Apple Announces watchOS 26 With Workout Buddy, Liquid Glass Design, and Smart Stack Hints

Apple today unveiled watchOS 26, the next major software update for the Apple Watch, bringing a significant design refresh and a host of new features powered by Apple Intelligence. The update focuses on more personalized health and fitness tracking, smarter proactive assistance, and a more expressive user interface.



The most noticeable change in watchOS 26 is a new design language Apple calls Liquid Glass. This aesthetic introduces real-time rendered visual effects that refract and reflect content across the system. It will be applied to the Smart Stack, notifications, Control Center, and within apps, aiming to make interactions more fluid and vibrant. The popular Photos watch face also gets an update, overlaying the time with numerals made of Liquid Glass to better showcase the user's picture.




A major new feature is Workout Buddy, a fitness experience that uses Apple Intelligence to provide personalized, spoken motivation during a workout. It analyzes a user's workout data and fitness history to generate real-time insights based on heart rate, pace, Activity rings, and personal milestones. It can offer a pep talk at the beginning of a run, announce key splits during the session, and provide a detailed recap upon completion. Workout Buddy will require Bluetooth headphones and a nearby iPhone with Apple Intelligence, launching in English for popular workout types like running, walking, cycling, and strength training.



The Workout app itself has received its biggest layout update since its introduction. Four new buttons in the corners of the screen provide quicker access to features like Workout Views and Custom Workouts. Users can also now set music or podcasts to play automatically when a workout begins, with Apple Music able to suggest playlists based on the workout type and a user's listening history.




The Smart Stack becomes more proactive with what Apple calls Smart Stack hints. By using contextual and sensor data, the watch can now surface a proactive prompt for a useful action, like suggesting Backtrack when you're in a remote location or a Pilates workout when you arrive at the studio. In Messages, Apple Intelligence enables Live Translation for incoming texts directly on the watch. It can also suggest relevant actions within a conversation, such as starting a Check In or using Apple Cash.





A new one-handed wrist flick gesture is being introduced for Apple Watch Series 9 and later. This allows users to quickly dismiss notifications or incoming calls by turning their wrist over and back. This joins the double tap gesture for single-handed operation. The watch can also now automatically adjust its speaker volume for alerts and calls based on the ambient noise in the user's environment.



Other notable updates in watchOS 26 include the arrival of the Notes app on Apple Watch, allowing users to view, edit, and create notes from their wrist. The Phone app gains Hold Assist and Call Screening features when an iPhone is nearby. Accessibility is improved with Live Listen controls on the watch, including real-time captions of what a paired iPhone hears.





For developers, new APIs will allow them to incorporate the Liquid Glass design into their apps, add custom controls to Control Center, and make their own widgets more proactive within the Smart Stack.

The developer beta of watchOS 26 is available today, with a public beta to follow next month. The final version will be released this fall as a free update for Apple Watch Series 6 or later, Apple Watch SE (2nd generation), and all Apple Watch Ultra models. Features leveraging Apple Intelligence will require a compatible iPhone 15 Pro or any iPhone 16 model.

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