Apple has previewed watchOS 26, offering a new look and more artificial intelligence for a more personalized experience.
A new design with Liquid Glass makes features like the Smart Stack, Control Center, the Photos watch face, and in-app navigation and controls more expressive, while maintaining the instant familiarity of watchOS, according to David Clark, Apple’s senior director of watchOS Engineering.
He adds that Apple Intelligence enhances the fitness experience with Workout Buddy, which provides personalized, spoken motivation. The Workout app features a new layout, and offers music to listen to based on a user’s tastes and the workout type. Clark says that watchOS 26 makes everyday interactions even more convenient with Smart Stack hints and updates to Messages, and introduces a new one-handed wrist flick gesture to easily dismiss notifications.
Apple says the following additional updates in watchOS 26:
- The Notes app comes to Apple Watch, allowing users to access their notes right on their wrist. Users can also pin and unlock notes, complete checklist items, and create new notes with Siri, dictation, and the keyboard.
- Hold Assist and Call Screening come to the Phone app, when an iPhone is nearby. When a user is waiting for a live agent, Hold Assist recognizes once a live agent is available and notifies the user to return to the call.4 Call Screening helps users manage incoming phone calls from unknown numbers more efficiently by collecting a name and reason for the call before their phone rings, so they can make an informed decision on whether to pick up, decline the call, or ask for more information.5
- For users who are deaf or hard of hearing, Live Listen controls come to Apple Watch with a new set of features, including real-time Live Captions of what their iPhone hears on a paired Apple Watch while listening to the audio.6 Apple Watch serves as a remote control to start or stop Live Listen sessions on a paired iPhone, or jump back into a session to capture something that may have been missed.
- The Photos face will now shuffle images based on Featured content from Photos, so users can see images of their most meaningful moments every time they raise their wrist or tap the display.
- Users can now explore and discover watch faces more easily with the redesigned watch face gallery on Apple Watch and in the Watch app on iPhone, with faces grouped into collections.
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