Apple Seeds Fifth WatchOS 2 Beta to Developers

Apple-Watch-Midnight-Blue-250x299Apple today seeded the fifth watchOS 2 beta to developers for testing purposes, more than two weeks after seeding the fourth watchOS 2 beta and nearly two months after announcing the new operating system update at its 2015 Worldwide Developers Conference.

watchOS 2 requires the iOS 9 beta to be installed and can be downloaded over-the-air using the Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General --> Software Update. Caution should be used when installing this beta, as downgrading the software on the Apple Watch is not possible without help from Apple [PDF].

watchOS 2 is the first major update to watchOS, the software that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 2 introduces several new features that developers can use to improve their Apple Watch apps, including native apps that run on the watch itself instead of the iPhone. The software also allows developers to access the Taptic Engine and other sensors like the heart rate monitor, the microphone, and the accelerometer for the first time.

With the new tools for developers, Apple Watch apps will be more complex and full-featured. Other features in watchOS 2 include new watch faces (photo albums and time-lapse), third-party Complications, Time Travel, and a Nightstand mode that's activated when the watch is charging, displaying the time.

watchOS 2 is currently only available to registered developers who have also installed iOS 9 on their iPhones. Apple plans to release the software to the public in the fall.

What's new in beta 5:

Previous watchOS 2 betas haven't added many new features, but there are several new additions in watchOS 2 beta 5, as listed below.

Timelapse - There's a new Timelapse watch face that displays the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.

Sleep settings - There's a Settings option that will keep the Apple Watch's screen active and turned on for 70 seconds. Currently the watch face only stays on for 15 seconds.

watchos270seconds
Music - In the Music app, there's a new "Quick Play" button to access music on the iPhone more quickly. The Music app interface has also been tweaked and will display the app that's playing music.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Caution)

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Monday June 16, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
terminal macos tahoe

Apple's Terminal App Gets Colorful Redesign in macOS Tahoe

Monday June 16, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's Terminal app is getting a visual refresh in macOS Tahoe, and it's the first notable design update since the command-line tool debuted. The updated Terminal will support 24-bit color and Powerline fonts, according to Apple's State of the Platforms presentation at WWDC25. The app will also adopt the new Liquid Glass aesthetic with redesigned themes that align with macOS 26's broader...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

Apple Says iOS 26 Won't Be Available on These iPhone Models

Tuesday June 10, 2025 6:58 am PDT by
Apple this week revealed that iOS 26 is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer. That means that iOS 18 is the end of the road for the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR, which were all released in 2018. However, those devices will continue to receive security updates for at least a few more years. iOS 26 is compatible with the following iPhone models: iPhone 16e iPhone...
new iphone lockscreen ios 26

iOS 26: Five Changes Coming to Your iPhone Lock Screen

Tuesday June 17, 2025 8:46 am PDT by
With iOS 26, Apple has made some additions to the iPhone Lock Screen that aim to make it more customizable than ever. Of course, things can always change before the software makes its way to the general iPhone-owning public, but here are five new things iOS 26 can do on the Lock Screen as of the current developer beta. Widgets Top or Bottom In iOS 18, the row of widgets on your Lock...
iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Wednesday June 18, 2025 10:24 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a few days after Apple provided the betas to developers. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software Update. When the...

Top Rated Comments

fzfpff Avatar
129 months ago
please send the watch profile
here you go:
Score: 45 Votes (Like | Disagree)
utsava Avatar
129 months ago
I don't get it, Why is it called "complication" instead of "compilation"? I think we can distinguish between a Watch compilation and a Music compilation; not only is "compilation" more precise, "complication" has a negative connotation.
"Complication" is the term used in horology to describe a secondary function on a watch face. It has a long history that Apple is just continuing.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
liuping Avatar
129 months ago
Keep the screen active for 15 seconds or.... 70 seconds? What an odd second option.

15, 30 and 60 would be a better set of choices, IMHO.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JeffyTheQuik Avatar
129 months ago
Oh, thank ye gods!!!!
The last beta DESTROYED my battery life & I'd get random occasional reboots.
Thank you for beta testing this. I know a lot of people that don't appreciate beta testers, but I do. Without your testing, one could only imagine the bugs that'd get into the wild...
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Douglas B Avatar
129 months ago
Keep the screen active for 15 seconds or.... 70 seconds? What an odd second option.

15, 30 and 60 would be a better set of choices, IMHO.
No, they've been pretty smart about this. The nurses and paramedics who have asked for this need to be able to watch the second hand for 60 seconds. But they still need a few seconds after they have tapped the screen to get their hand on their patient's wrist for the pulse. 60 seconds wouldn't have been enough.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
andybno1 Avatar
129 months ago
Is multi-color modular face new in watchOS? As far as I can tell, my watchOS 1 Watch's modular face is all the same color, except the large center module, which is grey. So, I have it set to white, so it all pretty much looks white, to match the white Sport band. Don't know how I feel about the battery module being colored. Kind of ruins the white motif for me. More options would be nice.
this is how the multi-colour looks

Attachment Image
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)