watchOS 8 Supported Devices, Features, Roadmap and More

Apple finally announced the next-generation of its Apple Watch OS, the newer one is slated as watchOS 8 at its annual developer conference event (aka WWDC). Apart from the watchOS 8, the company also shows off the iOS 15, iPadOS 15, along with macOS Monterey.

The latest Apple Watch operating system goes official with a number of new apps, Portrait Watch Face, redesigned Photos app, along with improvements to the health apps.

In this article, we will shed light on the watchOS 8 features, watchOS 8 supported devices, and the possible release date for Apple Watch’s next major OS update – watchOS 8.

watchOS 8 Release Date aka Roadmap

Apple at its annual WWDC 21 event announced the latest Apple Watch OS – watchOS 8. The developer beta of watchOS 8 goes official, developers can sideload the update on their Apple Watch for testing purposes.

Talking about the public beta, then it will be available from next month, while the stable release is scheduled for coming fall.

watchOS 8 Supported Devices

One of the best things about the new watchOS 8 is, it is compatible with Apple Watch Series 3 as well. Yes, Apple extend the major operating system support for Apple Watch Series 3 this time.

Talking about the other devices, then watchOS 8 is compatible with Series 3 or newer models. Here’s the complete list of watchOS 8 Compatible Apple Watch devices.

List of watchOS 8 Compatible Apple Watches list

Apple Watch Series 3
Apple Watch Series 4
Apple Watch Series 5
Apple Watch Series 6
Apple Watch SE

watchOS 8 Features

watchOS 8 is not a small patch or an incremental update, it’s a big major release for the Apple Watch. And packs a flurry of new useful features and improvements.

Here’s the complete list of features coming with the watchOS 8:

Portrait watchOS Face and Photos app

With watchOS 8, Apple Watch gets a new Watch Face – Portrait Watch Face, which lets you set photos taken from iPhone’s portrait mode on your Apple Watch. It intelligently recognizes the faces in Photos and highlight the subject by cropping the images. Yes, you can now set your mind-blowing portraits on your Apple Watch.

The Photos app on watchOS 8 gets a major overhaul, now you can explore your photos in a number of different ways. The new app will also show the Memories and Featured Photos to the Apple Watch. And the best thing, you can also share the photos via Messages app or Mail with the new Share Sheet.

Messages and Contacts get Scribble, GIF support, and more

Apple bring improvements to the writing in Messages and Contacts on the Apple Watch. Now users can use scribble, dictation, and emoji in the Messages app. watchOS 8 also brings GIF support to the Apple Watch’s, which you can use while sending a message. These features will allow you to easily communicate directly from the Apple Watch.

Talking about the Contacts app, then now users can easily add, edit, or browse contacts directly from the Apple Watch. You can also share contacts directly from the Apple Watch running on watchOS 8.

New Health Apps and Features

Starting with the Focus, then the Focus is one of the powerful tools available in iOS (iOS 15), now you can even access it on your Apple Watch to stay focused on your work by reducing the distractions. Talking about the Sleep app, then it gets a new feature dubbed as respiratory rate, it allows you to measure number of breaths per minutes.

Breathe app gets a new naming with the watchOS 8, the new name for the Breathe app is Mindfulness. The app receives a new session known as Reflect, it presents mindful intent to focus on as little as one minute. So, these are the new health app features.

watchOS 8 brings a number of useful features related to the health – the list includes features such as respiratory rate support in the Sleep App, Mindfulness app, Focus support, along with some improvements.

New Workout Types, Redesigned Home app, Improved Wallet app, and more

watchOS 8 brings two new workout types which are beneficial for your health. The new workouts types are the Tai Chi and Pilates. Apart from that, watchOS 8 knocks up with a new Home app which allow users to easily control accessories available in the room. Apart from that wallet app receives some improvements, Apple Watch Series 6 will get car key support in the coming days.

Apart from the afore-listed changes, the watchOS 8 also bumps up the Apple Watch with overall system improvements and enhancements.

So, these are the some watchOS 8 features that we want to see on the Apple Watch.

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Topics Covered in this article: watchOS 8 Release Date, watchOS 8 Features, watchOS 8 Expected Features, watchOS 8 Supported Devices, watchOS 8 Compatibility, watchOS 8 Apple Watch 3 support.

watchOS 8 Features, Release Date, Supported Devices, and More