- Apple is rumored to be working on a big redesign for Apple’s watchOS operating system
- It’s said to be based on the Apple Vision Pro’s interface
- Here are three features I want to see, from notification summaries to more gesture controls
Another day, another Apple Watch rumor. The latest one to make the rounds is that the Apple Watch’s watchOS operating system is getting a significant redesign, reportedly based on Apple Vision Pro’s visionOS operating system. It’s unclear whether that means this year’s watchOS 12 or a future installment of the OS, though.
The rumor, posted by Israeli tech site The Verifier and spotted by MacRumors, is ironically unverified. However, it’s said that the new-look watchOS will be slightly transparent, with a floating aesthetic and redesigned interactive elements.
It’s also said that some watches, namely the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and other watches in the Ultra range, will get access to Apple Intelligence. It’s unclear whether The Verifier means in 2025 or in the following years, but at present, no Apple Watch has enough RAM to actually run such powerful software.
If Apple is going to give its best Apple Watches and watchOS a bold new redesign, borrowing from Apple’s attempt at a spatial computing revolution, there are a few new features I would love to see. Let’s dive in.
1. A Vision Pro controller
At the start of the year, we wrote about using the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra as a remote for a smart Samsung TV. If Apple were to make a future watchOS a visionOS-style operating system, why not go all in on spatial computing?
Imagine being inside the Apple Vision Pro 2 or a future spatial computing system from Apple, reaching out with your watch hand, pinching and dragging an app, just like Iron Man’s holographic interface, for improved accuracy.
Apple has already used the double-pinch gesture to allow you to remotely dismiss alarms and notifications on your Apple Watch: a seamless connection with a future Apple Vision Pro model could allow you to do so much more.
2. Summaries
Future Apple Watches may be able to run Apple Intelligence for simple tasks, such as notification summaries. I’ve certainly seen more Whatsapp messages from group chats than I cared to count, and rather than go through them individually on my watch, I stomp off to find my phone or dismiss them to read at my leisure.
Getting notification summaries on my watch would be a game-changer. Of course, this would require Apple actually finding a way to implement this Apple Intelligence functionality on a low-power device such as a watch. That being said, summaries are certainly top of my list of Apple Intelligence features I’d like to see on Apple Watches, as the smaller form factor seems tailor-made for quick briefs.
3. 360-degree watch faces
The Apple Watch is not just a boring fitness tracker: it’s a fun device to use, evident in the Photos and Snoopy watch faces of recent watchOS releases. However, with a VisionOS-inspired interface, how cool would having a 360-degree watch face be?
Imagine raising the watch to wake it, seeing part of an image, and having the image change as you move your wrist around the virtual environment.
There’s no way it could be entirely 360 degrees – I imagine you’d effectively be moving a small viewing window around a slightly larger canvas – but as a backdrop to your widgets and complications, it would be a fun, beautiful and distinctly Apple way to include a small aspect of spatial computing on-wrist.
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matt.evans@futurenet.com (Matt Evans)
