At WWDC 2025, Apple unveiled the latest free update for the Apple Watch: watchOS 26. While most of the attention has been on iOS 26, Apple’s new Liquid Glass look also extends to the Apple Watch. While that’s great for a device that sits on your wrist demanding to be looked at, the biggest (and perhaps most controversial) new feature is the arrival of Apple Intelligence.
While Apple’s answer to AI rolled out to iPhone and Mac users last year in iOS and macOS Sequoia, it remained absent from the tech giant’s smartwatch. watchOS 26 sees the suite of AI features finally head for your wrist, with processing taking place on your iPhone (with a faster processor). Whether it’s a positive addition to the software, I’ll leave you to decide.
Enter Liquid Glass, Apple’s flashy new software design that’s reflective and based on glass. The update washes across everything from widgets and notifications to the Photos face, which now lets you see more of your cherished memories – and slightly less of the clock you were trying to check.
At the core of the update is Workout Buddy, a new AI-infused cheerleader who chirps up during your fitness sessions like a real personal trainer. It’s got all your data (like your running history) and uses Apple Intelligence to hurl encouragement and stats at you mid-sweat. If you hit a milestone, it’ll know. If you’re slacking, it’ll probably guilt-trip you. And all this comes via a generative voice model inspired by Apple Fitness+ trainers.
The Workout app has also been rejigged for those who find tapping tiny screens during cardio an exercise in frustration. There are now four permanent corner buttons to help you get to your views, pacers, and playlists faster. Speaking of playlists, Apple Music will now guess what you want to hear based on your workout type and taste.
Smart Stack’s gotten smarter, too. It now spits out contextual hints based on where you are and what time it is, like suggesting Backtrack when you’re in the middle of nowhere. Messages get Live Translation if you’ve got a new enough watch, so your wrist can now mangle text in multiple languages on the fly. You’ll also get action suggestions like starting a Check In when a mate texts “home yet?”, which is either helpful or a bit stalkerish, depending on the context.
Perhaps the most satisfyingly daft addition is the wrist flick gesture. Flick your wrist and goodbye notification. Do it again and, depending on your settings, you might silence your alarm, decline a call, or just feel very pleased with yourself. It’s a small thing, but it might just be one of the features I’d hoped Apple would release for years.
Other bits and bobs include the Notes app making a wrist-bound debut, auto-adjusting speaker volume so you don’t blast Siri in a library, and more ways for developers to put custom widgets onto your wrist. Accessibility features like Live Listen and Live Captions also get a welcome upgrade, continuing Apple’s trend of actually useful inclusivity features.
watchOS 26 is available now for developers and hits public beta next month. The final release drops this autumn, most likely in September, free for Apple Watch Series 6 or later, Apple Watch SE (2nd gen), and all Ultra models, paired with an iPhone 11 or newer running iOS 26.
