A new Apple Watch leak allegedy showcases the new watchOS 10 home screen, which will like feature on all Apple Watches from Series 4 onwards – including Apple Watch Series 9.
The design of the Apple Watch may not have changed drastically over the last eight years since it made its debut, but judging by this leak, watchOS certainly has. Longtime Apple analyst and leaker @analyst941 on Twitter has suggested that watchOS 10 will sport a different home screen from what we currently have.
Happy 9:41 AMI saved the best for last, watchOS will have a redesigned homescreen layout/grid.heavy details SOON. but it's going to be much easier to use, move, & act more familiar to iOS, including folders.📂Unsure if it will be a third option or replace grid as default. pic.twitter.com/GuNvcnmIoxApril 18, 2023
Apple’s wrist-mounted OS has added new features, updated classic ones, and even removed some underutilised ones - and we’re expecting big things from watchOS 10 when it likely debuts at WWDC 2023 this June.
What we perhaps weren’t expecting, however, was for a shake-up of one of watchOS’ longest-running features - the Home Screen.
“I saved the best for last, watchOS will have a redesigned homescreen layout/grid”, the tweet reads, and it sounds like there’s more to come.
“heavy details SOON. but it's going to be much easier to use, move, & act more familiar to iOS, including folders,” analyst941 explains.
“Unsure if it will be a third option or replace grid as default”.
Analysis: No place like home screen
The watchOS home screen, depending on how you use your device, may not be something you see all that often. That’s because you can position many of your most commonly used apps across customizable watch faces, but pressing the Digital Crown will take you to a screen showing all of your apps.
While the default view is the Grid View, this can be converted to an alphabetical list. A grid-like view, as seen in the render above (not official artwork), would certainly make it easier to display multiple apps on a single page.
That’s particularly handy if you have plenty of apps installed, and is another instance of Apple showing that nothing is sacred on watchOS.
For example, when the Apple Watch debuted, users could rotate the Digital Crown to see their day’s meetings and appointments shown in a sort of “time travel” view, but it was removed fairly early on. In a follow-up tweet, analyst941 also says “I do know however there will be Health app [sic] for the Watch”, suggesting Apple’s wearable will finally add its own Health app separate from the one found on your iPhone.
A missing Health app and limited app views haven’t stopped the Apple Watch lineup from taking multiple spots on our Best Smartwatches list.
While the Apple Watch Series 8 is a great, if pedestrian, update on the Series 7, the Apple Watch Ultra understandably drew more plaudits for its chunkier form factor and vastly-improved battery life.
Given its much larger display, we’d love to see what a redesigned watchOS 10 Home Screen could do with that real estate. Other features might include an AI fitness coach, rumored to arrive in 2024.
