Skip to Content

Apple Seeds Fourth Beta of watchOS 6.1 to Developers

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming watchOS 6.1 beta to developers, just under a week after seeding the third watchOS 6.1 beta and a month after releasing the watchOS 6 update with full App Store, new Apple Watch faces, and more.

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.

applewatchseries5
To install the update, the Apple Watch needs to have over 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it has to be in range of the iPhone.

There were no major changes found in the first three watchOS 6.1 betas, so it's not entirely clear what's included in the update, but we'll update this article should new features be found in the third beta. The update may be focused on bug fixes and under-the-hood performance improvements.

watchOS 6.1 does work with the Series 1 and Series 2 Apple Watch models, which were excluded from the watchOS 6 release.

Apple said that watchOS 6 would come to the older Apple Watch models at a later date, so it's possible watchOS 6.1 will be the first version of watchOS 6 to work with the Series 1 and Series 2 Apple Watches.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 11
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)

Popular Stories

iOS 27 Mock Quick

iOS 27 Will Reportedly Be Like Mac OS X Snow Leopard

Sunday March 15, 2026 9:42 am PDT by
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reiterated that iOS 27 will be similar to 2009's Mac OS X Snow Leopard, in the sense that one of Apple's biggest priorities is bug fixes for improved performance and stability. During WWDC 2008's State of the Union, Apple showed a slide that said Mac OS X Snow Leopard had "0 new features," as it opted to focus on performance and...
AirPods Max 2 Feature

Apple Announces AirPods Max 2 With H2 Chip and More

Monday March 16, 2026 6:12 am PDT by
Apple today unveiled AirPods Max 2, with key upgrades including the H2 chip, increased active noise cancellation, improved sound quality, and features such as Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, Voice Isolation, and Live Translation. The new AirPods Max have the same overall design as the previous generation, with most of the new features coming from the upgrade to the H2 chip:- Adaptive ...
Apple Logo Sketch Feature

Apple Unveiled a Surprise New Product Today

Monday March 16, 2026 10:50 am PDT by
Surprise! Apple today unveiled the AirPods Max 2, despite no rumors suggesting that a new version of Apple's over-ear headphones were imminent. Key upgrades compared to the previous AirPods Max include Apple's H2 chip, increased active noise cancellation, improved sound quality, and features such as Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, Voice Isolation, and Live Translation. AirPods Max ...

Top Rated Comments

Tony_YYZ Avatar
84 months ago
And still no Siri Shortcuts fix I bet
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
84 months ago
I would just like it if I could delete sms messages on my phone and they would automatically delete on my watch Like iMessages does. I assume Apple could do that.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Tony_YYZ Avatar
84 months ago

This is the only thing I’m interested in. I can’t believe Macrumors etc haven’t had a news article on how there’s currently no Siri Shortcuts on either Apple Watch or HomePod. Insane.
Yeah it's incredibly surprising how no outlets made any noise about this. Especially since Apple themselves have released no information about it. They are just hoping people will accept and move on?
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
84 months ago

And still no Siri Shortcuts fix I bet
This is the only thing I’m interested in. I can’t believe Macrumors etc haven’t had a news article on how there’s currently no Siri Shortcuts on either Apple Watch or HomePod. Insane.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
84 months ago

I don’t know what Thermo Watch is. But are you confirming that Siri Shortcuts created in the Shortcuts app are now working on Apple Watch with this update?
Yes. They are for me. I also just tested it with a shortcut for Dark Sky.
The Thermo Watch shortcuts were created in that app. But, they have not been working. Been getting message, "Sorry, shortcuts aren't available on Apple Watch...".
The Dark Sky shortcut was created in the Shortcuts app.
Yeaaahhh! Now, I have to get used to using them on the Watch, again. Been so long...I was starting to get used to their absence from the Watch.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
84 months ago
Nice to see them moving forward with the next release.

Frankly, I want to keep 6 off of my Series 3 for as long as possible (seems like mostly performance downsides). I woke up to the notice (last weekend) that there wasn't enough space to install 6.xx the on the prior night and I was so thankful for that situation.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)