watchOS 8 takes everything that’s great about watchOS 7 and makes it even better, with some important new features and even better integration with Apple services

WRITTEN BY CARRIE MARSHALL

We love our Apple Watches, so we’re always excited when a new version of watchOS drops. New watchOSes may not be quite as feature–packed as a brand new release of iOS or iPadOS, because of course a watch is more limited in what it can do, but when you’re using a device every day, even minor improvements can make a big difference. That’s definitely the case here.

With watchOS 8, Apple has taken what was good about watchOS 7 and improved on all of its features. That means some excellent new watch faces and complications, better ways to navigate and communicate, and improvements to the health features. Your Watch can now also warn you when you’ve left your AirPods behind and prevent you from being annoyed when you’re trying to get stuff done.

As we’ll discover in this feature, watchOS 8 introduces tons of useful improvements to the apps and features you use most and banishes some small but very annoying irritations — and in almost every case the improvements are available on Apple Watches from the Series 3 onwards. Sadly, watchOS 8 isn’t compatible with the first– generation model, or Apple Watch Series 1 or Series 2.

FACE TIME

Meet the new watch faces and complications

>>> ASSISTIVE TOUCH

Issues with touching the screen? With AssistiveTouch (Settings > Accessibility), you can get your watch to launch menus, control on–screen pointers and answer calls by monitoring your hand gestures. The gestures can press and turn the Digital Crown, swipe between screens, activate Siri and access key features.