Apple today released watchOS 26.3, an update to the watchOS 26 operating system that came out in September. watchOS 26.3 comes two months after Apple released watchOS 26.2.
watchOS 26.3 can be downloaded for free on an iPhone running iOS 26.3 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.
According to Apple's release notes, watchOS 26.3 includes unspecified bug fixes and security updates, and there were no new outward-facing features discovered during the beta testing process.
Wednesday March 11, 2026 7:05 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
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intiate the download from the apple watch app on my phone then turn off bluetooth on my phone
It should not matter too much but if you start the download over BT and then kill the BT it will switch to Wifi and try re-regulate the speed. It might just be cleaner to do the entire thing over wifi.
I doubt it makes too much difference over the download period but optically it will likely give you incorrect "... minutes remaining" estimates.
EDIT: Just don't forget to turn BT back on after the download has finished :D
Mine’s taking longer than both my iPhone and iPad.
You mean the actual download itself? Mine took <5 min, don't want to know what if would have been via the phone, but yes, preparing, verifying takes another 20-30 min and install is usually about 5 min. I usually plan on the whole process taking maybe an hour, which is fine with me. Slow, sure, but the computing power in the watch is limited.
You mean the actual download itself? Mine took <5 min, don't want to know what if would have been via the phone, but yes, preparing, verifying takes another 20-30 min and install is usually about 5 min. I usually plan on the whole process taking maybe an hour, which is fine with me. Slow, sure, but the computing power in the watch is limited.
