watchOS 3.1.1

watchOS 3.1.1 disables Lock feature in Control Center—here are four workarounds

Don't bother trying to lock your Apple Watch by tapping a dedicated Lock button in Control Center!

That's because watchOS 3.1.1 update (currently pulled over bricking complaints) has killed that button. It's not a bug—the feature disappeared from Control Center in the first beta of watchOS 3.1.1.

I'm unsure as to why Apple has tweaked how manual unlocking works, but am certainly not a fan of the change. Actually, I've felt so ticked off by this apparent “feature” of watchOS 3.1.1 that I've decided to come up with a few workaround solutions for those of us who manually lock our watches before going to sleep.

Apple temporarily pulls watchOS 3.1.1 following bricking complaints

Apple on Tuesday pulled watchOS 3.1.1, following complaints that the software is bricking some Series 2 Watch models. The update, which was released yesterday, includes support for new Unicode 9.0 emoji, some customization features, and more.

According to the complaints, after installing watchOS 3.1.1, affected Apple Watches begin displaying a red exclamation point and the URL www.apple.com/help/watch. A force restart does not fix the issue, and these Watches will likely need servicing.

watchOS 3.1.1 released with latest Unicode 9.0 emoji, changeable skin tones, bug fixes & more

Happy updates day, everyone! Apple is today unleashing a barrage of updates for its software platforms, starting with a feature-packed iOS 10.2 release and tvOS 10.1 with support for Single Sign-On, Apple's new “TV” app and more. Also available today: watchOS 3.1.1, a minor release with bug fixes, performance improvements and support for more than a hundred new Unicode 9.0 emoji which are also available in iOS 10.2 and via the upcoming macOS 10.12.2 software update.

Apple seeds iOS 10.2 beta 6, and fifth betas of watchOS 3.1.1 and macOS 10.12.2

Apple on Monday released iOS 10.2 beta 6, watchOS 3.1.1 beta 5 and macOS 10.12.2 beta 5. Developers can install the updates via the company's dev portal, or via each platform's respective OTA update mechanism, and both iOS 10.2 and macOS betas are available to public testers.

The new betas come one week after Apple seeded beta 4 to developers, and just a few days after iOS 10.2 beta 5 was released. The rapid rollout suggests we are close to seeing public versions of the software—likely before the iTunes Connect holiday shutdown coming up in 2 weeks.

Apple releases beta 4 of iOS 10.2, watchOS 3.1.1 & macOS Sierra 10.12.2 to developers

Apple on Cyber Monday seeded new beta downloads to its registered developers who are enrolled in the Apple Developer Program. If you're a developer, iOS 10.2 beta 4 (build 14C82), watchOS 3.1.1 beta 4 (build 14S879) and macOS Sierra 10.12.2 beta 4 (build 16C53a) are now readily available as standalone downloads through the company's portal for developers or as over-the-air downloads on devices with a prior beta and an appropriate configuration profile.

Apple seeds watchOS 3.1.1 beta 3 to developers

Apple on Tuesday seeded the third beta of watchOS 3.1.1 to developers. The update comes just over a week after beta 2, and it can be installed by registered developers via the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General -> Software Update.