TheApple Watchis incredibly popular, and so too is its beta program that gives volunteers a sneak peek at what’s to come to the wearable tech. With frequent software updates that introduce flashy new features, it’s no wonder why diehard Apple fans are often looking to be the first to try out the newest updates by participating in the beta program.
Difficulty
What You Need
Your Apple Watch
The iPhone your Apple Watch connects to
With one of the proper devices in hand, here’s how to be the first to see each update by signing up for the watchOS beta program.
A warning before we start
Before we start, we need to issue a warning. While public betas are an awful lot more finished than developer betas, they’re not full releases yet. That means using them carries a large element of risk. Bugs are likely and to be expected, and these could hamper your daily use. However, it also carries the risk of bricking your Apple Watch entirely. While rare, it could certainly happen. As a result, don’t risk a device you may’t spare.
With that warning out of the way, here’s how to get started if you’re happy with the risk.
Back up your Apple Watch
The first thing everyone should know about being a beta tester is that while there are plenty of cool new features that might become available early, there’s a chance that the beta could be completely broken and buggy. Signing up to participate in a beta test means that the user acknowledges the potential risks of using software before it’s complete, but backing up your Apple Watch could sidestep permanent data loss if worse comes to worst. It’s unlikely a beta test for an Apple device would result in major damage done to it, but it’s always a possibility, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.
We have an in-depth walkthrough onhow to back up an Apple Watch, but for those looking to get the show on the road, here’s the abridged version:
Step 1:Make sure your watch is connected to a Wi-Fi network as well as your iPhone.
Step 2:Go into the iPhone’sSettingsapp and then select[Your name]at the top, theniCloud.
Step 3:Make sureiCloudis toggled on, and then selectiCloud backup.
Step 4:ToggleWatchso that it’s on, and then tapBack up now.
With that, your Apple Watch should back up and be saved to iCloud.
Register for the public beta program
Step 1:Take the iPhone that’s paired to your Apple Watch and go toApple’s beta website.
Step 3:Read the terms and conditions and then hitAccept.
Install the watchOS public beta program
Step 1:Once that’s taken care of, tap on thewatchOStab.
Step 2:In this tab, you should see all sorts of information about beta testing watchOS, information worth reading for everyone signing up. Take a moment to read the terms and conditions here, and once you’re ready to move on, tap the text that saysCan enroll your Apple Watchunder theGet startedheading.
Step 3:Scroll down the next page a little bit, and then tapDownload profile.
Step 4:It might take a second for your profile to download, but once it does, tapAllow, and then tapAllowonce more when it asks to install a profile.
Step 5:It should prompt you again about actually installing this time. TapInstall, and then follow the rest of the on-screen prompts, such as entering your passcode, and then selectInstallagain.
Step 6:You will be prompted to restart your Apple Watch; do so when asked, and wait for it to reboot.
If you didn’t get the pop-ups from the last step, go to your iPhone’sSettingsapp and selectGeneral>Profiles & device management. You should see the downloaded Apple Watch profile and the prompt to install. Follow the above steps once all that’s done.
Loading the beta on your Apple Watch
The next step involves loading the beta onto your Apple Watch.
Step 1:Once everything is installed and ready once your Apple Watch has booted up again, open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
Step 2:In the app, tapGeneral>Software update, and you should see the desired beta ready to be installed.
Step 3:TapInstall, and the beta software should begin installing onto your phone, then transferring to your watch.
For it to download, the Apple Watch needs to be connected to its charger with 50% power or more while being connected to Wi-Fi and in range of your iPhone. Once all of those criteria are met for the length of the download, the watch will restart itself once more, and then the beta should be running on your Apple Watch and good to go.
What about the developer’s beta program?
Apple doeshave a developer’s programthat provides early betas even ahead of the public beta release. In fact, it’s currently on watchOS 9.1 beta 5, aka build “20S5072a.” That’s several builds ahead of what’s currently available to the public.
