Apple Releases watchOS 26.1 With Bug Fixes

Apple today released watchOS 26.1, an update to the watchOS 26 operating system that came out in September. watchOS 26.1 comes a month and a half after Apple launched ‌watchOS 26‌.

watchos 26 gradient light
watchOS 26.1 can be downloaded for free on an iPhone running iOS 26.1 by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update, or initiating an update in the Settings app on the watch. To install the new software, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery and it needs to be placed on a charger.

No new features were discovered in watchOS 26.1 during the beta testing process, and Apple's release notes say the update includes unspecified "improvements and bug fixes."

Related Roundup: watchOS 26
Related Forum: Apple Watch

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Shows Off a Key Reason to Upgrade to the iPhone 17

Saturday February 7, 2026 9:26 am PST by
Apple today shared an ad that shows how the upgraded Center Stage front camera on the latest iPhones improves the process of taking a group selfie. "Watch how the new front facing camera on iPhone 17 Pro takes group selfies that automatically expand and rotate as more people come into frame," says Apple. While the ad is focused on the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, the regular iPhone...
Finder Siri Feature

Why Apple's iOS 26.4 Siri Upgrade Will Be Bigger Than Originally Promised

Friday February 6, 2026 3:06 pm PST by
In the iOS 26.4 update that's coming this spring, Apple will introduce a new version of Siri that's going to overhaul how we interact with the personal assistant and what it's able to do. The iOS 26.4 version of Siri won't work like ChatGPT or Claude, but it will rely on large language models (LLMs) and has been updated from the ground up. Upgraded Architecture The next-generation...
wwdc sans text feature

Apple Rumored to Announce New Product on February 19

Thursday February 5, 2026 12:22 pm PST by
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld. The report, citing industry sources, is available in English on Macworld. Apple announced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, February 19 last year, so the iPhone 17e would be unveiled exactly one year later if this rumor is accurate. It is quite uncommon for Apple to unveil...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro

Apple Says These 7 U.S. States Plan to Offer iPhone Driver's Licenses

Monday February 9, 2026 6:24 am PST by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Apple Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, and then use it to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. The feature is currently available in 13 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, and it is expected to launch in at least seven more in the future. To set up the...
14 inch MacBook Pro Keyboard

New MacBook Pros Could Now Arrive in March

Sunday February 8, 2026 6:02 am PST by
New MacBook Pro models with the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips could arrive as soon as Monday, March 2, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In today's "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that the release of new MacBook Pro models is tied to the release of macOS Tahoe 26.3. The launch is said to be slated for as early as the week of March 2. He added that the M4 Pro and M4 Max models on sale today...

Top Rated Comments

jz0309 Avatar
14 weeks ago
1.4GB on my Ultra 2 ... download int watch now while iPhone is in upgrade mode ... in other words, initiated the download on the watch while iPhone is in "boot mode, or install mode" and thus not connected to anything, much faster than using the method mentioned in the article.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RA1N1 Avatar
14 weeks ago
My god, 1 hour+ for my watch to update, servers are getting hammered, looks like everyone is fed up with 26.0.2 ?
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
verdi1987 Avatar
14 weeks ago

yea, they haven't touched the AW OS upgrades since 1.0
About a year ago I remember thinking, “Surely, they must have changed software updates to default to Wi-Fi by now.” Nope.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BigMcGuire Avatar
14 weeks ago

Ya, I guess found it funny and ridiculous how long it takes for the watch to update the normal why.
Amazing to me Apple would be ok with showing 1-6 hours via bluetooth for an update of this size and not default it to Wifi. lol. That is crazy. Dropped from 6 hours to 7 mins for me, LOL.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ATmahe Avatar
14 weeks ago

1.4GB on my Ultra 2 ... download int watch now while iPhone is in upgrade mode ... in other words, initiated the download on the watch while iPhone is in "boot mode, or install mode" and thus not connected to anything, much faster than using the method mentioned in the article.
yep, I also disconnect my watch(es) from the iPhone (turning off Bluetooth) before starting the update.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jz0309 Avatar
14 weeks ago

My god, 1 hour+ for my watch to update, servers are getting hammered, looks like everyone is fed up with 26.0.2 ?
see my post above, took just over 5 min to download
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)