Each summer, Apple announces its next major update to the Software watchOS for Apple Watch smartwatches, and then in the fall, to roll out this official update to the general public.
In this way, next summer we will participate in the main novelties that watchOS 8 will bring, at least officially, because there are already many rumors about the features that the operating system will bring to Apple watches.
In this article, we take a look at the future of watchOS 8 and explain what you can expect from the update. We explain when it will be announced, when it will be available in beta and when it will be released.
We also outline some of the most significant interface changes and new features that may be coming to the Apple Watch. For an overview of the latest features, check out our watchOS 7 What’s new guide.
Release Date: When will watchOS 8 be released?
Apple’s operating system updates are as common as the release dates of different generations of the watch.
They are usually announced to coincide with the WWDC event which takes place in June, and beta versions are released and available to developers. These constantly evolving versions are revised over the months until their final version.
Here is the schedule for watchOS 8:
- June 2021: watchOS 8 will be announced and officially shown
- June 2021: Launch of the first beta for developers
- July 2021: first public beta of watchOS 8
- September 2021: the final version of watchOS 8 is released
Which Apple Watch models will be compatible with watchOS 8?
These are the models of Smart watches Apple where you can install watchOS 8.
- Apple Watch Serie 3
- Apple Watch Series 4
- Apple Watch Serie 5
- Apple Watch SE
- Apple Watch Serie 6
- Apple Watch Series 7 (by confirmation)
Apple made a huge leap last year, removing two models from the list of compatible smartwatches in a single update. While Series 1 and later were allowed to install watchOS 6, Series 3 or later was required to install watchOS 7.
After a little expected move, we expect Apple to be more conservative this time around and Apple Watch Series 3 can keep updating to the new version. After all, Apple continues to sell this model in its store today at a very good price.
Design: how will the interface change?
Apple’s secrecy about new product launches has weakened in recent years, a process that begins in the component supply chain, with leaks from Asian countries.
This situation was made worse last year by the need to send engineers home with prototypes of products during the pandemic. This mainly applies to the company’s hardware and software.
However, with a launch so far back in time, it’s difficult to accurately predict what watchOS 8 will look like.
We are currently in the realm of speculative fiction or, as we call it in the tech press, “conceptual illustrations”. This means that a designer and an expert have come together and found out what they think the software will look like or what they expect from it.
An illuminating example of this comes from 9to5Mac, which released a series of illustrations to match your predictions for the next watchOS update. The site plans to use widgets on the Apple Watch screen and new watch faces.
The widgets on the screen are an intriguing idea, because unlike the widgets Present in the ‘Today View’ for several years, they were added to the iPhone under iOS 14 after a tireless request from users.
No one doubts they gave us more interface customization and we love the idea of being able to add mini widgets to the Apple Watch control center, which 9to5Mac suggests you can scroll horizontally.
9to5Mac also feels that the current lineup of Disney / Pixar faces is too limited (currently you have a choice of Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and the cast of Toy Story), and offers to add characters from various series of Apple TV + to list: Emily Dickinson, Snoopy, Ted Lasso and Bitsy Brandenham from Central Park.
New features
WatchOS 8 is likely to expand fitness routines. Apple will almost certainly add new sports to the list of training types, and other existing training sessions will be given their own algorithms instead of being treated for reporting as “Other”.
Based on patent activity, we believe Apple is looking to make Siri work offline. This would be a huge improvement, considering how frustrating it is to have simple commands unresponsive for a weak or bad connection.
We also tend to expect at least one new app preinstalled in a watchOS update; In addition to the interface changes, 9to5Mac plans to release several new features as part of watchOS 8.
The most obvious inclusion is health, something that already exists on iOS (but not iPadOS) that would make perfect sense on the largely health and fitness-centric clock. This would extract health data from various apps and allow you to monitor health from a single app.
Solar and astronomy are said to be two separate applications that replicate and extend the features of the popular and attractive faces of the solar chart and astronomy, which represent the positions of the sun and planets in our solar system.
9to5Mac also offers a battery app, very similar to the excellent iPhone battery widget, and a hiking app dedicated to outdoor activity users.
It is also said that Apple plans to add blood sugar monitoring to Apple Watch 7, as we tell you in the article. In short, endless news that we will gradually unravel as the launch date approaches and as we learn more about it all.
Read our article on best Apple Watch you can buy, where we talk about the current range, special editions, sphere sizes of each, as well as everything related to “Family Settings”.
.
Table of Contents