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Apple Providing watchOS 6 Beta to Select AppleSeed Members

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MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Apple today started offering the watchOS 6 beta to select AppleSeed members, allowing some non-developers to test the software for the first time.

AppleSeed is a version of the public beta testing program that's invite only, making it more selective and limited than the open betas that are provided to all public beta testers. As AppleInsider notes, some AppleSeed members are now receiving invites for watchOS 6.

watchOS-6-800x478.jpg
We are extending you an exclusive invitation to join the AppleSeed Program and to take part in shaping watchOS 6. As a participant, you'll get to test-drive pre-release software and provide your feedback.

Our program also includes a community discussion board, questionnaires, and a Feedback Assistant application that lets you report any quality and usability issues you find, directly to Apple. Help us improve the quality of our next release and join today.
Click to expand...
There's no way to apply to be an AppleSeed member, so the watchOS 6 beta made available to AppleSeed participants will be limited in scale. Apple does not provide traditional watchOS public betas because there's no way to downgrade the software installed on the Apple Watch. Most people will need to wait for the fall release of watchOS 6 to give the software a try.

The watchOS 6 update brings a new App Store to the Apple Watch, so you can find and download new Apple Watch apps right on your wrist. Apple Watch apps are also no longer required to have an iPhone component, so developers can now create standalone Apple Watch apps.

watchos6appstore.jpg

There are quite a few new watch faces in watchOS 6, including Numerals Mono and Duo with huge numbers, Modular Compact, a Gradient watch face that shifts over the course of a day, a Solar Dial watch face that visualizes the sun in a 24 hour path around the dial, and the California watch face with a mix of standard numbers and Roman numerals.

watchos6ewatchfaces-800x442.jpg

watchOS 6 also includes new Audiobooks, Voice Memos, and Calculator apps, along with a new Noise app that warns you if you're exposed to sound that could damage your hearing and a new Cycle Tracking app for period tracking. Activity Trends, visible on the iPhone, is a new feature that lets you chart your fitness progress and make sure your fitness trends are improving.

watchosnoise-800x619.jpg

New complications are available for wind speed, chance of rain, and the new Noise app, plus there's a Voice Memos complication for recording a memo quickly, a cellular strength complication, and a complication for the Calculator that opens up the app.

Siri can now provide full web search results right on the watch when asked a question, and for Mac users, the Apple Watch can now approve Mac security prompts.

For more on what's new in watchOS 6, which is going to launch this fall, make sure to check out our watchOS 6 roundup.

Article Link: Apple Providing watchOS 6 Beta to Select AppleSeed Members
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2019/06/24/appleseed-members-watchos-6-beta/
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ersan191

macrumors 68000
Oct 26, 2013
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Wonder if it's more stable than normal - Apple has never made watchOS betas available to non-developers.
 
J

jcshas

macrumors 65816
Oct 8, 2003
1,041
1,324
Does WatchOS 6 require iOS 13 or can it be installed on the watch independent of whatever versions of iOS you’re running on iPhone?
 
Shirasaki

Shirasaki

macrumors P6
May 16, 2015
15,615
10,922
Well, I think I will just stick to watchOS 5 for now, or just shell $99 For developer program... oh wait, needs 2FA?
Also, by far I don’t see watchOS 6 brings too many new things to Apple Watch series 3 and below. Virtually no new watch faces, no new features, no nothing.
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jcshas said:
Does WatchOS 6 require iOS 13 or can it be installed on the watch independent of whatever versions of iOS you’re running on iPhone?
Click to expand...
It will REQUIRE iOS 13. No way to install/use watchOS 6 without iOS 13.
 
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grahamwright1

Cancelled
Feb 10, 2008
210
202
Shirasaki said:
Well, I think I will just stick to watchOS 5 for now, or just shell $99 For developer program... oh wait, needs 2FA?
Also, by far I don’t see watchOS 6 brings too many new things to Apple Watch series 3 and below. Virtually no new watch faces, no new features, no nothing.
Click to expand...

Larger text for the App list alone is worth the update! It's an incremental improvement for us S1 owners....
 
votdfak

votdfak

macrumors 6502a
Mar 15, 2011
777
647
Love my AW3 too, really love it, but idk why we don't have option to keep it always on while working out, it should be our decision.
 
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Hodar1

Hodar1

macrumors regular
Nov 30, 2011
169
596
In the middle of the Rocky Mountains, for now.
I drive 90 minutes into work, every day. And another 90 minutes back home - The issue is, my watch thinks the road bumps, somehow equate to "movement", as in "steps". Trust me, I'm not walking 80mph. I wish that the movement software would at least check with the GPS to tell the watch that road "noise" is not the same as walking. On my drive to work; it's not unusual to see my watch telling me I have walked a half mile.
 
QCassidy352

QCassidy352

macrumors G5
Mar 20, 2003
12,028
6,036
Bay Area
votdfak said:
Love my AW3 too, really love it, but idk why we don't have option to keep it always on while working out, it should be our decision.
Click to expand...
drives me absolutely crazy... actually made me return my first apple watch and go back to a Garmin. I cam back because the AW does so many other things so well, but it's a huge missing feature for me.
 
pdaholic

pdaholic

macrumors 68000
Jun 22, 2011
1,842
2,550
Hodar1 said:
I drive 90 minutes into work, every day. And another 90 minutes back home - The issue is, my watch thinks the road bumps, somehow equate to "movement", as in "steps". Trust me, I'm not walking 80mph. I wish that the movement software would at least check with the GPS to tell the watch that road "noise" is not the same as walking. On my drive to work; it's not unusual to see my watch telling me I have walked a half mile.
Click to expand...
Or when I’m reading a book to my kid in bed, and I suddenly complete my stand goal!
 
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votdfak

votdfak

macrumors 6502a
Mar 15, 2011
777
647
QCassidy352 said:
drives me absolutely crazy... actually made me return my first apple watch and go back to a Garmin. I cam back because the AW does so many other things so well, but it's a huge missing feature for me.
Click to expand...

I use it for many, many things, most of all Apple Pay. It's awesome. But why oh why we don't have toggle to keep display always on while working out? I'll never understand. They should just enable it for Workout app if they want control. Cmon Apple give it to us. I still don't understand...
 
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coolfactor

macrumors 604
Jul 29, 2002
7,070
9,743
Vancouver, BC
ka-spot said:
like the song says – all this "wearable" – are complete and total bullshhhhhh...

(also the touch bar)

here's proof:
Click to expand...

Tell us why you feel that way. We're waiting.
[doublepost=1561410492][/doublepost]
votdfak said:
Love my AW3 too, really love it, but idk why we don't have option to keep it always on while working out, it should be our decision.
Click to expand...

Lift your wrist and the display lights up. Why waste battery power when you aren't looking at the watch? Seems totally logically to me.

Maybe, instead, you want them to tweak *when* it triggers the screen to come on?
 
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