WatchOS 10: The best new Apple Watch features from the public beta

The Apple Watch gets a major software update every year, and the latest is WatchOS 10, which brings app redesigns, widgets, and extra tools for cyclists and hikers. The WatchOS 10 public beta is now available for all Apple Watches starting with Series 4 and later. The beta, alongside iOS 17, gives us a preview of some of the new features ahead of its general release this fall.

I have been using WatchOS 10 for the last few days and have tried some of the best features.

If you want to give it a try, you’ll need to install the iOS 17 public beta on your iPhone first, and then install the WatchOS 10 beta on your Apple Watch. As with all beta software, proceed with caution. Features are subject to change between now and the final release, and I strongly recommend that you back up your Apple Watch and iPhone before installing. And know that you can’t go back to WatchOS 9 if you install the public beta.

The Apple Watch receives the widgets

Apple brought the Smart Stacks widget from your iPhone home screen to your watch. Smart Stacks dynamically update based on context, such as the time of day and how you use your watch. From the watch face, just rotate the Digital Crown to see the Stack. You can also swipe up from the watch face.

My Smart Stack usually shows upcoming calendar appointments, the weather, and my activity rings. But like the iOS home screen, you can further customize the Stack by long-pressing and removing or pinning apps.

WatchOS 10 also changes the way you open Control Center. Instead of swiping up from the watch face, press the side button. It even works when you’re in any app. With older versions of WatchOS, you had to go back to the home screen or long press on the bottom edge of the screen when in another app. If you prefer the dock that pops up when you press the side button in WatchOS 9 and earlier, don’t worry. You can still access them by double-clicking the crown.

All the stock Apple apps look better

Virtually all stock apps have been redesigned to hold more information on the screen. But in some cases they also look significantly different:

• Weather lets you tap or rotate the crown to see different views of air quality, wind speed, humidity, and more.
• The activity still shows rings in the middle, but around the edge you get a weekly summary, rewards, and challenges. You can also scroll down to see the more granular timeline view of your rings’ progress.
• Messages can show pinned contact names and photos when first opened, instead of the message list.
• Heart rate shows a new animation when reading vital signs.

One small change that I really appreciate is how easy it is to switch between the Apple Watch list view and the bubble app view. At the bottom of both lists, you will see a message to switch to the other view. Previously you had to long press to switch views or go into Settings.

New Apple Watch faces: Snoopy and Palette

It wouldn’t be an Apple Watch update without new faces. Snoopy and Woodstock can be on your wrist all day and have different animations depending on what you’re doing or the time of day. My favorite part of Snoopy’s face is what happens when you turn on the always-on display. I won’t spoil the surprise, but Snoopy reflects on how I feel after lunch every day.

The Snoopy face allows for no complications, but if you want a new look with more flexibility, the new Palette face is available. There are three different layers of color that change depending on where the hour and second hands are, with four complication slots around the edge of the dial.

WatchOS 10 offers more tools for cyclists and hikers

Apple has already added many useful cycling features to the watch, such as e-bike calorie calculation and automatic detection of bike workouts. With WatchOS 10 your iPhone turns into a cycling computer, more or less.

When you start a cycling workout your watch and your iPhone will automatically show a real-time activity on the lock screen. You can mount your phone on the handlebars and see all your activity metrics on the big screen, including HR zones, split times, elevation gain and speed. You can even mark segments, pause your workout, and lock screen controls to prevent accidental presses.

There is a live view which I find very useful as I love to ride, but I’m not serious enough to need a dedicated cycle computer. This iPhone/Apple Watch combination is also much more secure, because you don’t have to lift your wrist to see your stats all the time. You can just take a look at the phone.

I’m also excited about the support for Bluetooth accessories like power meter pedals, which is great news for serious, avid cyclists. To add one, go to the Settings app, tap Bluetooth, and then scroll down to see a new category called Health Devices. Just like any other Bluetooth device, once your Apple Watch detects the device, you can connect. I tried this with some power meter pedals on my stationary bike and it worked perfectly. Depending on which device you connect, your watch will show metrics like cadence (displayed as RPM) or power (watts).

I’ve wanted topo maps in Apple Maps ever since I reviewed the Apple Watch Ultra, rather than relying on a third-party app. Less than a year later, WatchOS 10 supports them, and not just for the Ultra. Any Apple Watch capable of running WatchOS 10 will be able to display topo maps.

Zoom in with the digital crown to see contour lines, trails, rivers and valley details. For now it is limited to the United States. You’ll also be able to find nearby trails and see their difficulty levels. Plus, if you start a hiking workout, your Apple Watch will give you elevation alerts on your wrist.

Offline maps will also be available on the watch for turn-by-turn navigation and ETA, but you’ll need to have your iPhone connected with you. The Compass app gets a new 3D view so you can see cellular connectivity waypoints showing where you last had a signal and SOS waypoints where you can make an emergency call.

Optimized charging for multiple Apple Watches

WatchOS 10 also lets your Apple Watch know your usage and decide when it’s the right time to fully recharge. This is called Optimized Charge Limit and was already included on Apple Watch Ultra, but WatchOS 10 adds it to SE and Series 6, 7 and 8.

When this feature is turned on you will see an open charging ring appear while the Apple Watch is on its charger. If you want to recharge beyond this optimized time, tap the circle with the green or yellow recharge icon, then press “Maximum charge now”. This may not appear right away, as it takes some time to learn your charging habits and will only trigger when you’re in certain places where you frequently charge your Apple Watch, like at home or work.

These are some of my favorite new features in the WatchOS 10 public beta, but there’s so much more to explore, including mood logging in the Mindfulness app, measuring time in daylight with the ambient light and NameDrop, which lets you share contact details when someone else’s iPhone is brought close to the Apple Watch.