Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman Says watchOS 10 will bring an all-new system of widgets to interact with the Apple Watch. That news came in the latest edition of Gurman’s “Power On” newsletter, in which he explained that the new widgets will become a “central part” of the Apple Watch’s interface with watchOS 10.
He compared the new widgets system to Glances, the widgets interface that launched on the original Apple Watch before being scrapped a few years later, as well as the style of widgets that debuted alongside iOS 14.
Gurman says the new interface will be “reminiscent” of the Siri watch face that debuted in watchOS 4, but that it will act as an overlay for any Apple Watch face. “It’s also similar to widget stacks, a feature in iOS and iPadOS that lets users pile many widgets into one and scroll through them,” Gurman added.
“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,” said Gurman.
Apple is also said to be testing changes to the functions launched by the Apple Watch’s buttons. Apple may make the new interface optional.
Gurman said he expects watchOS 10 to be a “major” update with “bigger enhancements,” including an “updated interface.” Gurman did not provide any additional details, so we’ll have to wait until June 5 to discover the exact new features and changes coming in the new Apple Watch operating system.
Gurman expects minor hardware changes for the next Apple Watch models, so watchOS 10 should be a major focus this year.
Apple’s WWDC Keynote address will be held on June 5, and watchOS 10 should be released in beta form to developers soon after the keynote. A public beta will likely be released to testers enrolled in Apple’s free Beta Software Program sometime in July.
