Contents

watchOS 26 Release Notes

Update your apps to use new features, and test your apps against API changes.

Overview

The watchOS 26 SDK provides support to develop watchOS apps for Apple Watch devices running watchOS 26. The SDK comes bundled with Xcode 26, available from the Mac App Store. For information on the compatibility requirements for Xcode 26, see Xcode 26 Release Notes.

General

Resolved Issues

  • After updating to watchOS 26, your Apple Watch Series 7 or Apple Watch SE 2 will recalibrate and then estimate its maximum battery capacity more accurately. (144885837)

App Store

New Features

  • A new Accessibility section has been added to the App Store product pages that highlights accessibility features within apps and games. These Accessibility Nutrition Labels give users a new way to learn if an app will be accessible to them before they download it, and give developers the opportunity to better inform and educate their users on features their app supports. (138344118)

Apple Intelligence

Resolved Issues

  • Fixed: Model quality output degrades after extended, repeated inferences of the same adapter. (152468267)

Apple Watch Hermès

Resolved Issues

  • Fixed: Apple Watch Hermès crashes continuously if updated to watchOS 26 beta 2. It is advised that these users do not update to beta 2. (152604139)

AssistantSchemas

Resolved Issues

  • Fixed: If you have adopted any of the following email AssistantSchemas, you will experience a compilation error due to a parameter type change: createDraft, updateDraft, replyMail, forwardMail, message, and draft. (148633307)

CloudKit

Resolved Issues

  • Fixed: CloudKit sharing URLs do not launch third-party apps. (151778655)

Contacts

Resolved Issues

  • Fixed: Resolved an issue where some contacts with outsized images might fail to sync to Apple Watch until Reset Sync Data is performed. After updating to watchOS 26 beta 4, perform a reset sync (Watch app > General > Reset > Reset Sync Data) to enable these contacts to sync again. (155535527)

Control Center

Resolved Issues

  • Fixed: User cannot exit the Cellular Data Options pane by tapping the back arrow. (152248850)

  • Fixed: Button symbols sometimes disappear upon reboot. (157942636)

CoreData

Resolved Issues

  • Fixed: In beta 5 SDK, CoreData changed several Sendable annotations to resolve compatibility issues with Swift 6’s new MainActor default isolation feature. These changes include marking NSManagedObject as NS_SWIFT_NONISOLATED NS_SWIFT_NONSENDABLE, marking NSManagedObjectContext as NS_SWIFT_NONISOLATED NS_SWIFT_SENDABLE, and requiring NS_SWIFT_SENDABLE closures for the family of perform, performBlock, performBlockAndWait and similar methods. These changes are ABI compatible with past releases but might introduce new warnings while building source code that violates the longstanding CoreData concurrency guidelines.

    NSManagedObject are mutable reference types inextricably related to others in a graph and cannot be made Sendable. They are expected to be isolated to the scope of the NSManagedObjectContext that creates or fetches them. NSManagedObjectContext is a style of actor which encapsulates its own dispatch queue. While it’s impermissible to use many methods on NSManagedObjectContext from other threads, it is permissible to pass references around to invoke the performBlock family of methods, for the purpose of routing a Sendable closure to its managed dispatch queue. CoreData supports a user default -com.apple.CoreData.ConcurrencyDebug 1 which can be used to enable additional assertions. (153848710) (FB18216198)

Foundation

New Features

  • Interpolating non-localized types into a LocalizedStringResource/String(localized:)/AttributedString(localized:) value will now display a deprecation warning instead of potentially falling back to a fully-unlocalized string. Provide a localized value to interpolate into the text instead, or silence the warning by wrapping the unlocalized value in a call to String(describing:). (126876158)

Resolved Issues

  • Fixed: Functions that initialize a string from a C-string pointer do not validate that the provided encoding is a valid encoding for C-strings. (143756086) (FB16417968)

  • Fixed: Locale.preferredLocale API availability for tvOS and watchOS is specified incorrectly. (151205096)

HealthKit

Resolved Issues

  • Fixed: An app that was granted Read-only authorization for certain data types (e.g. workout routes) might lose its ability to read the data type without the user explicitly turning it off in Settings > Health. (149024236)

Maps

Known Issues

  • Custom tap gesture callbacks registered using onTapGesture might not work as expected on a SwiftUI Map. (157612948) (FB19394663)

    Workaround: Use simultaneousGesture(TapGesture().onEnded {}) to register the callback.

Memory Tools

Known Issues

  • Leaks might be falsely reported by memory analysis tools when a target has instances of types that use Obj-C properties implemented in Swift using bridged types with @objc @implementation. Memory analysis tools include the leaks CLI tool, Leaks instrument, and Xcode memory graph debugger. (157798911)

Notes

Resolved Issues

  • Fixed: When creating a note on watchOS with Siri, you might get an error from Siri saying something went wrong. However, the note will still get created. (155658052)

NSLog

New Features

  • Dynamic string data in format arguments for NSLog will be redacted to \<private\> in the Unified Logging System. This specifically targets data that enters the Unified Logging System via NSLog, and will not impact the Xcode console or NSLog’s stdout output. If you wish to log un-redacted data to the Unified Logging System please use the “os_log” or “Logger” interfaces. (137129180)

Phone

Resolved Issues

  • Fixed: Users are not able to send custom or default Live Replies from Apple Watch when the companion iPhone sends an unknown call to Call Screening. (151414166)

Security

Deprecations

  • For apps linked on or after iOS 26 and macOS 26, the default minimum TLS version of URLSession and Network frameworks has changed from 1.0 to 1.2. If your process connects only to your servers, verify that they support TLS 1.3 or TLS 1.2. If your process needs to connect to 3rd-party servers which cannot be updated to support newer versions of TLS, restore the previous behavior through URLSession and Security framework APIs: URLSessionConfiguration.tlsMinimumSupportedProtocolVersion and sec_protocol_options_set_min_tls_protocol_version. (135996267)

Speech

Known Issues

  • The Speech framework is not available in the tvOS or watchOS SDKs. (151319670)

StoreKit

New Features

  • There is a new option for the Transaction.Offer.PaymentMode API called oneTime. This new case supports the method of payment for In-App Purchase offer codes. (142501142)

  • Subscription promotional offers can now be signed using JWS and attached to a purchase using the new PurchaseOption.promotionalOffer(_:compactJWS:) API. There are also new corresponding SwiftUI APIs in StoreKit to attach a signed promotional offer or a signed introductory offer override to a view. (143395736)

Resolved Issues

  • Fixed: Subscription status updates might not be reported correctly if the subscription went into billing retry in StoreKit Testing in Xcode. (133799135) (FB14789854)

  • Fixed: Price of offers is not displayed in the payment sheet when making a purchase to a subscription with a higher level of service in StoreKit Testing in Xcode. (140635780) (FB15980635)

  • Fixed: Renewal transactions might be created regardless of the Ask to Buy status of the purchase request in StoreKit Testing in Xcode. (145242611)

  • Fixed: SKProduct from the original StoreKit API fails to decode products when using StoreKit Testing in Xcode. (150851879)

  • Fixed an issue causing the buy button label in StoreKit views on watchOS to appear identical if the component is enabled or disabled when the app’s accentColor is missing. (153218311)

  • Fixed: Transactions might not finish, resulting in subsequent purchases of the same product failing. (155449267)

Swift Charts

Resolved Issues

  • Fixed: Annotations on a scrollable chart might be clipped. (109164195)

SwiftUI

New Features

  • ControlSize now conforms to Comparable, and View/controlSize(_:) can now be used to clamp the environment’s controlSize to a given range. (99633360) (FB11465757)

  • Text, TextEditor, and TextField now by default use string contents to determine the appropriate base writing direction for each paragraph, instead of relying on layout directionality. To specify the writing direction explicitly on a per-paragraph basis, use Foundation’s AttributedString.writingDirection attribute. To make the base writing direction follow the layout direction for an entire view, apply the view modifier .writingDirection(strategy: .layoutBased). (134821288)

  • When linking news SDKs, NavigationLinks produce a single view, rather than a list of views in view list contexts. This change improves performance of many NavigationLinks in lazy containers like List. However, if you are relying on ContainerValues propagating out of the label view of a NavigationLink, or similarly relying on ContainerValues of a ButtonStyle used to style a link, the containerValue(_:,_:) modifier should be moved outside of the link. Below is a minimal example that demonstrates the behavior difference:

     import SwiftUI
 
 struct ContentView: View {
     @State private var presentPopover = false
     var body: some View {
         NavigationLink("Custom Link", value: 84)
             .buttonStyle(MyButtonStyle(containerValue: "Eighty-four"))
     }
 }
 
 struct ParentView: View {
     var body: some View {
         Group(subviews: ContentView()) { subviews in
             ForEach(subviews) { subview in
                 Text(subview.containerValues.myCustomValue)
             }
         }
         .frame(minWidth: 100, minHeight: 100)
     }
 }
 
 struct MyButtonStyle: PrimitiveButtonStyle {
     var containerValue: String
     func makeBody(configuration: Configuration) -> some View {
         Button(configuration)
             .buttonBorderShape(.circle)
             .containerValue(\.myCustomValue, containerValue)
     }
 }
 
 private struct MyContainerValueKey: ContainerValueKey {
     static let defaultValue: String = "Default value"
 }
 
 extension ContainerValues {
     var myCustomValue: String {
         get { self[MyContainerValueKey.self] }
         set { self[MyContainerValueKey.self] = newValue }
     }
 }
 
 #Preview {
     ParentView()
 }

    (140283584)

  • In NavigationSplitView and TabViews configured as sidebarAdaptable, the view trailing the sidebar’s safe area is inset in the width of the sidebar. It can display content outside its safe area, underneath the sidebar. (141222137)

  • In apps that adopt the new design, the buttonBorderShape(_:) view modifier can be used to customize the shape of bordered buttons. Previously this modifier only affected buttons in Widgets in macOS. (145773436)

  • The buttonSizing(_:) view modifier specifies the sizing behavior of Button, Picker, Menu, and other button-producing controls. If you are using Spacer views or an infinite-width frame in your Button label to create a flexible button, apply buttonSizing(.flexible) to the Button instead. (146327046)

Resolved Issues

  • Fixed: TextEditor’s undo stack might contain invalid operations for applications with multiple TextEditor views. (83650197) (FB9662463)

  • Fixed: The menu content of some Menu views does not update as the result of a state change. (106878937)

  • Fixed: View.onHover(perform:) and View.onContinuousHover(coordinateSpace:perform:) affect hit-testing for gestures. Gestures are not received if one of these view modifiers is used within an overlay. (108560020)

  • Fixed: Section views without isExpanded binding are collapsible in a sidebar-styled List on macOS. (115797465) (FB13192271)

  • Fixed: listSectionSpacing does not work correctly for sections that have headers and footers. For more control over the list section layout, use the listSectionMargins modifier. (140929163)

  • Fixed: On iOS, navigationSplitViewColumnWidth() does not respect the specified minimum and maximum column widths. (143529326)

  • Fixed: Multiple title views in sidebar list labels on iOS are not styled hierarchically as title and subtitle. (144253754)

  • Fixed: In custom layouts that do not implement explicitAlignment(of:in:proposal:subviews:cache:), alignment guides do not work correctly for a right-to-left layout direction. (145073832)

  • Fixed: Applying a bold modifier to Text resets the weight configuration. The interaction of bold and weight is not consistent between Text and Font. (147270079)

  • Fixed: On platforms supporting edge-attached and non-edge-attached sheets, non-edge-attached sheets present erroneously as full-screen covers when .navigationTransition(.zoom...) is specified. If you wish to keep the full-screen cover in compact size classes, configure a sheet with:

     .sheet(...) {
    ContentView()
     .navigationTransition(.zoom...)
     .presentationSizing(.page)
     .presentationCompactAdaptation(.fullScreen)

    (150455117)

  • Fixed: If Default Actor Isolation is set to MainActor, @Animatable macro emits concurrency warnings in Swift 5 language mode and does not compile in Swift 6 language mode. (152524435)

  • Fixed: On visionOS, tvOS, and watchOS, sheets presented within toolbar items might fail to present if the toolbar item’s label view is a Label. (157326248)

Known Issues

  • toolbarForegroundStyle no longer tints toolbar button labels on watchOS. (151487439)

    Workaround: Tint the button label directly, using Text("foo").foregroundStyle(...).

  • .toolbarVisibility(_:for:) does not hide the navigation bar on watchOS. (152326250)

Deprecations

  • Text concatenation using the + operator is deprecated because it makes it hard to create localized strings that are correct across all languages. Use Text interpolation instead. See documentation on Text for more info on how to produce localized strings. (128144043)

TextKit

New Features

  • iOS 26, tvOS 26, visionOS 26, watchOS 26, and macOS Tahoe 26 have two methods for resolving the natural alignment NSTextAlignment.natural and the last line of NSTextAlignment.justified into concrete alignments, left and right. The first approach utilizes the UI language, which is determined by passing nil-language to NSParagraphStyle.defaultWritingDirection(forLanguage: ). This behavior was employed prior to this release. The second method is new and dynamically utilizes the base writing direction for the paragraph. When the base writing direction is set to NSWritingDirection.rightToLeft, the text is aligned to right, and vice versa. The behavior is selected by API introduced in this major release: NSTextLayoutManager.resolvesNaturalAlignmentWithBaseWritingDirection, NSStringDrawingOptionsResolvesNaturalAlignmentWithBaseWritingDirection, UITraitCollection.resolvesNaturalAlignmentWithBaseWritingDirection, and NSTextField.resolvesNaturalAlignmentWithBaseWritingDirection. (152045248)

Resolved Issues

  • Fixed: The directionality of NSParagraphStyle indentation properties (firstLineHeadIndent, headIndent, and tailIndent) is determined by inconsistent hidden rules implemented by the TextKit typesetting engine.

    With iOS 26, macOS 26, tvOS 26, watchOS 26, and visionOS 26, the TextKit 2 typesetting engine has been standardized to utilize the resolved writing direction for the paragraph when linked with the OS 26 versions of the corresponding SDKs. For binary compatibility, applications developed with prior SDK versions will use the UI language in a subset of API interfaces. Specifically, for UILabel, NSTextField, SwiftUI.Text, and NSStringDrawing, the indentation directionality is determined by the UI language queried by passing nil to NSParagraphStyle. defaultWritingDirection() in applications built with prior SDK versions. (155893102)

Translation

Known Issues

  • Downloading languages for translation might display incomplete indicators on the download screen resulting in translation features being unavailable. (148923222)

    Workaround: Reboot the device.

Workout

Known Issues

  • Users might be unable to end a workout that has been auto-paused. (155970593)

    Workaround: Resume the Workout, then tap End.

Workout Buddy

Resolved Issues

  • Fixed: Workout Buddy might appear as unavailable in the watchOS Workout app after installing beta 1. (152691503)

Known Issues

  • Workout Buddy announcements play only on AirPods with H1 or later when connected to Apple Watch or iPhone, and on third-party bluetooth headphones when connected to iPhone. (152316444)

See Also

watchOS 26