In the decade since the release of the original, the best Apple watches have come a long way. Starting out as what was positioned as a fashionable piece of technology, they are now considered an excellent health and fitness device.
There's a lot of talk about the Apple Watch with which the Apple Watch runs? With significant changes coming with watchOS 10 in 2023, including a completely different way to interact with and use Apple Watch, is watchOS 11 likely to take a backseat this year, with a smaller update?
We cover everything we've heard so far about watchOS 11, including what features we can expect and when it's likely to launch, as well as what features we'd love to see.
Come to the point
- What is it? The next major software release for Apple Watch
- When does it come out? Likely September
- What Apple watches will be compatible? Probably Series 5 and later
watchOS 11: rumored release date
Apple typically announces what features its next major software releases will offer during its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). The conference usually takes place annually in early June with the keynote address taking place on a Monday.
This keynote is typically where Apple details what's coming to watchOS, iOS, iPadOS, and macOS later that year. Apple hasn't announced dates for WWDC 24 yet (they're usually revealed around March), but based on previous patterns, we'd expect the conference to start on June 3 or 10.
Public and developer beta versions are usually released about a month later, in July, followed by the final version of the software in September, when the new Apple Watch and iPhone models are revealed.
Again, the date of the September announcement is still unknown, but it is generally the first or second week of September, and the software will be available for supported devices in the week following the announcements. That means we could see watchOS 11 arrive on compatible Apple Watch models starting September 9.
watchOS 11: News and leaks
Rumors and leaks about watchOS 11 have been minimal so far, but it's pretty early so it's not a big surprise. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also reported in late 2023 that work on watchOS 11 and other major software releases was briefly delayed, which could explain the lack of news so far.
That said, there has been talk of Apple incorporating a large language model in iOS 18, which would make Siri more useful and help Apple's assistant keep up with advances in artificial intelligence and adopt features offered by some of its competitors. If true, we'd expect some of that to trickle down to Siri in watchOS 11 as well, which would likely result in Apple's smartwatch being more capable of interacting with information and apps with less user input.
Apple has also confirmed support for RCS, which is expected to come with iOS 18, although that item is unconfirmed and Apple only says it by the end of 2024. If RCS support comes to the iPhone in September (aside from there being no more green bubbles around your messages) will also mean it's coming to Apple Watch with watchOS 11.
In terms of compatibility, there are currently no leaks to suggest which Apple Watch models will lose support, but an educated guess would suggest that the Apple Watch Series 4 will be on the chopping block, while the Series 5 and later will support the new software. We'll update this feature as more news about watchOS 11 emerges, as well as any rumors about supported models.
watchOS 11: What we want to see
Rumors about watchOS 11 are thin on the ground for now, but there are a few things we'd really like to see when the next major software arrives for the Apple Watch.
1. A recovery ring
When the Apple Watch was announced in 2014, the three activity rings played a key role in the interface and concept of the smartwatch, and they still do. The Move ring, Exercise ring, and Stand ring are the measure by which the Apple Watch determines how well you've done in terms of daily activity goals. You can now adjust all three to your preference, but otherwise the basic precedent remains the same as it was a decade ago.
We would like to introduce a fourth ring with watchOS 11: Recovery or Sleep. This could automatically replace the exercise ring for days when Apple Watch has analyzed all the data it has collected and decided it's due for a rest day, for example. Or maybe it could be an extra ring that fills up throughout the week based on your activity and sleep, and once full, Apple gives you a day of rest by locking the Exercise ring and the user chooses to accept or decline that day. Rest.
2. Steps as complication or objective
We still remember when the 10,000 steps per day metric was launched as a good starting point for those who wanted to stay fit by walking. While the scientific evidence on whether or not 10,000 steps is enough is a bit thin, it's still a measurement that many people use and it's one that the Apple Watch doesn't currently highlight particularly well.
If you're someone who likes to make sure you've completed 10,000 steps a day in addition to completing your movement and exercise rings, you should open the Activity app on your Apple Watch and scroll down four screens until you find out your daily step count. If you press the Digital Crown once on that page, the next time you open the Activity app, it will show the steps screen right away (a helpful tip for anyone who doesn't know this), but we'd like to see more steps. accessible with watchOS 11.
Apple has never focused on this metric, but the ability to add steps as a complication on Watch Faces without downloading a third-party app, or set the exercise ring as a step goal instead of active minutes, would be great.
3. More detailed sleep tracking
Apple improved the sleep tracking it offered on the Apple Watch with watchOS 9, but while it's now possible to see sleep stages and various data like resting heart rate and breathing rate, the Apple Watch is still a bit behind Fitbit and Whoop when it comes to sleep tracking.
We'd love to see watchOS 11 use the sleep data collected by the Apple Watch to give you a more holistic view of your overall fitness and give you more information about whether you might need to take a day of rest and recovery, or if you should feel comfortable. -top and ready to go in terms of exercise. Something similar to Garmin's Body Battery or Fitbit's Daily Readiness Score, for example, would be one of our top requests for watchOS 11. This, of course, feeds into our previous request for the recovery ring.
4. Flexibility in watch faces
With every major software release for Apple Watch, we get a couple of new watch faces. For watchOS 10, this included Snoopy, which was easily one of the best features that came with the new software. It was added along with Palette, which was also good, but it wasn't Snoopy and Woodstock.
For watchOS 11, we'd love to see third-party Watch Faces, but we're aware that's highly unlikely, so we'd ask for a little more flexibility with existing Watch Faces. We'd like to be able to add a complication to Snoopy, for example, or for Apple Watch to suggest some useful complications based on our usage habits and the apps we have on our Apple Watch for Watch Faces that do have complication capabilities.
5. Programmable side button
Just as third-party watch faces are unlikely, Apple is also making the side button on the Apple Watch programmable, especially since it recently switched to launching Control Center with watchOS 10. Still, we can dream. Both the Watch Ultra and Watch Ultra 2 have the additional programmable action button, but the standard Apple Watch series models do not have it as a feature.
Being able to quickly launch a workout or another app with a press of the side button would be very welcome with watchOS 11. Of course, that would mean moving the Control Center: for the moment, swiping left to right or right to left from the The Apple Watch's home screen has no function, so surely the Control Center could be moved there.
We'd still have Apple Pay launch by double pressing the side button, but we'd really love to be able to program a single press. Please Apple?
