The Apple Watch is getting its annual facelift with WatchOS 8 with extra workout modes, more flexible messaging tools and a new portrait watch face. …
The Apple Watch is getting its annual facelift with WatchOS 8 with extra workout modes, more flexible messaging tools and a new portrait watch face. Apple released the public beta of WatchOS 8 Wednesday, which gives us a sneak peek of the operating system that will be released in the fall. While there are no big interface surprises in the new OS, Apple has refined the Watch experience to bring many features in line with the iPhone. WatchOS 8 will run on all Apple Watches from the Series 3 and later. We don’t recommend installing any beta software on your primary device, but if you do want to preview the new features coming to iOS 15 and WatchOS 8, you can find out how to download them here. Here are the best new Apple Watch features we’ve found so far. Using any portrait mode photo taken on the iPhone, you can now add the Portraits watch face to see these images on your wrist. But rather than displaying as a static image, the watch uses segmentation data from the photo to separate the foreground from the background. This means time appears just behind the head of your subject and if you raise your wrist or like to fidget with the Digital Crown, the subject pops in and out, too. I’ve found it works best with photos that have a lot of distance between the foreground and background, plus ample headroom above your subject so you can really see the effect. Some complications are also supported so you can put elements like battery level or heart rate on the watch face as well. The Photos app itself also gets some new tools like surfacing your memories and featured photos, so new content is synced to the Watch daily.
