Apple Seeds First Beta of watchOS 10.4 to Developers

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming watchOS 10.4 update to developers for testing purposes, with the beta coming a week after the release of watchOS 10.3.

Apple Watch Faces watchOS 10 Feature Blue
To install the ‌watchOS 10.4‌ update, developers need to open the Apple Watch app, go to the Software Update section under "General" in Settings, and toggle on the watchOS 10 Developer Beta. An Apple ID linked to a developer account is required.

Once beta updates have been activated, watchOS 10.4 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 10.4 includes new emoji characters such as a lime, an edible brown mushroom, a phoenix, a broken chain, shaking head vertically (as in a "yes" nod), and shaking head horizontally (a "no" head shake).

Related Roundup: watchOS 26
Related Forum: Apple Watch

Popular Stories

iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island

iPhone 18 Pro Leak Adds New Evidence for Under-Display Face ID

Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker. According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

Apple to Make More Foldable iPhones Than Expected

Tuesday December 9, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports. In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds Second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found. Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
Johny Srouji

Apple's Chipmaking Chief Johny Srouji Responds to Report About Him Potentially Leaving

Monday December 8, 2025 9:23 am PST by
Apple's chipmaking chief Johny Srouji has reportedly indicated that he plans to continue working for the company for the foreseeable future. "I love my team, and I love my job at Apple, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon," said Srouji, in a memo obtained by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Here is Srouji's full memo, as shared by Bloomberg:I know you've been reading all kind of rumors and...
Johny Srouji

Apple Chip Chief Johny Srouji Could Be Next to Go as Exodus Continues

Sunday December 7, 2025 10:41 am PST by
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
google pixel 10

Switching Between iPhone and Android Will Get Easier With New Apple and Google Collaboration

Monday December 8, 2025 11:10 am PST by
Apple and Google are teaming up to make it easier for users to switch between iPhone and Android smartphones, according to 9to5Google. There is a new Android Canary build available today that simplifies data transfer between two smartphones, and Apple is going to implement the functionality in an upcoming iOS 26 beta. Apple already has a Move to iOS app for transferring data from an Android...
Intel Inside iPhone Feature

Apple's Return to Intel Rumored to Extend to iPhone

Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone. In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
Apple Fitness Plus expansion hero

Apple Fitness+ Coming to 28 New Regions With Digital Voice Dubbing

Monday December 8, 2025 6:19 am PST by
Apple today announced that Fitness+ is expanding to 28 new markets on December 15 in the service's largest international rollout since launch, accompanied by new language dubbing and a K-Pop music genre. Apple Fitness+ will become available in Chile, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, and additional regions on December 15, with Japan scheduled to follow early next year....

Top Rated Comments

MrGimper Avatar
24 months ago

While I understand updates on the watch are “limited” I think Watch OS updates needs something worthwhile, even major updates have very little to brag about.

Alwas waiting for Apple to come up with something “revolutionary” on the watch os.
More than 2 useful watch faces would be a start

There are currently more faces for kids than there are useful ones.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
yabeweb Avatar
24 months ago

More than 2 useful watch faces would be a start

There are currently more faces for kids than there are useful ones.
Well an app for Mac to develop watchfaces would be a great start.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nortonandreev Avatar
24 months ago
Wondering when they will remove the WiFi only and connected to charger requirements for installing updates.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Simon89 Avatar
24 months ago
Underwhelming as always for WatchOS.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rwilliams Avatar
24 months ago

Wondering when they will remove the WiFi only and connected to charger requirements for installing updates.
That really is so irritating. If I’m on the go and want to risk the battery hit or whatever to install it, make it an option.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fuzzball84 Avatar
24 months ago
What would be really cool is seeing a version os Watch OS for vintage and obselete Apple watches.. there will come a point where there are millions of unsupported Apple Watches that dont get returned to Apple for recycling etc.

They could make a version of watch OS that caters to these older watches that is a sort of extra few years or so of life as a cut down watch that is still a bit smart. Maybe a small fee like adding 10 dollars onto the proce of the battery replacement at the end of the watches support cycle and they hand you the watch back with that custom OS on it. Maybe just a set of stock apps for heart rate, timers, calculator etc and a battery runtime of days instead of hours?

My current Series 4 watch is coming to the end of its life… and its pristine.. just needs a new battery but the latest full OS it supports kind of killing it… and not in a good way.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)