Apple Seeds Seventh Beta of watchOS 8 to Developers [Update: Public Beta Available]

Apple today seeded the seventh beta of the upcoming watchOS 8 update to developers for testing purposes, with the update coming one week after Apple released the sixth watchOS 8 beta.

watchOS 8 on Apple Watch feature
To install ‌watchOS 8‌, developers will need to download the configuration profile from the Apple Developer Center. Once installed, ‌watchOS 8‌ can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General > Software update.

To update to new software, an Apple Watch needs to have 50 percent battery life, it must be placed on the charger, and it needs to be in range of the ‌‌iPhone‌‌. It's not recommended to install ‌watchOS 8‌ on a main Apple Watch as the software may be unstable at this early date.

watchOS 8 has several new features that are extensions of new features introduced in iOS 15. There are improvements to Wallet that allow it to hold keys for unlocking hotel, car, and home doors, plus Apple will let U.S. users add their IDs to Wallet later this year.

Apple overhauled the Home app, and for the Workout app, there are new Tai Chi and Pilates workout types, and the Breathe app has been renamed to Mindfulness thanks to a new Reflect session that invites users to get into a positive state of mind. When sleeping, the Apple Watch now measures respiratory rate.

Focus mode from iOS 15 syncs to the watch so users can stay on task, and in the Messages app, Scribble, dictation, and emojis can be combined within the same message, making it easier to communicate. Dictated text can be edited, and GIFs can be sent right from the watch.

There's a new Portrait watch face, and the Photos app has been updated with support for Memories and Featured ‌Photos‌. A new Find My app lets items be located right on the wrist, and there are also new updates for Music, Weather, Timers, and more, along with a new Contacts app.

Related Roundups: watchOS 11, watchOS 26
Related Forum: Apple Watch

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Top Rated Comments

Radeon85 Avatar
50 months ago
Beta 6 has been great for me on the series 6, can't complain whatsoever. It's actually a lot quicker showing the contents of notifications than OS 7 was and OS/app stability and performance has been rock solid so far. Battery life has actually been great as well, pretty much on par with OS 7 for me.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Radeon85 Avatar
50 months ago
With 7.6.1 and all prior previous versions I usually had 1 day 8hrs roughly plus or minus 3hrs depending on usage with my series 6 44mm with AOD on including the noise level feature. So far on beta 6 I was getting about the same and going by my current battery life on beta 7 that may be the same.

If you run with AOD off I'd say you should get close to that 48hrs of usage.

My watch is from release day and is reporting 93% health at the moment.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lleial Avatar
50 months ago

It's the public beta available? I'm in the iOS 15 beta and thinking about install WatchOS beta also... never had any WatchOS beta
Not sure, I usually just download the profiles from a site you can easily find on Google. My only concerns regarding the AW are if the beta is stable enough and the battery life; they say that the build version has the 'a' in it, meaning that its either the final version or a candidate of it. Since you can't roll-back when it comes to firmwares on the AW, its kind of scary to take the plunge. Let me know if you decide to go forward with it! cheers
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Braderunner Avatar
50 months ago
There are a lot of little bugs in watchOS 8. Hope at least some get squashed in this release.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
contacos Avatar
50 months ago
I hope they fixed turning my series 6 watch into a sluggish series 0
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jaredwsmith Avatar
50 months ago

Anyone on a Series 4? Curious what their experience is like. What is the build number of this beta on watch?
It's been fine on my series 4 aside from the battery life, which has been significantly worse by about two to three hours on average. (Battery health is at 92%.)

I'm hoping the public channel sees beta 7 today, but I wouldn't hold my breath -- the release cycle between developer and public betas for WatchOS is not as predictable as what we are used to with iOS.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)