Apple Bringing New Portrait Mode Photo Watch Face to watchOS 8

In watchOS 8, Apple has redesigned the Photos watch face on Apple Watch, adding a special layout that generates a more depth-like, layered look when viewing Portrait Mode pictures.

watch face watchos8
When viewing photos shot in Portrait Mode on iPhone, the new ‌Photos‌ watch face can generate an animated three-dimensional effect, activated by turning the Digital Crown on Apple Watch.

Related Roundup: watchOS 26

Popular Stories

Aston Martin CarPlay Ultra Screen

Apple's CarPlay Ultra to Expand to These Vehicle Brands Later This Year

Sunday February 1, 2026 10:08 am PST by
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly nine months later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon. In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis. In his Powe...
Apple Logo Black

Apple's Next Launch is 'Imminent'

Sunday February 1, 2026 12:31 pm PST by
The calendar has turned to February, and a new report indicates that Apple's next product launch is "imminent," in the form of new MacBook Pro models. "All signs point to an imminent launch of next-generation MacBook Pros that retain the current form factor but deliver faster chips," Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on Sunday. "I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated...
Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero

New MacBook Pros Reportedly Launching Alongside macOS 26.3

Sunday February 1, 2026 5:42 am PST by
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips alongside macOS 26.3, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "Apple's faster MacBook Pros are planned for the macOS 26.3 release cycle," wrote Gurman, in his Power On newsletter today. "I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated for the macOS 26.3 software cycle, which runs from...
iOS 26

iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday February 3, 2026 7:47 am PST by
We are still waiting for the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate to come out, so the first iOS 26.4 beta is likely still at least a week or two away. Following beta testing, iOS 26.4 will likely be released to the general public in March or April. Below, we have recapped known or rumored iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 features so far. iOS 26.3 iPhone to Android Transfer Tool iOS 26.3 makes it easier...
14 inch MacBook Pro Keyboard

Apple Changes How You Order a Mac

Saturday January 31, 2026 10:51 am PST by
Apple recently updated its online store with a new ordering process for Macs, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro. There used to be a handful of standard configurations available for each Mac, but now you must configure a Mac entirely from scratch on a feature-by-feature basis. In other words, ordering a new Mac now works much like ordering an...

Top Rated Comments

bsbeamer Avatar
61 months ago
Almost feels like they mailed this entire presentation in. Completely unexciting. For watchOS, they need more and better watch faces. An option to temporarily lock digital crown on interactive watch faces would help a lot for those who wear on right arm with crown to the fingers.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple Knowledge Navigator Avatar
61 months ago
I can't believe the length of time they spent talking about this...
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
munpip214 Avatar
61 months ago
How about making the digital crown do something useful?
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JohnApples Avatar
61 months ago
8 watchOS versions and we *still* don’t have a Weather watch face.

Seriously, it makes so much sense. They already have the concept of the beautiful weather renders in the Weather app on iPhone. Why can’t I get an animated watch face that shows the current weather when I raise my wrist?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
szw-mapple fan Avatar
61 months ago

How about making the digital crown do something useful?
Using it as a cursor for text input was pretty neat imo.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jz0309 Avatar
61 months ago
interesting statement that the photo watch face is the most popular one - how do they know that?
Personally, I have tested it when I got my 1st AW in 2015 but never used it ...
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)