With the new WatchOS 9, all Apple Watches after Series 4 are getting a comprehensive software update. The WatchOS 9 public beta was announced in June alongside iOS 16. So we may see most of the new features before the general release in September.

Imagine that you have an iPhone on your Apple Watch

The WatchOS 9 public beta is available for all Apple Watches starting Series 4. Both updates are free and available to download from Apple’s website. However, we recommend you to be careful when installing a beta software. You should backup your devices before installing a beta software.

With the new software, your notifications on your Apple Watch will no longer cover the entire screen. New banner notifications will appear at the top of your watch, just like in your iPhones. Siri also appears as an icon at the bottom of the screen, similar to iPhone devices. Another new feature is the widget that shows the battery level which you can add to the iOS 16 lock screen. You will be able to see the battery level on Apple Watch without opening your phone’s lock screen.

You can now control your Apple Watch from your iPhone

Apple Watch Mirroring, which comes with watchOS 9, allows you to mirror your watch to your iPhone. This feature allows you to control it on a larger screen. (It also allows using the digital crown.) To activate this, go to Settings > Accessibility > Apple Watch Mirroring on your iPhone.

New faces

With WatchOS 9, we now have three new watch faces. These are:

• Playtime: The numbers that move on the screen when you touch the screen or turn the digital crown around.

• Metropolitan: Metropolitan is a classic Apple Watch that changes style when the Digital crown is turned.

• Lunar: This shows the lunar calendar when you turn the digital crown.

Multisport mode feature in the workout app

The new feature, lets you link together multiple activities at the same time. WatchOS 9 will automatically detect when you start a new activity and switch between exercise types as you go.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that one of the versions of the Apple Watch Series 8 could be a “Pro” version which comes with more durable material for extreme sports, so it makes sense to add a multisport feature in the new update.

These are only some of the WatchOS 9 features that Apple has introduced in the public beta.