During Apple's WWDC keynote event today in Cupertino, company execs announced, among other things, the latest Apple Watch software: watchOS 12, er, watchOS 26.Like iOS, macOS, iPadOS and the rest, the latest generation of watchOS will now be appended with the upcoming year, instead of a sequential number.What would have been watchOS 12, is now watchOS 26.Aside from the new name, there's a new look for watchOS, too.
Apple gave its entire suite of software a redesign, one that takes aesthetic cues and the "physicality and richness" of visionOS, the software used in the company's VR headset, the Vision Pro.It's the biggest redesign since iOS 7.The look is called "liquid glass" and dynamically reacts to movement and responds to the content on screen.
Menus now better fit to the rounded corners of the hardware.Notifications and other information now involve translucent backgrounds, giving the interface a glass-like appearance.The watchOS 26 also brings new features including Workout Buddy, plus Apple Intelligence upgrades that makes the Smart Stack more useful and Messages notifications more intelligent.Workout Buddy can give you spoken coaching and the Workout app itself has a new new layout.
Your watch will also suggest music to listen to based on the workout type.This latest suite of features join those announced during last year's WWDC, in which Apple previewed watchOS 11.The best of the bunch (for me anyway) was the ability to pause your Rings for a day in the Activity app.Other features included a Training Load metric that rates your efforts during exercise, comparing it with your output over time, and the Vitals app, which tracks overnight health metrics for those who wear their watch to bed.If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission.
