Apple Seeds Fifth Beta of watchOS 6.1 to Developers

Apple today seeded the fifth beta of an upcoming watchOS 6.1 beta to developers, a week after seeding the fourth watchOS 6.1 beta and over a month after releasing the watchOS 6 update with full App Store, new Apple Watch faces, and more.

Once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Apple Developer Center, the new watchOS beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General > Software Update.

applewatchseries5
To install the update, the Apple Watch needs to have over 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it has to be in range of the ‌iPhone‌.

There were no major changes found in the first four watchOS 6.1 betas, so it's not entirely clear what's included in the update, but we'll update this article should new features be found in the fifth beta. The update may be focused on bug fixes and under-the-hood performance improvements.

watchOS 6.1 does work with the Series 1 and Series 2 Apple Watch models, which were excluded from the watchOS 6 release.

Apple said that watchOS 6 would come to the older Apple Watch models at a later date, so it's possible watchOS 6.1 will be the first version of watchOS 6 to work with the Series 1 and Series 2 Apple Watches.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)

Popular Stories

airtag purple

AirTag 2 Rumored to Launch Next Year With These New Features

Sunday November 17, 2024 5:18 am PST by
Apple released the AirTag in April 2021, so it is now three over and a half years old. While the AirTag has not received any hardware updates since then, a new version of the item tracking accessory is rumored to be in development. Below, we recap rumors about a second-generation AirTag. Timing Apple is aiming to release a new AirTag in mid-2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman....
Magic Mouse Next to Keyboard

No, Apple CEO Tim Cook Didn't Say He Prefers Logitech's MX Master 3 Over the Magic Mouse

Sunday November 17, 2024 3:03 pm PST by
While the Logitech MX Master 3 is a terrific mouse for the Mac, reports claiming that Apple CEO Tim Cook prefers that mouse over the Magic Mouse are false. The Wall Street Journal last month published an interview with Cook, in which he said he uses every Apple product every day. Soon after, The Verge's Wes Davis attempted to replicate using every Apple product in a single day. During that...
New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

18 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Wednesday November 13, 2024 2:09 am PST by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.2 next month, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. There are a handful of new non-AI related feature controls incoming as well....
iCloud General Feature

Apple Acknowledges iCloud Notes Disappearing and Explains How to Fix

Saturday November 16, 2024 9:45 am PST by
Earlier this month, we reported about some iPhone users temporarily losing all of their notes in the Notes app after accepting Apple's updated iCloud terms and conditions. Apple has now indirectly acknowledged this issue in a new support document that outlines steps to follow if your iCloud notes are not appearing on your iPhone, iPad, or Vision Pro. Fortunately, the notes can be re-synced...
iPhone 7 Lightning to Headphone Jack Adapter

Apple Seemingly Discontinuing Lightning to Headphone Jack Adapter Introduced Alongside iPhone 7

Sunday November 17, 2024 12:33 pm PST by
It appears that Apple is discontinuing the Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter that it released alongside the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in 2016. The adapter was recently listed as "sold out" on Apple's online store in the U.S. and most other countries, according to MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The adapter remains available from Apple in only a handful of countries, such as...

Top Rated Comments

FishyFish Avatar
66 months ago
What are you loving about it so much lol? It’s identical to watch OS 6.0.1
I haven’t experienced that! I really liked beta 4 but beta 5 is just amazing. Speedy, flawless, great battery life. I’m still at 86% with always on display on, where with 6.0.1 I would be at 40% at this part of the day.

It’s just a phenomenal update.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Braderunner Avatar
66 months ago

What are you loving about it so much lol? It’s identical to watch OS 6.0.1
Shortcuts on Watch work again. Definitely not identical.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NavySEAL6 Avatar
66 months ago
Does this address battery life? Is there any chance my brand new Series 5 will at least match the battery of my two year old S3?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mlody Avatar
66 months ago
Cant wait for the update to become available for s1/s2 owners. My reminder app on my s2 is broken since I upgraded to ios13 :(
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RicD Avatar
66 months ago

anything about it in particular that is stunning?
My guess, being available for older V1 and V2 versions (a good gesture); mine is V3 LTE. The article states “...The update may be focused on bug fixes and under-the-hood performance improvements...”, always welcomed.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FishyFish Avatar
66 months ago
Absolutely stunning. Thanks Apple!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)