watchOS 7 is the seventh major release of watchOS for the Apple Watch series developed and distributed by Apple Inc. It was announced on June 22, 2020 at the 2020 Worldwide Developers Conference alongside iOS 14, iPadOS 14, tvOS 14, and macOS Big Sur.
New features[]
- New watch faces
- New Memoji app
- Activity app renamed Fitness to support Apple Fitness+
- Automatic Handwashing detection
- Blood Oxygen app (for Apple Watch Series 6)
- Family Setup
- Wind Down and Sleep tracking
Product history[]
watchOS 7 is derived from iOS 14; both were announced on June 22 and both were released on September 16, 2020. This was the first version of watchOS to offer a public beta before wide release.[1]
Supported models[]
- Apple Watch Series 3 (limited support)
- Apple Watch Series 4
- Apple Watch Series 5
- Apple Watch SE (new model)
- Apple Watch Series 6 (new model)
- * Support ended for Apple Watch Series 1 and 2.
Release history[]
Developers discovered that early pre-release versions contained code for a "Kids Mode" that uses different metrics for activity tracking of young users.[2] However, this feature was not implemented as of the developer beta.[3] This feature was revealed to be Family Setup at Apple's special event on September 15, 2020 and released the next day. New watch faces, watch face sharing, and the blood oxygen app were also added, along with more workouts like dance and cooldown.[4] However, some users found that the initial release of watchOS 7 caused their Apple Watch Series 3 to crash and shut down.[5]
Obsolete / unsupported | Discontinued | Current | Beta |
watchOS 7.x releases | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
watchOS version |
iOS version based on |
Build | Release date | Note |
7.0 beta 1 | 14.0 beta 1 | 18R5310a | June 22, 2020 | |
7.0 beta 2 | 14.0 beta 2 | 18R5327h | July 7, 2020 |
|
7.0 beta 3 | 14.0 beta 3 | 18R5340d | July 22, 2020 | |
7.0 beta 4 | 14.0 beta 4 | 18R5350e | August 4, 2020 |
|
7.0 beta 5 | 14.0 beta 5 | 18R5361d | August 18, 2020 |
|
7.0 beta 6 | 14.0 beta 6 | 18R5368d | August 25, 2020 |
|
7.0 beta 7 | 14.0 beta 7 | 18R5378a | September 1, 2020 |
|
7.0 beta 8 | 14.0 beta 8 | 18R5382a | September 9, 2020 | |
7.0 | 14.0 | 18R382 | September 16, 2020 |
|
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 watchOS 7 release date, beta, features and supported Apple Watches by David Lumb, TechRadar. 2020-07-10.
- ↑ watchOS 7 to Include Kids Mode That Shifts Focus of Activity Rings Away From Calories Burned by Juli Clover, MacRumors. 2020-03-30.
- ↑ WWDC 2020: What we didn't get by Luke Filipowicz, iMore. 2020-06-22.
- ↑ Apple Event — September 15 by Apple, YouTube. 2020-09-15.
- ↑ Some Apple Watch Series 3 owners dealing with crashes after watchOS 7 update by Malcolm Owen, AppleInsider. 2020-09-27.
- ↑ Apple releases first public beta of watchOS 7 to Apple Watch users by Chance Miller, 9to5Mac. 2020-08-10.
- ↑ Apple releases second watchOS 7 public beta by Michael Potuck, 9to5Mac. 2020-08-20.
- ↑ Apple Seeds Third Public Beta of watchOS 7 to Public Beta Testers by Juli Clover, MacRumors. 2020-08-27.
- ↑ The fourth watchOS 7 Public Beta is now available by Roman Loyola, Macworld. 2020-09-03.
External links[]
- watchOS 7 at Apple (archived 2020-09-16)
- About watchOS 7 Updates at Apple Support
- watchOS 7 preview (archived 2020-06-22)
- watchOS 7 Release Notes at Apple Developer
- Beta Firmware: Apple Watch: 7.x at the iPhone Wiki
- watchOS: watchOS 7 at Wikipedia
Apple Watch |
---|
Apple Watch (original) · Series 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · SE (1st) · 6 · 7 · 8 · SE (2nd) · Ultra |
Apple Watch Edition | Apple Watch Hermes | Apple Watch Nike+ | Apple Watch Sport |
Apple Watch bands and cases · faces | watchOS: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 |