Apple Seeds watchOS 10.1 Release Candidate to Developers and Public Beta Testers - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple Seeds watchOS 10.1 Release Candidate to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Apple today seeded the release candidate version of an upcoming watchOS 10.1 update to developers and public beta testers for testing purposes, with the beta coming a week after the release of the third watchOS 10.1 beta.

Apple Watch Faces watchOS 10 Feature Blue
To install the ‌watchOS 10‌.1 update, developers will need to open the Apple Watch app, go to the Software Update section under "General" in Settings, and toggle on the ‌watchOS 10‌.1 Developer Beta. An Apple ID linked to a developer account is required. Public beta testers will need to follow the same steps after opting in to the beta through Apple's public beta testing website.

Once beta updates have been activated, ‌watchOS 10.1‌ can be downloaded under the same Software Update section. To install software, an Apple Watch needs to have 50 percent battery life and it must be placed on an Apple Watch charger.

watchOS 10.1 adds NameDrop support for sharing contact information with another Apple Watch or an iPhone, plus it includes Double Tap.

NameDrop can be used by tapping into the Apple Watch Contacts app, selecting your profile, and tapping on the "Share" option. From there, touching the Apple Watch to another Apple Watch running watchOS 10.1 or an iPhone running iOS 17 will initiate a contact transfer.

Double Tap is a gesture exclusive to the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra, and it allows users to tap their thumb and index fingers together to do things like bring up the Smart Stack, start a call, pause a song, and more.

Related Roundups: watchOS 26, watchOS 27
Related Forum: Apple Watch

Popular Stories

watchos 26 hypertension alert

Upgrading to Apple Watch Series 12 Could Cost You Hypertension Notifications

Thursday September 10, 2026 11:57 am PDT by
Some Apple Watch users who upgrade to the Series 12 or the Ultra 4 might temporarily lose access to hypertension notifications. On the watchOS feature availability page, Apple says notifications might not be available on the Series 12 or Ultra 4 at launch because regulatory clearances are in process. Hypertension Notifications may not be available on Apple Watch Series 12 or Ultra 4 in your ...
watchos 27

Apple Releases watchOS 27 With Siri AI, New Watch Face, Smart Stack Improvements and More

Monday September 14, 2026 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released watchOS 27, the newest version of the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 27 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 9 and later, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and later, and the Apple Watch SE 3. watchOS 27 can be downloaded for free on a compatible device through the Settings app on the watch. The update introduces support for Siri AI, a more capable...
watchos 27

Apple Seeds watchOS 27, visionOS 27, and tvOS 27 Release Candidates

Wednesday September 9, 2026 12:06 pm PDT by
Apple today seeded the release candidate versions of watchOS 27, visionOS 27, and tvOS 27 to developers and public beta testers. The release candidates are the final versions of the updates that will be seeded to the public as long as no final bugs are found during this last round of testing. The updates can be installed through the Software Update section in the Settings app on each...

Top Rated Comments

jonnysods Avatar
38 months ago
Resurrect my AW6's battery life please!
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dadiy Avatar
38 months ago
Really miffed by double tap. Been using it for years on aw6, you enable it in accessibility so why can I use that in watchOS 10 but not the “new” double tap.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacNut Avatar
38 months ago
Hopefully it fixes the altimeter readings.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pdaholic Avatar
38 months ago

Interesting. Of all the things I don't like, I think the redesigns are mostly good. Which app redesign did you not like?

I don't like the game of musical chairs they played between control center, app view, and dock.

I also wish they had a corner digital time complication, while we're at it.
A couple of things that come to mind immediately--the scrolling list view of the calendar and its fonts having a similar color to the background on the entry; calendar entries in the widgets have bright white backgrounds, while the rest of the OS looks to be in "dark mode"; tapping the calendar complication takes me now to a detailed list of information about the entry that I don't need...I could keep going. There also seems to be a bug with third party calendar apps not showing entries, but I'm hoping that will be fixed.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
38 months ago

That is ...not a fix.
People can’t even see the watch in dark rooms and they are not doing anything — do you really think they are going to undo a “feature” that was intentionally removed LOL
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jonnysods Avatar
38 months ago

I had a S6 and just made a trade in for an Ultra 2. Got 130 USD for the trade-in.
S6 was a great series - and I miss it but if you can afford - I would recommend it because next year it’s not gonna be worth too much.

Again, it;s all about your financials - I know it’s expensive… :( but if you can - it’s an insane upgrade
I really want the AWU2 and was holding out for it - but its the coinage, need to be wise with what I have (even though it pains me!)
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)