Apple Seeds Third Beta of watchOS 9.4 to Developers - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple Seeds Third Beta of watchOS 9.4 to Developers

by

Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming watchOS 9.4 update to developers for testing purposes, with the software update coming one week after launch of the second beta.

Apple watchOS 9 Feature
To install the watchOS 9.4 update, developers will need to download the configuration profile from the Apple Developer Center.

Once installed, ‌watchOS 9.4 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 has to be placed on the charger, and it will need to be in range of the ‌iPhone‌ it is paired with.

watchOS 9.4 gains support for new emoji characters that include donkey, goose, black bird, shaking head, hyacinth, pea pod, and more, with 31 new characters available in total.

Through iOS 16.4, the update adds support for Web Push notifications that are sent to an iPhone, with the notifications able to be set up for a website that is added to the iPhone's Home Screen.

watchOS 9.4 will go through several rounds of beta testing, and it is expected to see a launch in the spring alongside iOS 16.4.

Popular Stories

Apple Logo Gradient 16x9 1

Apple Just Made an Extremely Rare Product Announcement

Thursday August 27, 2026 7:58 am PDT by
The new Mac mini and Mac Studio models unveiled by Apple this week are the company's first new Macs announced in August since 2020. It is extremely rare for Apple to announce new products of any kind in August, excluding smaller things like new color options and accessories. As mentioned, Apple's last notable August product announcement was in 2020, when it updated the 27-inch iMac and a...
Read Full Article
Apple Surprise Shine

Apple Event: Six New Products to Expect on September 9

Thursday August 27, 2026 8:00 am PDT by
Apple has announced that it will be holding an event on Wednesday, September 9 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, with the company widely expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, its first-ever foldable iPhone, and more. Other products expected to be announced at the event include an Apple Watch Series 12 with a ceramic case option, an Apple Watch Ultra 4, AirPods 5 with and without...
Read Full Article • 55 comments
iPhone 18 Pro Dark Cherry Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Pre-Orders May Start at an Unusual Time

Friday August 28, 2026 8:17 am PDT by
Pre-orders of Apple's iPhone 18 Pro may not open until Saturday, September 12, a day later than the company's usual schedule, according to a new report. Apple is set to hold its annual iPhone event on Wednesday, September 9, where the iPhone 18 Pro models, its first-ever foldable iPhone, and the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 are all expected to be announced. Under Apple's typical...
Read Full Article • 36 comments

Top Rated Comments

floral Avatar
floral
46 months ago
More emoji is crucial for watch users... have no clue how they type on that thing for over a minute without going ballistic.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
surfzen21 Avatar
surfzen21
46 months ago

More emoji is crucial for watch users... have no clue how they type on that thing for over a minute without going ballistic.
Yep. Dictation is very helpful and more accurate than I expected. Ill swipe a few words to a sentence but if I want to communicate more on my AWU I just dictate it.

The one thing I wish for dictation was the ability to scroll through the dictation to see what it wrote. That doesnt seem to be a feature. Although I haven't tried to use the crown, just my fingers.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
surfzen21 Avatar
surfzen21
46 months ago
I hope this build is more stable for everyone who's using it!!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments