watchOS - definition

Glossary

WatchOS refers to the name of Apple's Operating System for the Apple Watch.

Over its short history, the user interface has 'pivoted' several times as Apple learns and understands how users interact with this category of device.

WatchOS is a touch based OS but is supplemented by a rotating Digital Crown that allows the user to scroll through content without their fingers obscuring the display.

Version History

watchOS 1

Released April 24, 2015

  • • Came with 9 stock watch faces
  • • Characterized by app icons appearing in a floating circular arrangement
  • • Apple Pay support
  • • 20 stock apps including Siri and a workout app
  • • Messages app displays Emoji's and novel tap based messages

watchOS 2

Released September 21, 2015

  • • Nightstand mode for use during its nightly charge
  • • Supported Wi-Fi calling without an iPhone for supporting carriers
  • • Additional watch faces and ability for user to use their photos
  • • Siri improvements
  • • Enhanced SDK allowing developers to create better and faster apps.
  • • Activity & workout improvements

watchOS 3

Released September 13, 2016

  • • Supported the new Series 2 Apple Watch
  • • Introduced the 'dock' concept, accessed via the side button, allowing quick access to 10 apps
  • • Introduced Control Center similar to iPhone
  • • Added support for Apple HomeKit
  • • Activity & Workout improvements
  • • New watch faces
  • • MacOS will now automatically unlock when it detects a users Apple Watch
  • • Theater Mode stops the raise to wake feature in a darkened theater

watchOS 4

Released September 19, 2017

  • • Supported the new Series 3 Apple Watch
  • • New watch faces including a Siri watch face that provides dynamic information based on time of day
  • • Redesigned Dock featuring vertically arranged apps
  • • Improved performance for 3rd party apps
  • • Improved music app
  • • Enhanced activity and fitness challenges with links to compatible fitness equipment such as treadmills

watchOS 5 (beta)

Expected to be released September, 2018

New Features

  • • Challenge a friend to 7-day competition with alerts telling you how far ahead or behind you are
  • • Automatic workout detection
  • • New Yoga and Hiking workouts
  • • Advanced Running Features including pace alerts, split times and cadence.
  • • Podcasts now supported with automatic syncing
  • • Walkie-Talkie for one-to-one conversations with anyone with a compatible Apple Watch
  • • Enhanced Siri watch face, now compatible with third party apps
  • • Improved notifications. Respond right within notifications. Grouped notificiations
  • • View web content within messages
  • • Enhanced Do Not Disturb based on time or until you leave a specific location
  • •
  • •

Related terms:

0 - 9

2G 3.5mm headphone jack 3G 4G 5G A-GPS (Assisted GPS) A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) Accelerometer Airplane mode Alarm Clock Alphanumeric AMOLED display (Active-matrix organic light-emitting diode) Analog Android ANT+ Antenna Aperture APN (Access Point Name) Apple AirPlay Apple AirPlay 2 Apple iOS Apple iOS 10 Apple iOS 11 Apple iOS 12 Apple iOS 7 Apple iOS 8 Apple iOS 9 Apple Pay aptX Audio jack Auto-focus AVRCP (Audio/Video Remote Control

B

Bada OS Band Bandwidth Bar Base Station Battery Charging BeiDou Navigation Satellite System Benchmarking Biometrics Bit BlackBerry OS BlackBerry Playbook OS Bluetooth bps (Bits per Second) Brand Broadband Browser Calculator Calendar Call alerts Calling Plan Camera Capacitive Touchscreen Car Kit Carrier CDMA (Code-Division Multiple Access) CDMA2000 Cell Chipset cHTML (Compact HyperText Markup Language) CIF (Common Intermediate Format) Clamshell CMOS (Complementary metal-oxidesemiconductor) Color depth Concatenated SMS Connected GPS Construction Corning Gorilla Glass CPU (Central Processing Unit) Crosstalk CSTN (Color Super Twisted Nematic) CTIA Custom ringtones Cya

D

D-Pad (Direction Pad) Data Disclaimer DC-HSDPA (Dual Carrier or Dual Cell High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) Digital Zoom Display type DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) DNSe (Digital Natural Sound engine) Downlink DRM (Digital Rights Management) Dual-band Dual-Mode Dual-SIM DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting - Handheld) Dynami

E

EDGE (Enhanced Data for Global Evolution) EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) EGPRS EGSM (Extended GSM) Email client Emoji EMS (Enhanced Message Service) eSIM EV-DO EV-DV Exchangeable covers External Antenna Jack External

F

FCC (Federal Communications Commission) Feature Phone Femtocell Firefox OS Firmware Fixed-focus Flash Memory Flight mode Flip-down phone FM Radio FM Transmitter Form factor FOTA (Firmware Over-The-Air) FPS (Frames Per Second) Frame Error Rate Frequency FTP (File Transfer P

G

Galileo (Global Navigation Satellite System) GB (Gigabyte) Gbps (Gigabits per second) Geo-tag GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System) GNSS Positioning GPRS GPS (Global Positioning System) gpsONE gpsOneXTRA Assistance technology GPU (Graphics Processi

H

H.263 H.264 H.265 Half-QWERTY keyboard layout Handwriting recognition Haptics HEVC Hot Spot Hot Swap HSCSD (High-Speed Circuit Switched Data) HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) HSDPA+ (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access Plus) HSP (Headset Profile) HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink Packet Access) HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) Hz

I

iDEN (Integrated Digital Enhanced Network) Image Signal Processor (ISP) IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) IP (Internet Protocol) IP Ratings IrDA (Infrared Data Asso

J

KB (Kilobyte) Kbps (Kilobits per second) Key Guard Key Loc

L

Land line LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) LED (Light-Emitting Diode) Li-Ion (Lithium Ion) Li-Polymer (Lithium Polymer) LiMo OS Linux Location-Based Services (LBS) Lock code Long SMS Long Term Evolution (LTE) Lou

M

Macro Maemo OS Magnetometer mAh Mass Storage mode MB (Megabyte) Mbps (Megabit per second) MeeGo OS Megapixel Memory card slot Memory effect Messaging MHz (Megahertz) Micro USB microSD microSDHC Microsoft Exchange (Server) MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) MIDP (Mobile Information Device Profile) Mil-Spec (MIL-STD) MIMO Mini-USB miniSD MMC MMCmobile MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) Mobile games Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL) Mobile IM (Instant Messaging) Mobile WiMAX Mobility DisplayPort (MyDP) Models Modem Monochrome MP3 (MPEG Layer 3) MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group) MPEG-4 video Multitouch input method Music playback time (battery life) Musi

N

NAND Memory Network capacity Network coverage NFC (Near Field Communication) NiCd (Nickel Cadmium) NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) NOR Memory Numeri

O

OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) Optical Zoom OS (Operating System) OTA (Over-The-Air) Packet Data Pager PC Sync PCS (Personal Communications Service) PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) Percentile rank Phone Book Access (PBA) Phone Life Cycle Phone Physical Attributes Phonebook PIM (Personal Information Manager/Management) PIN code (Personal Identification Number) Pixel Pixel density (Pixels Per Inch) Polyphonic ringtones POP3 (Post Office Protocol) Port Predictive text input Price PTT (Push-To-Talk) PUK Code (PIN UnlocK Code) QCIF (Quarter Common Intermediate Format) Quad-band Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) QVGA (Quarter Video Graphics Array) QWERTY keyboar

R

RAM (Random-Access Memory) RBDS (Radio Broadcast Data System) RDS (Radio Data System) Rechargeable Battery Types Resistive touchscreen Resolution Ringer ID Ringing profiles Ringtone Roaming ROM (Read-Only Memory) RS-MMC (Reduced-Size Multi Media Card) RSA (Rural Service Area) RSS (Rich Site Summary) Ruggedized

S

S60 user interface SAP (SIM Access Profile) SAR (Specific absorption rate) Screen protection SD (Secure Digital) Secondary camera Sensors Side Keys SIM SIM lock Single-Band Skin Slimport Smart Watch Smartphone SMIL SMS (Short Messaging Service) SNS (Social network service) Soft keys Soft Reset Speed Dial Stand-by time (battery life) Stereo Speakers Streaming Video Stylus Sub-QCIF SVGA Symbian Talk time (battery life) TCP/IP TD-SCDMA (Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access) TEST Tethering Text messaging (texting) TFD (Thin Film Diode) TFT (Thin Film Transistor) Theme To-Do list Touchscreen Trackball Transflash Transflective

U

UFS UI (User Interface) UIQ UMA UMTS Unlocked phone Upload UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) USB (Universal Serial Bus) USB On-The-Go VGA (Video Graphics Array) Video call Video Codec Voice dialing Voice mail Voice memo VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) VPN (Virtual Private

W

WAP (Wireless Application protocol) watchOS WCDMA(Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) Wear OS Wearable Technology webOS Wi-Fi Windows Mobile Windows Phone OS Wireless email WLAN WMV (Windows Medi

X

Xen