Apple Seeds Sixth Beta of watchOS 5.2 to Developers

Apple today seeded the sixth beta of an upcoming watchOS 5.2 update to developers, one week after seeding the fifth watchOS 5.2 beta and two months after releasing watchOS 5.1.3.

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.


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.

The watchOS 5.2 update introduces a set of new Hermès watch faces. The watch faces are available in pink and blue, and feature a gradient-style design that changes much like other Hermès watch faces. There are customizable numbers and an option for a single complication.


There could be changes coming to the way the ECG feature works in other countries. In iOS 12.2 and watchOS 5.2, when setting up a new Apple Watch, Apple is using location to make sure the ECG feature is available in a particular region, suggesting the company may be planning to geofence ECG functionality and limit it to the United States.

This would potentially prevent customers who purchased a U.S. Apple Watch but live in another country from using the ECG feature. Location is verified via SIM card and can't be bypassed during Apple Watch setup.

We haven't seen any other major changes in watchOS during the beta testing period, but we'll get a better look at what's included when Apple releases watchOS 5.2 to the public complete with release notes. We're expecting Apple to release watchOS 5.2 alongside iOS 12.2, tvOS 12.2, and macOS 10.14.4 following the company's March 25 event.