watchOS 10.5 beta 2 is now available to Apple Watch users. After a mild update with watchOS 10.4, it seems this next version won’t bring many changes as Apple prepares for the watchOS 11 preview in June.
So far, Apple says watchOS 10.5 beta 2 fixes an issue where the Terms of Service button when viewing a subscription could cause a crash when tapped. Other than that, Apple isn’t adding anything new to this operating system.
With watchOS 10.4, Apple added 28 new emojis. Although the new figures include a lime, shaking heads, a phoenix, and four new gender-neutral family emojis intended to be represented via silhouettes, skin tone modifiers, and gender variants represent the majority of new emojis. They can be used in iMessage and other messaging apps with your Apple Watch.
Besides that, watchOS 10.4 added a new tweak for Apple Vision Pro users. Since both devices rely on double-tap gestures, you can turn on the Ignore Double Tap setting when using Apple’s spatial computer. Here’s how Apple describes this feature: “When this is on, the double tap gesture will be temporarily ignored while using Vision Pro.”
For those unaware, pinching your fingers is the way you control Apple Vision Pro, but if you double tap your fingers, this is also how you can control Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2. Thankfully, the owners of both newer Apple Watches and Vision Pro won’t have this issue for longer.
watchOS 10.4 also brought improvements to Siri, as you can now wake the personal assistant with only its name by saying “Siri” instead of “Hey Siri.” In addition, Siri can read incoming messages in multiple languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, and more.
Alongside watchOS 10.5 beta 2, Apple is also seeding the second beta testing of iOS 17.5, iPadOS 17.5, macOS 14.5, tvOS 17.5, and visionOS 1.2 to developers. We’ll let you know if we find anything new with these updates.
