Conclusion
Going into this review, I had my conclusion solidified quite nicely in my head. watchOS 26 wasn’t a massive update, which made it easier to identify where the strong spots were, as well as the missteps – that was, until late last week when I discovered a new, unannounced feature that put a big twist in the tale of this year’s release. More on that shortly.
watchOS 26 is, in the end, a bit of a mixed bag. The trend of maximum customization on the platform, led in recent years by the Smart Stack, spreads to the Workout app, creating a great user experience. A small but clever feature, Smart Stack hints are a nice addition – when they work. The Control Center enhancements are also good, and I love the new wrist flick gesture. Heck, even the watch faces include three excellent new designs.
It remains to be seen, but hypertension notifications could prove to be an incredible new health benefit for Apple Watch users, saving even more lives. Even if it saves just one person, it’s hard to argue that the feature wasn’t worth it.
Unfortunately, on the other end of the spectrum, there are letdowns. The Notes app, it’s fair to say, now exists on the Apple Watch – except, it does little more than that in a weak debut that could have and should have been better. Liquid Glass isn’t a disaster on watchOS, but the few legibility issues are enough to be slightly annoying. Sleep score is half-baked and frustrating, considering how much better it could have been, and Workout Buddy feels like Apple trying to replace a human with an AI, but with all the limitations of doing so.
You’ll notice this rundown is all over the place in terms of the narrative of watchOS 26, and maybe that’s part of the problem. While adding features across the platform isn’t an issue per se, when some of those features – Notes, sleep score, Workout Buddy – feel incomplete, you have to wonder whether a more focused approach in two or three areas would have been better.
Then again, all of the missteps this year haven’t damaged any existing experiences, while the successes have boosted already solid areas such as the Workout app and Smart Stack.
If it sounds as though I’m struggling to reach a clear conclusion, that’s because I don’t think there is one, which matches the mixed experience of using watchOS 26. When three headline features don’t pass the smell test, it’s hard not to be disappointed. Nevertheless, the successes outweigh the failures, and when everyone gets their hands on this update, I think those successes will be what they notice most.
The Twist
Late last week, I discovered not only that all custom workouts were coming to the Fitness app on the iPhone (something that Apple didn’t talk openly about at the event on September 9), but also that it seems you can use them with any Bluetooth heart rate tracker.
I may be off base here, but I previously saw this as a significant line in the sand that Apple wouldn’t want to cross. While you could do workouts in the watchOS Workout app with a chest strap, you always had to pair it to an Apple Watch. Using AirPods Pro instead of an Apple Watch seemed like a logical expansion of that process for Apple.
However, the Fitness app’s ability not only to create full, custom workouts and use race routes, but also to connect to third-party devices (such as chest straps), marks the first time the company has let non-Apple products cross that line in the sand and be used in an Apple workout without the Apple Watch.
Part of me wonders whether this is the first sign of Apple opening up its Fitness offerings to be truly cross-platform rather than an ecosystem lock-in. Or maybe it’s just one little concession, and Apple will continue to keep users tied to the ever-powerful Apple Watch world. Either way, I’m going to be keeping an eye on this.
Well, I’m off to further tweak the settings for all my different workout types. You should, too.
