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Apple Seeds watchOS 9.1 Release Candidate to Developers

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Apple today seeded the release candidate version of watchOS 9.1 update to developers ahead of an expected public release on Monday, October 24 alongside iOS 16.1. The new beta comes one week after Apple released the fifth watchOS 9.1 beta.

watchOS 9 Feature
To install ‌watchOS 9.1, developers will need to download the configuration profile from the Apple Developer Center. Once installed, ‌watchOS 9.1‌ can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General > Software update. To update to new software, an Apple Watch needs to have 50 percent battery life, it must be placed on the charger, and it needs to be in range of the ‌iPhone‌.

Apple's release notes for the update are as follows:

This update includes improvements for your
Apple Watch.

- Battery life extended during Outdoor Walking, Running, and Hiking Workouts with the ability to reduce the frequency of heart rate and GPS readings on Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch SE (2nd generation) and Apple Watch Ultra
- Music can download while Apple Watch is off charger using Wi-Fi or cellular
- Matter, the new smart home connectivity standard, is supported enabling a wide variety of smart home accessories to work together across ecosystems

This update also includes bug fixes for your Apple Watch.

Related Roundups: watchOS 26, watchOS 27
Related Forum: Apple Watch

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Top Rated Comments

dadiy Avatar
dadiy
50 months ago
Why would the ability to reduce the frequency of heart rate and GPS readings be limited to Apple Watch Series 8 etc. I’m sure the watch 6 &7 people would benefit from this more.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
E
ediks
50 months ago

GPS probably because the fact that the new watches (8 / Ultra / SE) only use their own gps chip instead of the iPhone gps chip.
the older watches also use their own gps when the iphone is not nearby... + series 8 is literally series 7 with a new name
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Westside guy Avatar
Westside guy
50 months ago

Why would the ability to reduce the frequency of heart rate and GPS readings be limited to Apple Watch Series 8 etc. I’m sure the watch 6 &7 people would benefit from this more.
Because Apple wants the "6 & 7 people" to buy a new watch.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
T
t0rqx
50 months ago

Why would the ability to reduce the frequency of heart rate and GPS readings be limited to Apple Watch Series 8 etc. I’m sure the watch 6 &7 people would benefit from this more.
Probably because the Series 8 is the only capable doing this with the stunning new gen S8 chip. /s

They have done this with all of their products lately (Stage Manager). But with the other products it takes new chips to increase performance/features. Apparently decreasing features/performance ALSO takes new gen chips.

This money sucking strategy is off the f charts.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MaxSto Avatar
MaxSto
50 months ago

Apple Watch 6 has its own gps.

https://support.apple.com/kb/SP826?locale=en_GB
Yes, like every other Apple Watch.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MaxSto Avatar
MaxSto
50 months ago

the older watches also use their own gps when the iphone is not nearby... + series 8 is literally series 7 with a new name
Yep, but ONLY when the phone is not nearby.
The „new“ watches use it exclusively.
Perhaps that’s the reason.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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