How to get watchOS 11 on your Apple Watch now | Digital trends

While iOS 18 and Apple Intelligence were the biggest news at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2024) this year, the company also showed off some pretty significant updates for its other devices, including watchOS 11 for its popular wearables.

This year, Apple is abandoning a number of Apple Watch models; watchOS 11 will only be available for the 2020 Apple Watch Series 6 and newer models, including the Apple Watch Ultra, but for that it offers a new Training Load feature to optimize your workouts, a Vitals app to track key health metrics , and the ability to finally take a day off from closing your rings.

Apple won’t release watchOS 11 to the public until later this year, likely around the same time it announces the Apple Watch Series The good news for people who want to play with the new features early is that we will have quite a few betas coming before that time comes. That starts with the first developer beta of watchOS 11, which became available shortly after Apple’s WWDC Keynote.

Since Apple is now making its developer betas available to anyone willing to sign up for a free developer account and agree to the terms, eager beavers can jump on watchOS 11 right now. Unless you really know what you’re getting into, we don’t recommend However, you have to wait a few weeks. Apple typically ships its public betas of major watchOS releases in early July, which you can count on to be significantly more stable than these early developer betas.

After all, these developer betas are not for the faint of heart. They’re intended to give developers a chance to get their apps ready for final release in September, and Apple only wants developers to install them on test devices that don’t have anything important on them. This applies to any Apple developer beta, but you’ll need to be extra careful when it comes to the Apple Watch as there’s no way to roll the wearable back to a previous version of watchOS. If something doesn’t work as you’d expect in a beta version of watchOS 11, you’ll have to wait until the next beta arrives for a possible fix.

Finally, it’s important to point out that Apple’s warranty does not cover devices running beta software. If you’re having trouble with your Apple Watch with watchOS 11 beta installed, you won’t get help from your local Genius Bar or Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP). Unlike an iPhone, iPad or Mac, you also can’t go back to the latest public release.

With all that in mind, here’s how to get access to the developer betas of watchOS 11 now if you’re willing to take the risks.

Please note that you will also need to use the iOS 18 beta on your iPhone before you can install the watchOS 11 beta on your Apple Watch.

Back up your Apple Watch

The first thing you should do before installing a new watchOS update is to make sure you have a good backup of your Apple Watch. That’s even more true when it comes to an early developer beta. Keep in mind that Apple expects these betas to only be installed on test devices that don’t have anything major on them. So there is no guarantee that the data on your Apple Watch will survive the update process unscathed.

For instructions, see our article on backing up your Apple Watch.

While you can’t restore your Apple Watch to watchOS 10, this backup can still be restored to the watchOS 11 developer beta if something goes wrong. It’s also worth keeping an extra copy of that backup on your computer in case your Apple Watch breaks down completely and you need to revert to a new Apple Watch running watchOS 10. Because your Apple Watch is back backup is stored on your iPhone, you can do this by backing up your iPhone to a Mac or PC.

Install the iOS 18 developer beta on your iPhone

Since your Apple Watch is basically inseparable from your iPhone, every major watchOS version requires a corresponding iOS version on the iPhone. This means that you cannot install the watchOS 11 developer beta on your iPhone until the iOS 18 developer beta is running.

Check out our guide on how to download iOS 18 on your iPhone for instructions on how to sign up for a free Apple developer account and install the iOS 18 beta on your iPhone. Once that’s done, come back and move on to the next section.

Install the watchOS 11 beta on your Apple Watch

All of Apple’s developer betas are now available for free, although you must opt ​​into the developer beta program by signing up for a free developer account. This is the same process whether you install the iOS 18 developer beta or the watchOS 11 developer beta, so once you’ve signed up you’re ready to download them all. You only need to enable the betas on the devices you want to install them on. To enable watchOS beta downloads on your Apple Watch:

Step 1: Open the View app on your iPhone.

Step 2: Select General.

Step 3: Select Software update.

Step 4: Select Beta updates. Please note that this will only appear if your iPhone and Apple Watch recognize that your Apple ID is part of a beta program. The next screen will show a list of betas that your Apple ID can download.

Step 5: To elect watchOS 11 developer beta.

Step 6: Select Back from the top left corner. You’ll be returned to the main software update screen and the watchOS 11 Developer Beta should appear after a second or two (ignore the watchOS 10 icon because it looks like Apple just forgot to update that part).

Step 7: Place your Apple Watch on a charger and make sure it is within range of your iPhone and connected to Wi-Fi.

Step 8: Select Download and install to start installing the watchOS 11 beta.

It may take a few minutes to an hour to download the beta, prepare it, and then install it on your Apple Watch. If you prefer, you can continue to wear and use your Apple Watch while the watchOS 11 beta is downloading, but it must be charged to at least 50% and placed and left on the charger for the update to begin.

The watchOS 11 developer beta setting will remain enabled and future beta updates can be installed by returning to this screen.

You can also disable the Beta Updates setting if you no longer wish to receive future beta versions of watchOS 11. This will not reset your Apple Watch to watchOS 10; you’ll simply keep the beta version you’re currently using, with no future updates until the final release arrives in the fall. That’s probably not what you want to do unless there’s something new about a future beta that introduces a serious problem; in that case, you can use this to skip that release and turn it back on when a more stable release comes along. You can also use this setting to switch to the public beta when it becomes available, likely in July. a watchOS 11 public beta option should appear in the same menu once that happens.

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