How to Download the watchOS 8 Public Beta - Lifehacker

Illustration for article titled How to Download the watchOS 8 Public Beta — Photo: Masarik (Shutterstock)

The first public beta for watchOS 8 is now available, giving users a chance to try out all the new features coming to Apple Watch Series 3, 4, 5, 6, and SE devices later this year. This early version of watchOS 8 includes the respiratory sleep tracking, new workout modes and multi-timer support, and tons of new changes to various Apple Watch apps including:

Photos: Support for memories and highlights, and images can be shared through iMessages and Mail.
FindMy: AirTag tracking support.
Apple Music: You can now share music via Messages.
Weather: Precipitation notifications if rain is expected in the next hour.

There are tons of other small tweaks in watchOS 8, all of which you can check out right now—but only if you have an iPhone running the iOS 15 beta. We can help you install the iOS 15 beta, but we strongly recommend you do not install either iOS 15 or watchOS 8 betas on your primary devices. Bugs and performance issues could make them unusable, and you cannot roll back to watchOS 7 once the watchOS 8 beta is installed. It’s better to wait a few more months for the stable versions to arrive.

With those warnings aside, here’s how to enroll your Apple Watch into Apple’s beta program so you can install watchOS 8 public beta now.

Make sure your iPhone and Apple Watch are charged, paired, and near each other.
On your iPhone with iOS 15, open Apple’s beta program webpage.
Click “Get started,” sign in with your Apple ID and agree to the terms to enroll your account in the program.
Go to the “watchOS” tab and tap “Download profile.” Allow the download, if prompted.
Select “Install” then follow the on-screen instructions.
Tap to restart your Apple Watch when prompted.

After the Apple Watch reboots, it will be ready to download the watchOS 8 update. There are two ways to start the download:

On your Apple Watch, go to Settings > General > Software Update and select “Download and Install.”
In the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, go to General > Software Update, then tap “Download and Install.”

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Follow the on-screen instructions. Once the installation is complete, you’ll be prompted to restart your Apple Watch one last time. After it reboots, it will be running the watchOS 8 public beta.

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