face that allows for all the complications I want - also for complications to be universal across all watch faces. e.g., Seconds widget not working on one of the Nike watch faces for no real reason. All of the most complication heavy watch faces have historically been analog only or modular only, which is a huge bummer.

Additionally, I really wish Apple would allow for custom watch faces. I'm already considering leaving the Apple Watch for Garmin due to the awful battery life on the AW (no, I'm not spending $350+ for half a day extra of battery) and if in 1.5-2 years the locked-in watch faces are still a thing I'm a Garmin guy at that point.

 

[Jay-Jacob]

Noooo Toy Story! I use that watch face. I will miss it.

 

[mk313]

I feel bad for anyone that uses any of these. One of the recent updates got rid of the Siri & (I think it's called Explorer) faces (the one that introduced the cellular strength on a pretty minimalist analog face). Those were literally the 2 faces I used.

Still getting used to not having them. Hope you all find other faces that you enjoy.

 

[nt5672]

There really isn't and I don't understand why Apple would remove any watch faces at any point to begin with.

Because you will obey and be assimilated or else.

 

[B4U]

Darn it, I like the Toy Story one and gives me a chuckle every time when switched to it.

 

[Gator5000e]

They day they get rid of Snoopy is the day I abandon the Apple ecosystem. :-}

The Snoopy AppleTV screen savers are excellent!

 

[Gator5000e]

For some reason, Apple tends to remove minimalist analog watch faces. After losing Numerals with the last watchOS update, now losing Gradient starts to feel personal. Some of us like minimalist clean analog options.

Reflections is pretty minimalist, looks great and you can use with and without complications.

 

[211]

NOOOO! I loved the Toy Story faces. It was a fave. I was hoping more Pixar ones would come.

Not a huge fan of Snoopy compared to Pixar, but they are fun, especially the tv screensavers

 

[Ankaa]

Reflections is pretty minimalist, looks great and you can use with and without complications.

I already have Reflections in my rotation. Added it after I discovered they took away Numerals. Unfortunately it doesn't quite give the same look of just a tiny pop of color on otherwise black that Numerals had. It also doesn't have the hour numerical, which I thought was a nice touch to an otherwise minimalist design.

I use the Pride Gradient if I'm feeling colorful. And really like the blue-teal Breathe face and use that one a lot on a daily basis.

Different styles for different occasions, e.g. playful vs everyday vs business-casual.... I always thought that was the whole point of being able to have multiple watch faces. Nowadays, when I scroll through the available options, 95% have more or less the same complications-heavy Men's watch cluttered look and/or are very playful without toned down options. There's nothing wrong with those options, but it's really missing more minimalist analog options, especially if those above now will go away as well.

 

[Astuces iOS]

I like the water one… why it’s gone? 😭

 

[Adamb10]

I really don’t understand why Apple won’t allow custom watch faces on WatchOS. They could create a Watch Face store and bring in more money.

 

[orbital~debris]

I love the Toy Story Apple Watch face. It's so nice to glance down and see those wonderful characters.
Also a nice way to customise your appearance for visits to Disney Parks.

I hope Apple reconsider removing this, and the others. The Liquid Metal, Fire/Water and Vapour faces are all so cool and make a nice change if you want to go from an info-dense face to something a little more visual. Even the Gradient is neat for a burst of a specific colour.