With watchOS 10.4 expected to launch in early March, Apple continues its testing cycle with beta 2. While watchOS 10.3 was a minor update, this one has some interesting new features that users should be looking forward to trying.
First of them is the addition of over 100 new emojis. Although the new figures include a lime, shaking 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 beta 2 adds a new tweak for Apple Vision Pro users. Since both devices rely on double-tap gestures, you can now 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 beta 2 also brings 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.
Lastly, there is an updated Timer UI if you care about those tiny details.
Alongside watchOS 10.4 beta 2, Apple is also seeding the second testing version of iOS 17.4, iPadOS 17.4, macOS 14.4, and tvOS 17.4. BGR will let you know if we find anything different on this build.
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