watchOS 7.6 is here for Apple Watch, but it’ll probably bring you literally nothing
Depending on region
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The middle of a year is often a doldrum dry spell for tech news, where tech journalists are often forced to write about the most minute news, and nothing exemplifies this as much as the new watchOS 7.6 update forApple Watches.
For users ofApple’s smartwatch in 219 countries around the world (or 165 if you use the UN’s country count), there’s literally nothing new.
By ‘nothing’ we mean, there’s no security patches, bug fixes, small extra features. Nothing. Nada.
As perMacRumors, watchOS 7.6 rolls outApple WatchECG and irregular heart rhythm notifications to 30 countries that didn’t support the features before - that’s why we were talking about countries before.
What are these countries? Well, we’ve no idea, because Apple didn’t state. But if ECG didn’t work in your region before, it’s worth checking theofficial availability listto see if you’re now listed in the compatible regions.
No news is no news
If you’re not able to reap the benefits of watchOS 7.6 - either you could already use ECG and irregular heart rhythm sensing, or you still can’t - we’re sorry. We did say this was a dry news spell though.
It’s not all bad news, though, becausewatchOS 8is expected in the coming months, and that’ll probably bring a few more features and upgrades to your Apple smartwatch. In fact, the existence of that looming software update in the near future could be why Apple was happy not adding anything in 7.6.
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watchOS 8 is going to bring a mindfulness app, improved sleep tracking, and changes to portrait watch faces. Not all of these features will come with the initial build, though, so you might be waiting a long time for some of them.
Tom Bedford was deputy phones editor on TechRadar until late 2022, having worked his way up from staff writer. Though he specialized in phones and tablets, he also took on other tech like electric scooters, smartwatches, fitness, mobile gaming and more. He is based in London, UK and now works for the entertainment site What To Watch.
He graduated in American Literature and Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. Prior to working on TechRadar, he freelanced in tech, gaming and entertainment, and also spent many years working as a mixologist.
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