As the testing cycle of watchOS 10.1 follows, Apple is seeding beta 3 of this upcoming operating system update. With the first beta, Apple brought the already-announced NameDrop function, and then with beta 2, the company added the Double Tap gesture, which is exclusively available for the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2. Here’s what we know about watchOS 10.1 beta.
NameDrop from iPhone to Apple Watch lets you easily share your contact information from one iPhone to Apple Watch by approaching them. While this function is available for iPhone to iPhone with iOS 17, Apple says that nearing an iPhone to Apple Watch to perform the same action is possible with Apple Watch Series 6 and later, Apple Watch SE (1st and 2nd generation), and Apple Watch Ultra in this beta.
In addition, Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 will finally get an exclusive feature that Apple says requires the new S9 SiP:
Double tap gestures: Users can easily control the Apple Watch Series 9 using just one hand and without touching the display by tapping the index finger and thumb of their watch hand together twice to quickly and conveniently perform many of the most common actions on the Watch. The faster Neural Engine enables this new double tap gesture, which processes data from the accelerometer, gyroscope, and optical heart sensor with a new machine learning algorithm.
While we still have to wait for the beta cycle to follow, Apple also needs to improve support for complications, as many users have complained that their weather complications don’t refresh – in addition to several other issues.
Since watchOS 10 is Apple’s biggest watchOS update in years, it’s usual that some features aren’t working as expected. Still, we wait for Cupertino to fix them soon, as they’re interrupting people’s workflows – such as missing calendar appointments, being unable to see the weather, or even their heart rate.
In addition to watchOS 10.1 beta 3, Apple is also releasing the third beta of iOS 17.1, iPadOS 17.1, and tvOS 17.1.
BGR will let you know once we learn more about this update.
