First Apple Watch software update improves third-party apps, fitness tracking, and more

By Malarie Gokey May 19, 2015

Apple Watch Sport — Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

The Apple Watch came out in late April, but it’s already getting its first software update. Watch OS 1.0.1 brings several key performance improvements to the wearable, including third-party app fixes, improved fitness tracking, and more.

One of the main complaints early adopters had about the Watch was the poor performance of third-party apps. The update claims to fix the many bugs and slow loading problems that most apps suffered from on the Watch. Issues with Siri are also said to be resolved, emojis have been added, and many more languages are supported on the device, including Brazilian Portuguese, Danish, Dutch, Swedish, Russian, Thai, and Turkish.

Most of the other updates address fitness and activity tracking. The log says that the Watch will more accurately measure stand activity, calculate calories for indoor cycling and rowing workouts, as well as distance and pace for outdoor walk and run workouts.

The update itself is relatively small in size, coming in at just 51.6MB. You can download the update by doing the following:

Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone
Go to Settings > General > Software update
Place your Watch on its charger and keep it in range of your iPhone
Download the software update

The update may take some time to download, so be patient. Once it’s done, you can strap your Watch back onto your wrist and keep an eye out for performance improvements — especially with those pesky third-party apps.

The first update looks to be a minor one without any huge changes or new features. However, a report from mid-May hints that Apple may have much more planned for its Watch in the future, including opening up more of the OS to developers, so that they can optimize their Watch apps further.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

As DT's Mobile Editor, Malarie runs the Mobile and Wearables sections, which cover smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, and…

Mobile

Don’t update your Apple Watch unless you want this ugly display bug

The Apple Watch Ultra with the Solo Loop band attached.

Last week saw the launch of watchOS 9.5, a relatively small update for Apple Watches that added the Pride Celebration watch face as well as fixed a few unspecified bugs. However, the update seems to be causing an irritating display issue for many users.

Posted to the subreddits r/AppleWatch and r/watchOS, users are reporting that the update has added a noticeable green/gray tint to their screens that changes the colors of the display and makes the usually crisp OLED screen look washed out. You can see what it looks like in the photos below.

Mobile

Apple Watch Series 9 may get a ridiculous performance boost

An Apple Watch Series 8 with the display turned on.

Apple might be prepping a big firepower upgrade for its upcoming smartwatches, after keeping them stagnant in terms of processing power boost for the past three generations. In his PowerOn channel on Discord, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman claims that the upcoming Apple Watch Series 9 models – and likely the next Apple Ultra, too – are “due for the updated SoC.”

To recap, Apple fitted the same chipset inside the current-gen Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch Ultra smartwatches as the Series 7 and Series 6. This was confirmed after the same processor identifier was spotted for the S8 chip as the two older generation wearables.

Mobile

If watchOS 10 looks like this, I need it on my Apple Watch right now

watchOS 10 home screen reimagined through a concept render

We’re fast approaching Apple’s WWDC on June 5, where we will not only get a glimpse of what’s to come in Apple product software updates but possibly a look at the hyped-up mixed reality headset. But even if you aren’t interested in the AR/VR stuff, Apple will still be showing iOS/iPadOS 17, watchOS 10, and macOS 14 too.

This year has also had a lot of back and forth going on in the rumor mill, with Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman saying that iOS 17 may be a quiet release this year, then later saying it may be big by bringing highly requested user features. He also claimed that while the Apple Watch itself may have more modest hardware upgrades this year, there may be more focus on the software front with watchOS 10 instead.