Summary

• watchOS 26 introduces a workout buddy feature, which provides personalized spoken motivation for fitness activities.
• UI sticks to Liquid Glass design, just like iOS 26 does.
• New features include a one-handed wrist flick gesture, Notes app, and automatic speaker volume adjustment.

At WWDC 2025, Apple introduced a lot of new updates and features, including major updates for all of its operating systems. Now, your Apple Watch is getting some love too with watchOS 26.

Apple has just announced watchOS 26, its next major update to its smartwatch operating system. And it's a pretty big one. Like with iOS 26 and macOS 26, Apple skipped a bunch of versions for watchOS to make its versioning scheme more consistent across its entire software slate. As a result, watchOS is skipping from watchOS 11 all the way up to 26, a whopping 15 numbers ahead.

Like iOS 26 and macOS 26, watchOS 26 also sticks to Apple's new Liquid Glass UI, with frosted glass effects across the whole UI that look taken straight out of Windows 7. It's a bit more toned down in watchOS, mind you, and that's probably because the UI is still predominantly black since it needs to be in order to not significantly degrade your watch's battery life.

As for what's new in this update, Fitness is getting a new "Workout Buddy" which might be one of the first genuinely useful Apple Intelligence features I've seen in a while—provided it works fine, since that might still be too tall of an ask for Apple Intelligence. This new feature provides personalized spoken motivation and insights during exercise. It will analyze your real-time workout data, such as heart rate and pace, along with your fitness history and Activity ring progress to offer tailored encouragement. For example, it might remind a user of their weekly running mileage or announce when they've crossed a personal milestone, like reaching 200 total miles run for the year. At the end of a session, it provides a detailed statistical recap.

The Workout app itself has undergone its most significant redesign to date. Four new corner buttons provide quicker access to features like custom workouts and pacer settings. You can now have Apple Music automatically select and play a playlist based on the workout type and your listening history. The Smart Stack now uses contextual and sensor data to provide "Smart Stack hints." These are proactive suggestions, such as a prompt to start a Backtrack session if you happen to be in a remote location without cellular service.

Related ##### Apple's iOS 26 Has a New Design And Tons of New Features

One of the biggest updates we've seen.

PostsThere are a few non-workout improvements as well. A new one-handed "wrist flick" gesture has been introduced for Apple Watch Series 9 and newer, allowing you to dismiss notifications and incoming calls with a quick turn of the wrist. This adds to the existing double-tap gesture for single-handed operation. The device can also now automatically adjust speaker volume for notifications and calls based on ambient noise levels. We're also getting the Notes app, letting you create notes and quickly jot down stuff even if you're away from your phone. For accessibility, Live Listen controls are now on the watch, providing real-time captions of what a paired iPhone hears.

There's more stuff, and you'll be able to check all of it out whenever the update is out later this year—probably whenever the next Apple Watch devices are announced.

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