watchOS 27 Features Dynamic App Grid, New Gesture Control, and More

[MacRumors]

Apple today unveiled watchOS 27, featuring a redesigned dynamic app grid, new gesture controls, and a raft of usability and battery improvements.

The new dynamic app grid surfaces and rearranges five apps based on context and usage. Users can simply tap the bottom center icon to go to the rest of their apps.

A new tap gesture lets users select a widget in the Smart Stack by tapping their index finger and thumb together once, allowing interaction even when the other hand is occupied. Apple is also expanding Smart Stack suggestions to surface more contextually relevant widgets, including birthday reminders for close contacts, a parked car location card, sleep alarm adjustments ahead of select holidays, and transit card balance checks.

Users can now create custom passes for any membership or card that uses a QR code or barcode, such as a library card, using their iPhone and access it directly from the Apple Watch's Wallet app or pin it to the Smart Stack. Transit cards and IDs will also appear in the Smart Stack.

Apple says it has improved Liquid Glass in watchOS 27 to improve readability through more uniform refraction and better contrast. Other improvements include faster Music playback startup, faster app extension launches, improved Wi-Fi connectivity, more efficient water detection, better battery efficiency with suggested optimizations, Guest Key support, and the ability to view card balances in the Wallet app. The settings interface in the Apple Watch app on iPhone also features a new design.

Find My is completely redesigned with a more map-centric layout and consolidates the Find Devices, Find People, and Find Items apps into a single unified view. A new Call Context feature can proactively surface relevant information from other apps during a phone call to a business, such as displaying a confirmation code from Mail when a user calls an airline. watchOS 27 also includes a large number of fitness, workout, and sleep tracking improvements.

Article Link: watchOS 27 Features Dynamic App Grid, New Gesture Control, and More

 

[Astuces iOS]

If they banned watches from school and from tournaments like from chess... it's because you can have ai on it...

 

[allenvanhellen]

I'd rather tap twice to select and just tap once to advance each step through the Smart Stack. While this change adds functionality, it's been annoying having to repeatedly double-pinch to go through each item.

 

[vertsix]

Have they fixed the Workout app crashing after pausing a workout and taking the watch off? Continues to happen!

 

[EM2013]

I wish I could turn off Smart Stack. Tired of it always activating because of the crown touching my wrist

 

[gleepskip]

Would it have hurt them to cover features like these in the keynote instead of the snore-fest they put on?

 

[pugxiwawa]

Another boring pointless update for watchOS.

 

[switz]

I have had the same watch face on all three generations of Ultra Watch. I do not need or use the other "features" that are announced. I can verbally send a text or call my wife and receive calls if I leave the iPhone at by mistake. Great piece of gear.

Do not need any of the new watch 27 OS now. Will not mess with it until v27.6 next year when it is mature.

 

[jz0309]

So still no way to turn Smart Stack off, that's disappointing. I know lots of people are using it but others don't want it, give us the option

 

[gummybear2026]

Dynamic App Grid? Apple loves gimmicky features that add no value at all.

 

[ELman]

It needs the ability to set a time zone that doesn’t change. When I’m away from my phone my watch is an hour ahead.

 

[Royksöpp]

Most apps are useless on the watch anyways, so it’s good to have the ones I actually use front and center.

 

[Séamus Boyle]

One thing I wish is we could get total steps for the week in the activity app. I hate having to use 3rd party apps for that. It was there years ago and they removed it for some reason.

 

[sjsharksfan12]

This would have been interesting to highlight during the keynote, but I was kept being told that there were no updates. It was just disappointing that most of the news is happening after the Keynote is over and how irrelevant (Probably based on my personal interest) the Keynote actually was to me.

 

[anthony13]

Too bad I can’t update my ultra to this.

 

[coolkid93]

Minuscule update that dropped support for so many Lol

Another boring pointless update for watchOS.

 

[WilliApple]

Another boring pointless update for watchOS.

Agreed.
They forced me to do this for an app grid and a Siri app that just runs the logic on your iPhone anyway...

 

[twinlight]

I like the morning "report" I get when I wake up with vitals and sleep score, would like to see it expanded to a weekly report with some activity stats included.

watchOS updates are light this year but there is still some things hiding until new watches drop.

 

[svish]

New gestures could be useful. Have to try out the new dynamic layout.

 

[eRaz0r84]

Sadly walkie talkie is missing. any news if it is a bug, or got they rid of this app / function? was using it daily with my family

 

[mrr]

I like it!

 

[Ctrlos]

Nothing wrong with a little software optimisation! The single tap is really useful. I use the other gesture all the time. It’s a shame they couldn’t find a way for it to detect which finger is being used so you can scroll up and down and use your middle finger to select.

 

[EpleSmeple43]

Great, even something as simple as getting to the app grid requires 2 actions now.

 

[luxetlibertas]

Wow, they dropped support for everything older than the Apple Watch 9. That includes the Apple Watch SE2, sold by Apple until nine months ago! This has to be the shortest support for any Apple device ever.

 

[polyphenol]

Wow, they dropped support for everything older than the Apple Watch 9. That includes the Apple Watch SE2, sold by Apple until nine months ago! This has to be the shortest support for any Apple device ever.

And MR failed to mention this in the summary. I consider it significant and it should have been included. (Mine is a Series 8 - so thinking about taking round the antique shops to see if I can flog it ...)