Apple Seeds Third Beta of watchOS 4.3 to Developers

Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming watchOS 4.3 update to developers, two weeks after seeding the second beta and two days after releasing watchOS 4.2.3, a minor update focusing on bug fixes.

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

watchos43beta
To install the update, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it has to be placed on the charger, and it needs to be in range of the iPhone it's paired to.

watchOS 4.3 introduces support for Nightstand mode in portrait orientation, a feature that was previously only available when the watch was placed in landscape orientation. There's also a new charging animation when the Apple Watch is placed on the charger, and your Activity data is now displayed on the Siri watch face.

In watchOS 4.3 beta 3, the Apple Watch's battery complication more accurately reports battery life. In the release notes, Apple says the battery complication "no longer reports remaining battery percentage in increments of 5."


The watchOS 4.3 update brings the return of a much-desired feature that allows music playing on the iPhone to be controlled using the Music app on the Apple Watch. In prior versions of watchOS, starting with watchOS 4, the Music app could only be used to control music playing on the watch itself. With tvOS 11.3 installed, there's also an option to control music playing on the Apple TV with the watch.

Apple plans to release watchOS 4.3 to the public in the spring, and until then, it will be limited to developers. Apple offers public betas of tvOS, iOS, and macOS, but watchOS betas are not available for public beta testers.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10

Popular Stories

Apple Watch Ultra 2 Complications

Apple Watch Ultra 3: What to Expect

Sunday July 13, 2025 10:30 am PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 is nearly over, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the Apple Watch Ultra 3:Satellite connectivity for sending and receiving text messages when Wi-Fi and cellular coverage is unavailable 5G support, up from LTE on the Apple Watch Ultra 2 Likely a wide-angle OLED display that ...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

Here's When to Expect the iOS 26 Public Beta

Tuesday July 15, 2025 11:07 am PDT by
Apple previously announced that a public beta of iOS 26 would be available in July, and now a more specific timeframe has surfaced. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said that Apple's public betas should be released on or around Wednesday, July 23. In other words, expect the public betas of iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, and more to be available at some point next week. Apple will be releasing...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 16 New Features

Friday July 11, 2025 12:40 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are only two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:A redesigned Dynamic Island: It has been rumored that all iPhone 17 models will have a redesigned Dynamic Island interface — it might ...
iPhone 17 Colors

All 15 New iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro Colors Revealed in Latest Leak

Wednesday July 16, 2025 6:50 am PDT by
We may finally have a definitive list of all color options for the iPhone 17 series, ahead of the devices launching in September. MacRumors concept In a report for Macworld today, Filipe Espósito said he obtained an "internal document" that allegedly reveals all of the color options for the upcoming iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max models. The report includes ...
apple tv 4k new orange

New Apple TV Expected Later This Year With These New Features

Saturday July 12, 2025 3:09 pm PDT by
A new Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Rumors Faster Wi-Fi Support The next Apple TV will be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He said the chip supports ...
Apple Hornsby

Apple Store Near Sydney Permanently Closing Later This Year

Monday July 14, 2025 6:14 pm PDT by
Apple today said its store at the Westfield Hornsby shopping mall, in Hornsby, Australia, will be permanently closing in October. Apple Hornsby In a statement shared with Australian tech news website EFTM (via Reddit), Apple said that it has decided not to renew its lease at Westfield Hornsby. Apple said all affected retail employees will be given the opportunity to work at Apple's nearby...
iphone 16 pro ghost hand

5 Reasons to Skip This Year's iPhone 17 Pro

Thursday July 10, 2025 4:54 am PDT by
Apple will launch its new iPhone 17 series in two months, and the iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to get a new design for the rear casing and the camera area. But more significant changes to the lineup are not expected until next year, when the iPhone 18 models arrive. If you're thinking of trading in your iPhone for this year's latest, consider the following features rumored to be coming...

Top Rated Comments

MrGimper Avatar
97 months ago
Really? Not a single comment yet? I guess WatchOS just isn’t that sexy anymore. LOL
It's probably more to do with less people trying watchOS betas as there is no user-accessible rollback option.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
emiaj Avatar
97 months ago
there’s a new app launch animation!

Attachment Image
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tkukoc Avatar
97 months ago
Really? Not a single comment yet? I guess WatchOS just isn’t that sexy anymore. LOL
Not much to get excited about with updates like these. Now WatchOS 5.. there's something to get excited about.

Though the animation changes are super nice.. they need to make the charging animation the same for the iphone.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
QuarterSwede Avatar
97 months ago
Not much to get excited about with updates like these. Now WatchOS 5.. there's something to get excited about.

Though the animation changes are super nice.. they need to make the charging animation the same for the iphone.
I liked your statements although, I’d argue that adding back starting playback on the iPhone from the AW Music app is exciting.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Starship67 Avatar
97 months ago
Siri broke on my Series 3 last night after the update. It won't respond to voice, have to hold down the Crown. Hey Siri broke on anyone else's watch?
If you haven’t, restart the watch.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MrGimper Avatar
97 months ago
Is it new that when pressing and hold the side button, there’s a haptic feedback for the emergency menu? (Same behavior as iPhone)

Also, when turning on the watch, as soon as it jumps to the passcode screen, there’s also a haptic feedback now. This is good because the watch normally takes a long time to launch, and before I had to check if it’s launched 2 or 3 times.

I couldn’t recall the same things happen before this beta...
[doublepost=1519241745][/doublepost]

I think there’s 2 new haptic feedbacks (watch launch to passcode screen and the emergency menu), but not totally sure that they didn’t exist before (see my previous post).

In general, this beta has been smooth so far on my Apple Watch series 2.
I would agree that, in my opinion, the haptic just before the passcode screen is new.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)