Apple Watch Set for Control Center Overhaul in watchOS 26

Apple launched WatchOS 26 at WWDC, bringing with it new fitness and messaging functions as well as a redesigned interface that aims to make all devices seem the same. Additionally, the update matches the software’s release year with its naming. In addition to WatchOS, Apple demonstrated AI innovations including as Live Translation, Visual Intelligence on-screen, and new iOS capabilities like Polls in Messages and Hold Assist for calls, indicating a renewed emphasis on AI innovation in spite of previous setbacks.
Design change for Liquid Glass
The Liquid Glass design is being applied to the UI of your Apple Watch and all of your other Apple products. Inspired by the visual interface of VisionOS, Apple’s “broadest design update ever” unveils a smooth and transparent cross-platform display redesign.
Anything in front of or behind liquid glass can be reflected or refracted to give it a translucent, glassy appearance.
Your Smart Stack, notifications, icons, and other elements will look different as a result. Instead of their existing opaque appearance, the icons on your watch’s lock screen or app page will seem clear, reflecting the light on your apps or background.
Apple Fitness with Intelligence Infusion
Workout Buddy, which is powered by AI, gives you real-time workout insights based on your fitness data history that it has collected through the app.
Before, during, and after your workout, Workout Buddy provides feedback and encouragement based on your fitness history, paces, Activity Rings, Training Load, and more. For the following workout styles, it is accessible in English: HIIT, Outdoor and Indoor Run, Outdoor and Indoor Walk, Outdoor Cycle, and Functional and Traditional Strength Training.
More customisable elements for workouts and race routes are also giving workouts a makeover. Four additional buttons—Goals, Custom, Pacer, and Race Route—have been added to the Workout app to allow for more personalization. The Workout app on the Apple Watch also allows users to choose playlists or podcasts they frequently listen to while working out.
Smart Stack enhancements
The prediction algorithm of Smart Stack is becoming better. More contextual information, such as routine and sensor data, is now incorporated into the algorithm to allude to certain applications or features. For instance, when you walk into your gym in the morning, a tip for the Functional Strength Training activity can appear. Similarly, when your Apple Watch detects that you are in an area without cellular service, the Backtrack hint might appear.
Live Translation
Apple Watch messages now include live translation thanks to Apple Intelligence. On the user’s wrist, the AI-powered function converts talks into the language of their choice.
Currently supported languages include English (US, UK), French (France), German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Spain), and simplified Chinese. The feature is accessible on Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, and Ultra 2.
Messages
Contextual cues from your messages are used by the Apple Watch to recommend appropriate actions, such as sending a check-in when a user is headed home or displaying an Apple Cash pop-up when a friend gives you the bill for dinner. Additionally, Apple claims that its on-device language model, which offers “precise” and “relevant” answers to discussions, is making Smart Replies even smarter.
The Flick of the Wrist
Double Tap, move over. For the Apple Watch, a new hand gesture was recently released. Wrist Flick is intended to hush pings and turn off calls and notifications. Turning the wrist is all that is required of the user.
More general updates
The Apple Watch gets the Notes app. Hold Assist and Call Screening are two new iOS features that screen unfamiliar numbers and alert users when they need to return to a call that is on hold. With the help of audio that the Apple Watch tracks, Live Listen, an accessibility tool for the hard of hearing and deaf, allows you to view live captions on your iPhone. These discussions can be started or stopped using the Watch as a remote control. Last but not least, a revised watch face gallery will make it simpler to personalize watch faces, and photo faces employ unique material to randomly display photographs on your watch screen.