Revamped stock watchOS 10 apps should take better advantage of the larger display on the Apple Watch Ultra and larger standard models.
- Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman claims in a new report that Apple’s upcoming watchOS 10 update will overhaul some of the most important stock apps to take advantage of the larger displays on models like the Apple Watch Ultra.
- watchOS 10 should also bring iPhone-like widgets that are thought to become a central part of the redesigned Apple Watch interface in watchOS 10.
- The changes have apparently necessitated re-mapping the device’s physical buttons, including the Digital Crown, to the new features.
Core watchOS 10 apps overhauled for larger displays
Gurman’s new Bloomberg article says watchOS 10 has redesigned Apple’s core apps that are preinstalled on the device. The goal is to utilize extra pixels on the larger displays on both the Apple Watch Ultra and “larger standard models.”
If this pans out, then Apple will be essentially finishing the job it started following the Apple Watch Ultra’s debut in 2022. Only a few apps and watch faces have been optimized for the Ultra’s larger display, but watchOS 10 should fix that.
The 49mm Apple Watch Ultra has a 1.92-inch display with 502×410 pixels. This compares to the 1.9-inch display on the Apple Watch Series 8 with a resolution of 484×396 pixels. These are Apple’s largest watches, though the company also offers models for smaller wrists.
Apple Watch widgets are coming
From the report:
Apple is bringing widgets back to the Apple Watch and will make them a key part of the new operating system. The widgets will look similar to those on the iOS and iPadOS home screen and allow users to scroll through weather, stock tickers, upcoming calendar appointments and more.
Gurman reported earlier that widgets are a core part of watchOS 10 because they provide glanceable information without opening the app. The original Apple Watch debuted with a widget system dubbed Glances, but Apple has removed this functionality from later releases.
“The plan is to let users scroll through a series of different widgets—for activity tracking, weather, stock tickers, calendar appointments and more—rather than having them launch apps,” he wrote.
Updated button layout
Bringing widgets and a new user interface to the Apple Watch will require re-mapping some physical buttons to new functions.
Apple is changing some of the button behavior on the Apple Watch, including changing the Digital Crown to open the new widgets interface instead of the standard home screen app array,” claims Bloomberg’s scoop machine.