Apple Seeds Fifth Beta of New watchOS 4 Operating System to Developers

Monday August 7, 2017 9:59 AM PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the fifth beta of an upcoming watchOS 4 update to developers, two weeks after seeding the fourth beta and two months after introducing the watchOS 4 update at its 2017 Worldwide Developers Conference.

Once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Apple Developer Center, the watchOS 4 beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General --> Software update.

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To install the update, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it has to be in range of the iPhone.

watchOS 4 features three new watch faces, including a dedicated Siri watch face that displays dynamic information unique to each individual and is perhaps the most significant new feature in the update. There are also new complications for Now Playing and Apple News, and an enhanced Workout app that supports High Intensity Interval Training and new swimming options.

GymKit, a new technology platform, will let the Apple Watch interface with gym equipment for workout data sharing purposes, and the Activity app will offer up intelligent coaching and tailored workout encouragement along with new monthly activity challenges.

Many other small tweaks and changes have been introduced, all of which are outlined in our dedicated watchOS 4 roundup.

watchOS 4 is only available to developers and will not be provided to public beta testers, so non-developers need to wait until the software sees an official release in the fall to try it out.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 5
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)
45 comments


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BigMar89
21 months ago
Still can’t even download beta 4... continuously tells me “can’t connect to Apple Watch.”
Rating: 5 Votes
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jonnysods
21 months ago
I know vertical scrolling is more natural, but I kind of like the watch dock in watchos3
Rating: 2 Votes
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jhfenton
21 months ago

The Music app being consistently being open in WOS4 has to be contributing to the battery drain. Is there any way to disable it popping up when music is playing on the iPhone?

On the Watch app on the iPhone, under General->Screen Activation, there is a toggle for Launch Audio Apps. Turn that off. (I apologize if the menu names aren't exactly right. Those are my translations of the French menu names.)

I didn't like that functionality either, so I turned it off fairly quickly (once I found the toggle).
Rating: 2 Votes
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green94
21 months ago

On the Watch app on the iPhone, under General->Screen Activation, there is a toggle for Launch Audio Apps. Turn that off. (I apologize if the menu names aren't exactly right. Those are my translations of the French menu names.)

I didn't like that functionality either, so I turned it off fairly quickly (once I found the toggle).

Ah yes! Thank you!

Will report back tomorrow on battery life.

Thanks again.
Rating: 1 Votes
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tazinlwfl
21 months ago

Do you find that you prefer the new third party app launching interface?

The list view is nice for SOME apps. But once you get through half the list (A-Z), I'd rather use the grid.
Rating: 1 Votes
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jhfenton
21 months ago
Battery life on DP 5 was better on my run this evening. It was a short, easy run, 42 minutes, 5 miles, Apple Watch 2 with GPS and music to AirPods, no iPhone, 22% battery drain (80%->58%). It had been consistently about 40% per hour for watch-based GPS+musc. 22%/42 minutes is more like 31%/60. Tomorrow I'll try a longer run with my Polar HR strap to see how it does with the HR strap off-loading the HR monitoring.

I still use the honeycomb launcher. I have it optimized into an X-shape with key apps in the center and related apps in each of the four legs. All of my common apps show within the default zoom level, and I know automatically based on type which way to drag for less common apps.

I have not use the HIIT (or Fractionné as it calls it in French) exercise. I was excited when they announced the feature, hoping I could use it for interval running workouts, but that's not what it's for. :(
Rating: 1 Votes
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tazinlwfl
21 months ago
Beta 5 installed, and yeah - it's a little faster out the gate. Music took a bit longer than expected to open initially, but Music syncing seems to be faster. Stock App icons are back in the iPhone Watch app, and AirPods work great. Just need to confirm when I share an AirPod with my wife as we run to see if the connection has improved. I'll be testing all of the workout tracking apps tonight after work. I remember a couple suggesting not to update to watchOS 4 Beta (b1-3), but so far beta 4 has worked the best.
Rating: 1 Votes
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Jacob.r
21 months ago

Same here, I have solved this in the past by going in and out of airplane mode.... but no dice this time


I found a work around start playing music on your iPhone and use your watch to control the volume. it keeps the watch connected to your iPhone. Worked for me in the past and now.
[doublepost=1502130665][/doublepost]

Still can’t even download beta 4... continuously tells me “can’t connect to Apple Watch.”

I found a work around start playing music on your iPhone and use your watch to control the volume. it keeps the watch connected to your iPhone. Worked for me in the past and now.
Rating: 1 Votes
Avatar
jhfenton
21 months ago

If you don’t mind me asking what type of HIIT is it? I was also hoping for interval running workouts :/

It appears to be just another indoor exercise. It doesn't even track distance during the workout. Calorie calculations may be optimized in some way for HIIT workouts (based solely on HR). And it will classify your workouts better if you care about that.

What we need is the ability to program a traditional running interval workout with repeats and recoveries based on distance or time (e.g., 2-mile warm-up, 8 x 0.5 mile with 2 min/0.25 mile jogs, cool-down). I'm still looking for a good Watch app that handles that. (I believe RunKeeper has the basic functionality, but the app was buggy when I tried it.)

Besides battery life, it is the one major advantage that my old Garmins (315xt and 910xt) have over my Apple Watch.
Rating: 1 Votes
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nutmac
21 months ago

Two questions for devs on this one:
[LIST=1]
* Do you find that you prefer the new third party app launching interface?
* Is the high intensity interval training workout already in there, and if so (and you use it) do you have any impressions?


[LIST=1]
* You mean list view home screen? Yes, I hate managing apps on honeycomb based grid view, so I greatly prefer the list view.
* I haven't used it but it's there. List of workouts in beta 5 are:


* Outdoor Walk
* Outdoor Run
* Outdoor Cycle
* Indoor Walk
* Indoor Run
* Indoor Cycle
* Elliptical
* Rower
* Stair Stepper
* High Intensity Interval Training
* Other

The final build may add Skiing.
Rating: 1 Votes
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