Apple has announced an upcoming update to the WatchOS operating system that powers the Apple Watch. This will be the first major update to hit the Apple Watch since its launch in April, and it will be called WatchOS 2.
Apple's watchOS 2, adds a ton of small features in addition to native app support. We're just going to list them for now:
- "New" watch faces (thank God), including Photo Album face and Time-Lapse face, a 24-hour time lapse of iconic locales shot at different places and keyed to your local time.
- Additionally, app developers can now make their own Complications, the unfortunately-named term for the customization options on watch faces. You can scroll forward in time via the digital crown and see things like upcoming events and temperatures. It's called... Time Travel.
- Since you're charging your Watch at night anyway, there's now a nightstand mode, which shows charge, time, and alarm. It activates when you place it on its side while charging.
WatchOS 2 enables FaceTime Audio support on the Apple Watch, so users can call other people with Macs, iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches. Users can also reply to email using Siri for dictation, and they can use now use multiple colors in the drawings that they send to other Apple Watch users.
In order to put these new tools in the hands of developers as quickly as possible, Apple is making a developer beta of WatchOS 2 available today. Apple has moved quickly to include new features and enable native application support, and it's looks like WatchOS may be set on the same yearly upgrade cycle as iOS and OS X. WatchOS 2 will be available officially this fall.
In order to put these new tools in the hands of developers as quickly as possible, Apple is making a developer beta of WatchOS 2 available today. Apple has moved quickly to include new features and enable native application support, and it's looks like WatchOS may be set on the same yearly upgrade cycle as iOS and OS X. WatchOS 2 will be available officially this fall.
