5 Things to Know About the watchOS 10.3 Update [u]

Apple’s pushed its new watchOS 10.3 update to Apple Watch users.

Like watchOS 10.2, watchOS 10.3 is a milestone upgrade, the third for the company’s watchOS 10 operating system. As such, it brings a new feature and fixes to compatible Apple Watch models.

It’s an important upgrade and most Apple Watch owners should install the update today.

In this guide we’ll cover everything you need to know about the watchOS 10.3 update for Apple Watch.

Our walkthrough goes over the software’s changes, provides some thoughts about its performance, and takes a look at some of the issues impacting the software.

We’ll start with some quick thoughts about watchOS 10.3’s performance.

watchOS 10.3 Review

Our quick review will provide Apple Watch users with a look at the software’s performance in key areas like battery life, connectivity, and speed.

If your Apple Watch is currently running watchOS 10.2, you’ll see a fairly small download. If you’re moving up from watchOS 9, or a much older version of watchOS 10, the download will be larger.

As for the installation, it took around eight minutes to get the software up and running on an Apple Watch 4.

We’ve been using watchOS 10.3 on an Apple Watch 4 for several days now and here’s what we’ve discovered thus far:

watchOS 10.3 Battery Life & Connectivity

• Battery life is stable, we haven’t noticed into any abnormal drain
• Wi-Fi connectivity is fast and reliable
• Bluetooth is working normally
• GPS is also working properly

App Performance

• Third-party apps including All Trails, ESPN, Spotify, and JetBlue are all working fine
• First party apps like Podcasts are also running well

Speed

• watchOS 10.3 feels fast and we haven’t noticed abnormal lag, lockups, or freezes

If you’re dealing with bugs and/or performance issues on watchOS 10.2, or an older version of watchOS, you might want to install the watchOS 10.3 update today.

watchOS 10.3 Problems

We haven’t run into any bugs or performance issues yet, but some Apple Watch users have.

We’ve heard about installation issues, problems with notifications, GPS issues, Bluetooth issues, problems with first and third-party applications, UI lag, abnormal battery drain and pairing issues.

For more about watchOS 10 problems and how to fix them, head over to our guide.

watchOS 10.3 Features

Apple’s milestone updates (watchOS x.x) typically bring a mix new features, enhancements, and fixes to Apple Watch devices. And that’s precisely what watchOS 10.3 brings to compatible Apple Watch models.

Here are Apple’s official release notes for the firmware:

• watchOS 10.3 includes new features, improvements, and bug fixes, including new Unity Bloom watch face to honor Black history and culture in celebration of Black History Month.

watchOS 10.3 also brings important security upgrades to Apple Watch devices, 12 in total, and you can learn more about those patches over on the company’s security site.

watchOS 10 Downgrade

Many Apple Watch owners already know this, but if you’re a new user, or you’ve simply forgotten, here’s a PSA.

Unlike iOS, iPadOS, and macOS software, you can’t downgrade watchOS software to an older version if you run into trouble.

Because of this, you’ll want to approach the watchOS 10.3 update with a sense of caution. If you’re having a good experience on your device’s current version of watchOS, make sure you read reviews before you tap install.

What’s Next

Apple’s confirmed a new watchOS 10.4 update and the software is currently in beta testing. We expect the software to roll out to Apple Watch users in March.

watchOS 10.4 will bring new features and fixes to Apple Watch. Among them, new emoji characters to use in the Messages app and others.

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