Apple today released watch OS 2.0 which contains new features and capabilities for users and developers, including the following:
• New watch faces and timekeeping features
– Time-lapse videos of Hong Kong, London, Mack Lake, New York, Shanghai, and Paris
– Photo and Photo Album so you can see your favorite images every time you raise your wrist, including support for Live Photos
– Time Travel with the Digital Crown to see what’s coming in the future or what’s happened in the past
– Nightstand Mode so your Watch can be used as a bedside alarm clock
– 9 new colors to customize your watch face, and a new multicolor Modular face
– Support for third-party apps to create complications
• Siri improvements
– Start a specific workout, get transit directions, or ask to see a glance
– Support for FaceTime audio calling and replying to email
– Support for HomeKit to control supported devices in your home using Siri
– New support for Austria, Belgium (French and Dutch), and Norway
• Activity and Workout improvements
– Workouts from third party apps on the Watch can be included in your Activity rings
– Activity rings, workouts, and achievements can be shared from the Activity app on iPhone
– Interactive achievements
– On-demand weekly summary
– Mute Activity notifications for one day
– Workouts saved automatically
• Apple Pay and Wallet improvements
– Support for Discover cards
– Support for rewards cards and store credit and debit cards
– Add passes to Wallet directly from third party apps on your Watch
• Friends and Digital Touch improvements
– Add more than 12 Friends directly from Apple Watch
– Multiple Friends’ groups that you can name
– Send sketches using multiple colors
– New options for animated emoji
• Maps improvements
– Transit view, showing transit lines, stations and intermodal connections in select major cities
– View the list of directions for your current route
– View station placards with departure information
• Music improvements
– New Beats 1 button to start playing the 24/7 radio station
– New Quick Play button to play a variety of songs from Apple Music
• Reply to emails using dictation, emoji, or smart replies customized specifically for email
• Make and receive calls using FaceTime audio
• Support for Wi-Fi calling without iPhone in proximity on participating carriers
• Activation Lock prevents anyone from activating your Apple Watch without your Apple ID and password
• New developer capabilities including
– Native SDK to build faster and more powerful apps running natively on Apple Watch
– Access to accelerometer to more granularly track your motion
– Access to heart rate sensor for use during a workout
– Access to microphone and speaker to record and play audio
– Access to the Taptic Engine with 8 different types of Haptic feedback
– Access to the Digital Crown for more precise controls
– Ability to play video directly on Apple Watch
– Support for running apps without iPhone in proximity, including access to networking capabilities when connected to known Wi-Fi networks
– Complications on the watch face
– Workouts from apps can be counted towards Activity rings
– Workouts from apps can be included in Activity app on iPhone
• New support for system language in English (India), Finnish, Indonesian, Norwegian, and Polish
• New support for dictation in Dutch (Belgium), English (Ireland, Philippines, South Africa), French (Belgium), German (Austria), Spanish (Chile, Colombia)
• New support for smart replies in Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong, Taiwan), Danish, Dutch, English (New Zealand, Singapore), Japanese, Korean, Swedish, Thai
Some features may not be available for all countries or all areas.
To update: Make sure your Apple Watch is plugged into a power source and your iPhone is connected to both Wi-Fi and your Watch (via Bluetooth). Open the Watch app on your iPhone and go to My Watch > General > Software Update.
For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222
The process too about 45 minutes to complete on my Watch. An otherwise uneventful update.
Of course they release it when I finally said “screw it, I’m installing the developer golden master” earlier this morning. Oh well, hopefully they push out an update to GM like they did for iOS 9.
They did. Update is already available for the devs too.
And if anyone is interested, the core update to watch OS GM was ~500MB while today’s update to the latest patches is 12.4MB.
Over 50 minutes then hung on verifying. Starting all over. Such fun!
In the watch app go back to My Watch the tap Software Update again. I did this & it asked to enter my unlock code on my watch then it went from verifying to installing.
I’m hung on Verifying also! That’s a BAD APPLE!
Me too. Same thing. Multiple times now. C’mon Apple. I thought you gave it a few extra days to fix this?
Three “verifying” hangs.
I’ll wait.
I’m still verifying after three restarts! BAD BAD BAD APPLE!
has anyone been able to kick the tires on it yet?
I’m ‘Installing…’ 😊
Not much help re hangs, but mine updated OK. I plugged watch and phone in to power just to be safe.
Not yet available in Oz
I’m not even getting the update. Keeps saying 1.0.1 is current.
Update your phone to iOS 9 first. That should help.
My iPhone 6+ has been updated since iOS 9 was released. I just finished installing watchOS 2 after 3 grueling hours of hanging up on Verifying! Very BAD APPLE! Now I’m disappointed that I can’t have more info on my picture face screen, like battery level, fitness tracker, temperature, etc. all I’m asking is for the small icons.
AW 2.0- Automatic texting with Siri, very good addition. Example, hit the Siri button and say, “text Lucy #76”. Her response, OK I will send this to Lucy! The result is that I changed the setting on my Nest thermostat to 76°. No need to confirm it, if you don’t cancel within a few seconds the text goes out. The magic of IFTTT.
It took about 2h30 to install the update. I had to restart my phone and restart my Apple Watch, as the update of the Apple Watch on my iPhone was not working and stayed on the “estimating time” for — well — EVER…
Something needs to be done with these updates, APPLE! It’s so not fun! I mean, wasting almost 3 hours to update a watch should not even be a conversation, y’all!
I can’t get past Verifying either. Now after a few minutes, I get a popup that says the download can’t be verified because I’m not connected to the internet. However, I AM connected to the internet. The popup gives me two choices, “OK” and “Details.” Since I am connected, I it “Details.” Nothing happens, it just pops me back to the download screen.
Will all you people out there trying to download watchOS 2 please take a one hour break so I can get my download verified and installed? Thanks!
7 hours waiting patiently for the install to begin. No joy here.😖⌚️
Thanks for the tips. I finally am getting an Installing… message.😃
The iOS 9 iPhone 6+ WATCH app has reverted to the
watchOS 1.0.1
Your software is up to date.
Screen in the Software Update pane. But the spokes update progress on the WATCH SPORT continues as if it’s updating.😱😢
Very slowly. Like a spoke every 2-3 minutes.
The last quarter of spokes lit up much faster. Now the WATCH SPORT appears to be rebooting – sans spokes. Upon restart I got a bogus “this charging accessory is not supported by WATCH”. It’s the charging puck that came with my WATCH SPORT. Charge dropped from 100% to 81% in minutes. Now must be 2.0 because the new faces are here.⌚️😃
So I just tried restarting both Watch and phone and now the Watch app on my phone says the software is up to date. Except that it’s at WatchOS 1.0.1.
Did they pull the update?
Yeah, this update is pretty ugly, it so reminds me of the bad ‘ol Microsoft days. Come to think of it, Apple is reminding me more and more of Microsoft. I’ve gone through to the ‘Verifying’ hang three times now, still with no luck. Apple Quality Control needs some serious help…
“Verifying” for over six hours. Restarted the Watch. Nothing. I’m running the 9.1 Beta. I hesitate to call AppleCare because I’m sure they’ll tell me they aren’t supporting 9.1 Beta. If I tell them I’m discouraged by how difficult this has been, I know they’ll tell me they understand how discouraging this has been for me. They’re all well trained to empathize with the caller. It just doesn’t solve my problem.
Yikes, FINALLY it says “Installing…” Not sure why or how, but I’m ready to move on.
Since upgrading, my battery is not lasting the whole day!! Anyone else notice this?
I’ve gotten the verifying status numerous times before nothing happens.
Finally, I decide to reboot my watch before I try one last time, and voila, it seems to be working this time. I’ve gotten an “installing” and spokes on my watch face indicating an installation is taking place.