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watchOS 10 beta 5 now available to developers with watch face improvements

Published Aug 8th, 2023 1:16PM EDT
watchOS 10 Snoopy Watch Face beta
Image: José Adorno for BGR

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As the testing cycle follows, Apple is releasing watchOS 10 beta 5 to Apple Watch registered developers. For the tenth huge watchOS update, Apple says that “virtually every app has been rethought,” and there’s even more coming.

Now, Apple Watch apps use the entire display to create new places for content, so you can see and do more, which is especially useful for larger displays. In addition, Apple added two new Watch Faces, Pallet and Snoopy. With beta 4, the Snoopy watch face got new animations.

With Smart Stack, you get the information you need below any Watch Face. You just need to turn the Digital Crown to reveal widgets in the Smart Stack. It includes multiple timers, your next meeting, music playing, and more. Lastly, the Control Center is now available when pressing the side button.

watchOS 10 beta revamps Cycling and Hiking workouts. Here are the highlights for each of the exercises.

Cycling

  • Automatically connect to Bluetooth-enabled accessories to add cadence, speed, and power to your Workout View
  • When a power meter is detected, Apple Watch will automatically estimate your Functional Threshold Power
  • When starting a cycling workout from your Watch, it will automatically show up as a Live Activity on your iPhone

Hiking

  • See a three-dimensional view of where you’ve been using Elevation Views. Get estimates of where you last had reception with Cellular Connectivity Waypoints
  • Search for and discover important details of nearby trails, including name, length, time, elevation, gain, and more
  • Topographic maps (first available in the US) let you explore mountains, valleys, lakes, and rivers in detail
  • Elevation alerts: get notified when you’ve passed a particular elevation threshold.

For mental health awareness, watchOS 10 beta lets you log your state of mind by scrolling through engaging visuals to help you select how you’re feeling at that moment and during the day overall. Apple wants you to stay consistent with notifications and complications on watch faces. In addition, your Apple Watch Series 6 (and later), SE 2, or Ultra can identify how much time you spend in daylight thanks to its ambient light sensor.

What to do if the new watchOS 10 beta 5 doesn’t appear?

With watchOS 10 beta 2, many developers couldn’t download the latest beta update because it wasn’t showing up. In case this happens to you, follow these steps:

  • On your iPhone’s Watch app, turn off Automatic Updates;
  • Turn it back on and then do the same with beta updates;
  • After turning the developer beta on once again, the update will show

Besides the new watchOS 10 beta 5 build, Apple has also released the fifth beta version of iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS Sonoma, and tvOS 17. These operating system updates are expected to be released in a bit more than a month now.

José Adorno Tech News Reporter

José is a Tech News Reporter at BGR. He has previously covered Apple and iPhone news for 9to5Mac, and was a producer and web editor for Latin America broadcaster TV Globo. He is based out of Brazil.