The WatchOS 8 public beta is now live! If you waited for the official version to hit your Apple Watch, your time has come. Here’s how you can try out the new features right now.
WatchOS 8 beta
Here’s how you download and install the WatchOS 8 beta. First you need to be part of the Apple Beta Software Program. It’s free and anyone can sign up.
If you have an account log into the Apple Developers Portal on the iPhone you have paired with your Apple Watch.
Now before you do anything else make sure you have your data backed up. Beta software can have issues so doing this is at your own risk. If you lose your precious analytics that’s on you.
If you’re not sure how to back up your device, or want to roll back the beta at any point, Apple has explainers here.
Now, onwards!
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Go to the WatchOS download page and click on the WatchOS 7 beta. Choose ‘iPhone’ when prompted and hit ‘install’.
You may need to enter your passcode.
If the profile doesn’t pop up automatically it will show up as a profile download in the settings app. This is located between your user profile and Aeroplane Mode.
Make sure your Apple Watch is unlocked. Install the profile and let the Apple Watch restart.
Now we want to install the beta. Open the Watch app on your iPhone. Go to General and then Software Update.
Click to confirm and follow the prompts to enter your passcode on your Apple Watch. The beta will now begin downloading and installing on your Apple Watch. It will restart once it’s done.
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I didn’t wait…
If you are a curious cat, maybe you already have a WatchOS 8 beta. We didn’t encounter any major issues with it over the past few weeks and hope you didn’t either.
This is how the installation was done before the public beta was available:
All you need to do is download the profile from Beta Profiles to an iPhone running iOS 15. You need to do this with the Safari browser.
The rest of the steps mirror those of developers.
If the profile doesn’t pop up automatically it will show up as a profile download in the settings app. This is located between your user profile and Aeroplane Mode.
Make sure your Apple Watch is unlocked. Install the profile and let the Apple Watch restart.
Now we want to install the beta. Open the Watch app on your iPhone. Go to General and then Software Update.
Click to confirm and follow the prompts to enter your passcode on your Apple Watch. The beta will now begin downloading and installing on your Apple Watch. It will restart once it’s done.