WatchOS 11 Beta Thread

[goldmac2006]

Not sure if this is new or was introduced a while back, but I updated to the beta released yesterday on my Ultra with it still on my wrist. There was a time when it would only update if it was on the charger no matter what the battery life was. I took my watch off the charger at 3AM yesterday and updated it at 3PM, so there had to be a some drain. I was surprised to see "Update Complete" while sitting in the dentist chair.

Sometimes this happens if you allow your Apple Watch to update over cellular connection as long your iPhone is in your possession, and the Apple Watch is at least 50% charged. My S1 did that a few times back in the day where it would update while I ran errands 😂

Yeah, I guess if you need to or want to track all that stuff it is important to some. None of the vitals or metrics you mentioned mean a lot to me, but I get it. I am in pretty good health. I do track all of my workouts daily which is pretty much Peloton and Weight Training. My resting heart rate is 59. I check it at work every now and then. Blood oxygen too. I just don't need to know what it is when I am sleeping.

These things are based on the users choice as well. I recently traveled so my sleep stages kind of got wonky with so many awakes as the air conditioning in the hotel rooms were so loud that it would wake me up. But in Vitals app it did not change the duration as much. But as Peaks also measures your sleep quality in order to determine your energy levels it went down only a few percentages.

The workouts I do are mostly Fitness+ workouts in my home gym, which are Pilates with Marimba, Dance, Anja’s Rowing, Yoga with Jessica/Jonelle/Dice, Core and Strength. I also take a walk outside when it is not so hot.

 

[goldmac2006]

I searched for the update for the watch in the watch app on my iPhone and it still requested it to be on charger and at least 50%

Your Apple Watch can download the update independently without being plugged in, IT ONLY NEEDS to be on the charger and the iPhone in the same room when it installs.

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

I said I’d not buy any new straps for a while, but I love these colours:

Official Genuine Apple Watch Sport Loop Band Strap 38/40/41mm Neon Pink MXMN2ZMA | eBay

We will respond to you within 24 hours and do our best to help you out!

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[LarryJoe33]

Sometimes this happens if you allow your Apple Watch to update over cellular connection as long your iPhone is in your possession, and the Apple Watch is at least 50% charged. My S1 did that a few times back in the day where it would update while I ran errands 😂


These things are based on the users choice as well. I recently traveled so my sleep stages kind of got wonky with so many awakes as the air conditioning in the hotel rooms were so loud that it would wake me up. But in Vitals app it did not change the duration as much. But as Peaks also measures your sleep quality in order to determine your energy levels it went down only a few percentages.

The workouts I do are mostly Fitness+ workouts in my home gym, which are Pilates with Marimba, Dance, Anja’s Rowing, Yoga with Jessica/Jonelle/Dice, Core and Strength. I also take a walk outside when it is not so hot.

Yeah, maybe I just never noticed this was possible. I could have sworn it was "watch must be on the charger" regardless of 50% or more. But then again, I got so trained, I don't even start an update until I put my watch on the charger.

I must have had >50% after 12 hours which included two workouts and streaming music directly from the watch. Not bad.

 

[goldmac2006]

Yeah, maybe I just never noticed this was possible. I could have sworn it was "watch must be on the charger" regardless of 50% or more. But then again, I got so trained, I don't even start an update until I put my watch on the charger.

I must have had >50% after 12 hours which included two workouts and streaming music directly from the watch. Not bad.

Did you use cellular or download your music on your Apple Watch? I don’t have cellular set up on my SS Apple Watch Series 6 running the beta, but when I do my workouts in beta the battery drain is still the same as it was in watchOS 10.

Of course I make sure my iPhone is in the same room with my Apple Watch on the dock. Even if your Apple Watch is charging but lower than 50% battery, it will not install until it hits at least that amount. The battery still goes down a bit as the Watch installs watchOS 11 beta updates, and gets a bit warmer, but my watch does not seem to be hot to the touch a lot during updates as the air conditioning in the summer makes the stainless steel cool down 😂

 

[LarryJoe33]

Did you use cellular or download your music on your Apple Watch? I don’t have cellular set up on my SS Apple Watch Series 6 running the beta, but when I do my workouts in beta the battery drain is still the same as it was in watchOS 10.

Of course I make sure my iPhone is in the same room with my Apple Watch on the dock. Even if your Apple Watch is charging but lower than 50% battery, it will not install until it hits at least that amount. The battery still goes down a bit as the Watch installs watchOS 11 beta updates, and gets a bit warmer, but my watch does not seem to be hot to the touch a lot during updates as the air conditioning in the summer makes the stainless steel cool down 😂

In terms of cellular, I have both the watch and the iphone set to do everything over cellular it can if wifi isn't available. I have an Ultra, so it's cellular. AFAIK, the phone is the device that downloads the watch update and then sends it over to the watch via bluetooth, so the watch is not specifically downloading the update directly to itself. I always thought the watch must be on the charger thing was to eliminate the risk of the watch dying during an install.

In terms of streaming music. I literally have nothing stored locally on the phone or watch. I am pretty OCD about cleaning this up to keep space free, not that I am space challenged, but....the OCD thing.

I stream Apple Music directly to the Watch each morning at the gym. My phone stays behind in my locker. I am pretty sure my watch connects to the gym wifi, but I have had to killed wifi in the past and streamed over cellular and it was fine. Actually, when I go on outdoor hikes, there is definitely no wifi and I stream music all the time. I also use MAPS if I get lost in the woods. Phone stays in my car.

 

[goldmac2006]

In terms of cellular, I have both the watch and the iphone set to do everything over cellular it can if wifi isn't available. I have an Ultra, so it's cellular. AFAIK, the phone is the device that downloads the watch update and then sends it over to the watch via bluetooth, so the watch is not specifically downloading the update directly to itself. I always thought the watch must be on the charger thing was to eliminate the risk of the watch dying during an install.

In terms of streaming music. I literally have nothing stored locally on the phone or watch. I am pretty OCD about cleaning this up to keep space free, not that I am space challenged, but....the OCD thing.

I stream Apple Music directly to the Watch each morning at the gym. My phone stays behind in my locker. I am pretty sure my watch connects to the gym wifi, but I have had to killed wifi in the past and streamed over cellular and it was fine. Actually, when I go on outdoor hikes, there is definitely no wifi and I stream music all the time. I also use MAPS if I get lost in the woods. Phone stays in my car.

That’s great that you use cellular to stream your Apple Music. I also do that when I cannot bring my iPhone to the backyard to do yard work and need my AirPods to listen to music, but with the house Wi-Fi as I don’t set up cellular on the Watch, in rare cases.

I usually always have my iPhone with me when I wear my Apple Watch.

 

[dallardice]

I'm having an issue with my test watch (Series 8 GPS+Cellular) in that in whatever watch face I choose, the activity complication usually only shows the word ACTIVITY until I tap the complication at which time it updates or goes into the Activity app. I have it set to screen always-on. In the past I was used to waiting a bit of time on wrist-raise to update, but the requirement for a tap is new. Have checked all the options in Settings > Display > Always On and the settings are On for Complication Data. I'm also noticing the temperature complication is slow to display, but that normally refreshes without a tap in a few seconds.

I assume I'm missing a setting somewhere - any ideas? Maybe it will resolve in a future beta but it's annoying me so much that I'm not doing as much testing as I should be...

 

[goldmac2006]

I'm having an issue with my test watch (Series 8 GPS+Cellular) in that in whatever watch face I choose, the activity complication usually only shows the word ACTIVITY until I tap the complication at which time it updates or goes into the Activity app. I have it set to screen always-on. In the past I was used to waiting a bit of time on wrist-raise to update, but the requirement for a tap is new. Have checked all the options in Settings > Display > Always On and the settings are On for Complication Data. I'm also noticing the temperature complication is slow to display, but that normally refreshes without a tap in a few seconds.

I assume I'm missing a setting somewhere - any ideas? Maybe it will resolve in a future beta but it's annoying me so much that I'm not doing as much testing as I should be...

Same with mines on beta 6. The water tracking complication from Plant Nanny is not working properly either. I even looked at the app and it does not update nor by a certain time.

 

[LarryJoe33]

That’s great that you use cellular to stream your Apple Music. I also do that when I cannot bring my iPhone to the backyard to do yard work and need my AirPods to listen to music, but with the house Wi-Fi as I don’t set up cellular on the Watch, in rare cases.

I usually always have my iPhone with me when I wear my Apple Watch.

Yeah, I make a concerted effort to leave my phone behind a lot so I’m not always grabbing it, such as at a restaurant. The Ultra’s big screen allows me to glance at texts, emails, etc. to just stay connected but not be obsessive.

As an apple junky, it took me until the SE came out to get a watch. People couldn’t believe I didn’t have one given I have just about every Apple product. My issue was that the first 5 years or so of watches pretty required you to have your phone with you for it to be functional. Another reason was that I love my watch collection. The SE came out and it was so cheap I said why not see what this was all about. I missed my watch collection and I really hated the small form factor. I’m a big watch face guy. Then I saw the Ultra when picking up my new phone the year before last and I fell in love with eye design. Then I also fell in love with the functionality I really didn’t bother with on the SE.

Ultra was and is a game changer.

 

[TheBMacAttack]

So haven’t jump into the watch beta yet, just been watching from afar. I am how ever running iOS 18 beta on my 14PM. As of recently I have gotten a bit worse battery life on my watch, in turn worse on my iPhone. I believe they correlated as I have seen in the past the iOS betas that are battery suckers tend to bring the watch battery down too. That said, do you guys think the watchOS works better when it’s in line with the iOS number as well? Would it be more optimized running watchOS 11 beta with ios 18 beta? Just a theory I got going on in my head.

 

[TheBMacAttack]

Just curious, what’s the average drop off in battery that you guys are seeing with the beta?

 

[LarryJoe33]

Just curious, what’s the average drop off in battery that you guys are seeing with the beta?

I am on the latest beta released earlier this week. I took my phone off the charger at 3:00 AM, paired it to my Peloton for a 30 minute class (heart rate, workout, etc.). Then hit the gym for an hour where I streamed music directly to the watch, watch to APP's all while running a Strength Conditioning Workout. It 10:22 AM as I post this and I am at 80%.

 

[rwilliams]

I am on the latest beta released earlier this week. I took my phone off the charger at 3:00 AM, paired it to my Peloton for a 30 minute class (heart rate, workout, etc.). Then hit the gym for an hour where I streamed music directly to the watch, watch to APP's all while running a Strength Conditioning Workout. It 10:22 AM as I post this and I am at 80%.

My Ultra 2 will start to drain more than usual after upgrading to the latest beta, but it's usually fixed by the hard reset (holding in the two non-Action buttons until it turns off and the Apple logo appears). Once I do that, it goes back to battery drain similar to yours, which is less than 3% an hour.

 

[TheBMacAttack]

The latest beta is downloading now. Lets cross my fingers its not terrible battery life.

 

[goldmac2006]

Yeah, I make a concerted effort to leave my phone behind a lot so I’m not always grabbing it, such as at a restaurant. The Ultra’s big screen allows me to glance at texts, emails, etc. to just stay connected but not be obsessive.

As an apple junky, it took me until the SE came out to get a watch. People couldn’t believe I didn’t have one given I have just about every Apple product. My issue was that the first 5 years or so of watches pretty required you to have your phone with you for it to be functional. Another reason was that I love my watch collection. The SE came out and it was so cheap I said why not see what this was all about. I missed my watch collection and I really hated the small form factor. I’m a big watch face guy. Then I saw the Ultra when picking up my new phone the year before last and I fell in love with eye design. Then I also fell in love with the functionality I really didn’t bother with on the SE.

Ultra was and is a game changer.

So you had two Apple Watch models? I started with a SG S1 AW seven years ago and once the screen separated I got a gold stainless S6. Huge upgrade jump. And yes with my Series 1, my iPhone had to be nearby to work with a lot of things.

With cellular and more features in watchOS that enables the Apple Watch to be more powerful, we can now do many things without having an iPhone nearby. Since watchOS 6 we can download updates on the Watch itself, and now with Ultra Wideband in S6 and later Apple Watch can connect to accessories without needing any assistance from the iPhone, for example the new update to Dexcom where a S6 Apple Watch and later can check the glucose sensor even over cellular or Bluetooth.

 

[TheBMacAttack]

Since I am new here with the beta (just got it loaded about an hour ago). With the new Vitals complication on the modular ultra face. Do you have to complete a workout before the training side will give you any information on the right side?

I am sure this has been covered, but newbie here.

 

[jkel777]

Since I am new here with the beta (just got it loaded about an hour ago). With the new Vitals complication on the modular ultra face. Do you have to complete a workout before the training side will give you any information on the right side?

I am sure this has been covered, but newbie here.

Yes, you'll get training load data once you complete a workout. It will automatically rate your workout if it's running, walking, etc. Strength training you have to rate your effort yourself. Then it takes that into consideration when calculating your training load.

But I don't wear my watch at night so I don't have any Vitals data that also factors into the training load.

 

[TheBMacAttack]

Yes, you'll get training load data once you complete a workout. It will automatically rate your workout if it's running, walking, etc. Strength training you have to rate your effort yourself. Then it takes that into consideration when calculating your training load.

But I don't wear my watch at night so I don't have any Vitals data that also factors into the training load.

I don’t workout that much, so I was wondering if I would ever get that side of the complication loaded.

Thanks

 

[TheBMacAttack]

So I did a quick walk at lunch, and now it says 0/28 days, so I guess I just have to keep wearing it for 28 days and will get some info.

 

[LarryJoe33]

So you had two Apple Watch models? I started with a SG S1 AW seven years ago and once the screen separated I got a gold stainless S6. Huge upgrade jump. And yes with my Series 1, my iPhone had to be nearby to work with a lot of things.

With cellular and more features in watchOS that enables the Apple Watch to be more powerful, we can now do many things without having an iPhone nearby. Since watchOS 6 we can download updates on the Watch itself, and now with Ultra Wideband in S6 and later Apple Watch can connect to accessories without needing any assistance from the iPhone, for example the new update to Dexcom where a S6 Apple Watch and later can check the glucose sensor even over cellular or Bluetooth.

I did. I guess I wasn't attracted to the limited functionality, the small form factor and the high cost of the first 4-5 years of the Watches. SE for $299 (I think with cellular) was easy to swallow. I still didn't use the SE for much. I never gave the workout rings thing a chance. I remember thinking it was annoying on the SE and shutting them down. In general, I do a lot more tracking stuff with the Ultra. But I am not gonna lie, I bought it because of how it looks, which includes the big screen. Now I am hooked.

 

[TheBMacAttack]

Just notice that if you don’t turn the crown back to you back to your watch face, the widget screen now stays as your watch face. It’s pretty much the Siri face now!

 

[jkel777]

Just notice that if you don’t turn the crown back to you back to your watch face, the widget screen now stays as your watch face. It’s pretty much the Siri face now!

Yeah, I noticed that too. It didn't do that on watchOS 10, so it's hard to tell if it's a watchOS 11 bug or a feature.

 

[goldmac2006]

I did. I guess I wasn't attracted to the limited functionality, the small form factor and the high cost of the first 4-5 years of the Watches. SE for $299 (I think with cellular) was easy to swallow. I still didn't use the SE for much. I never gave the workout rings thing a chance. I remember thinking it was annoying on the SE and shutting them down. In general, I do a lot more tracking stuff with the Ultra. But I am not gonna lie, I bought it because of how it looks, which includes the big screen. Now I am hooked.

Of course. The Apple Watch Ultra is definitely the largest Apple Watch ever. I also did more tracking on my S6 over my first Apple Watch, given the blood oxygen and sleep tracking over the heart rate monitoring.

I would recommend Apple Watch wearers and those who want their first Apple Watch, to don’t get the Apple Watch SE. it is not all that and they already dropped watchOS 11 updates on the original one as it is treated like an Apple Watch Series 5 would. The original Apple Watch SE even came out the same time as the S6, and is the second budget model of Apple Watch asides from the Apple Watch Series 1 which is a reincarnation of the original Apple Watch Sport with a boosted S1P processor. Always find a deal on the main Apple Watch Series models and Apple Watch Ultra first.

 

[goldmac2006]

Since I am new here with the beta (just got it loaded about an hour ago). With the new Vitals complication on the modular ultra face. Do you have to complete a workout before the training side will give you any information on the right side?

I am sure this has been covered, but newbie here.

You need to have at least three times per workout type before it shows up in the activity app. If you done it 28 times/days a percentage and score can be given alongside your Vitals from your Apple Watch sleep data.