First Watch OS update for Apple Watch now available!

In addition to performance improvements and bug fixes, the Apple Watch software update includes support for the new diversity Emoji first seen in iOS 8.3 on the iPhone and iPad, improved performance for recognizing Stand activity, and additional language support.

The Watch OS 1.0.1 update is 51.6 MB and is available now. To update Watch OS on your Apple Watch, go to the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.

Watch OS 1.0.1

This release includes performance improvements and bug fixes including the following:

Improved performance for:

  • Siri
  • Measuring stand activity
  • Calculating calories for indoor cycling and rowing workouts
  • Distance and pace during outdoor walk and run workouts
  • Accessibility
  • Third party apps

Display support for new Emoji characters

Additional language support for:

  • Brazilian Portuguese
  • Danish
  • Dutch
  • Swedish
  • Russian
  • Thai
  • Turkish
Rene Ritchie
Contributor

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.

58 Comments
  • Oh, yes!!!
  • No Finnish language yet :/ Sent from the iMore App
  • Fingers crossed that Siri is actually improved. I literally just "hey Siri"d about thirty times there with no response whatsoever :( (I had recently used Siri via my headphone mic. Does the watch deliberately not respond to Siri queries when the phone detects an attached mic? Even if this is the case, I removed the headphones five minutes previously so it still counts as a bug ;)
  • Lol seriously though! Sent from the iMore App
  • Did you have the screen active with the watch face? That's the only time it works
  • I did, yeah. I tried saying "hey Siri" with different intonations and at different paces etc. In the end I rebooted and it was back to normal. (which still isn't that great but is much better than nothing ;)
  • I've had that happen once and rebooting the Watch was the only way to fix it.
  • Yeah, I rebooted in the end and that did the trick.
  • I've already sent my Apple Watch back, so nbd for me. :-)
  • Why? I love mine.
  • I really expected to like it but it just didn't do enough for me for the price. If it was a $200 thing I might have kept it for shits and giggles but it was $1200. It was also heavier, thicker, and had to be worn much tighter than I had expected. It was just super uncomfortable on my arm. Also, it wasn't very "solid" overall. I found it to be more like a beta than a 1.0 level product. I only had it for two days but I found the heart rate monitor to be very inaccurate, and the health stuff to be more aimed at workout geeks than average humans (regular walking not counting as "exercise" for example). The fact that Apple Pay isn't available (still!) in Canada figured into it, and the fact that half of the features require you to be a teenaged girl or have dozens of friends who also have an Apple Watch also played a part. Stuff like that. I think Apple Watch 10, when it's light as a feather and can replace my iPhone might tempt me, but this thing ... not so much.
  • The sheer amount of 'here's how you fix your apple watch' articles posted justifies your decision. Improvements will come in 2nd gen I'm sure. Posted via S6 Edge
  • Maybe you should change screen name to drama queen.
  • My Apple watch Stainless Steal was actually free. So keeping it wasn't a hard decision! Sent from the iMore App
  • when i ordered the sport watch i was thinking i'd probably go with the steel next time around (it looks so much better imho), but based on what you and others have said, i'm not sure i'd like the extra weight. also, i find i can have the sport strap quite loose (i can fit a finger into the slack) and it still measures my heart rate just fine, and quite consistently. i wonder if the same would be true with a heavier watch. also, i'm not a workout geek, and my walks *do* get counted as exercise. interesting how much your experience differs. wonder if it comes down to things like wrist shape, or band, or watch weight? or maybe you got a bad device?
  • I also bought mine with a view to testing it and maybe returning. I'm keeping mine though – it's far from perfect but I still like it overall, and I've come to really like certain things it does. Setting timers without having to mess with my phone (I cook/bake a lot) and changing podcasts while on a crowded train without having to fish about in my pocket are two big plusses for me. I've also had a couple of moments where I've been expecting a communication, got a buzz, then glanced at the watch and gone "oh, just an email I don't care about" and walked on, rather than stopping, fishing out the phone and getting annoyed when the notification is irrelevant. No Apple Pay certainly sucks (I'm in the UK). I also have zero friends with an Apple Watch, so no digital doodles for me (no great loss). Not sure what you mean about walking...? I walked a load today and it counted as both calories and exercise time (and I wasn't doing a defined walking workout). The price is definitely an issue. If I'd paid for the steel model, I would be much less likely to keep it. A £300 gadget that I quite like is much easier to justify to myself than one at twice the price ;)
  • Like another person said I dont have mine on tight and works just fine. I find the heart rate to be very accurate and have check it against other professional machines since I have friends in the medical world. Maybe for the first gen you should have gone for the sport addition. Sorry Apple pay is not ready in Canada because that feature is nice to have. The thickness is thinner than most other watches so not sure how thin one needs it. I use it to exercise and again have no issue on that. I am thinking since you had it for two days it was not the watch but you not giving it time to figure everything out.
  • I will trust consumers reports more than you... They tested the heart rate monitor and rated it equal to their highest rated chest strap monitor... From everything I've read there are enough real issues such as leggy 3rd party apps for me to wait until gen 2 without making up BS Sent from the iMore App
  • Let me guess this is your first watch IN A WHILE? Also another guess this is your MOST EXPENSIVE watch? Please answer with HONESTY. Thank you for the quick survey.
  • I was just think exactly the same. Plus why the $1200 watch when the $519 watch will do for a gen 1 product. As Apple first attempt, forgetting the fact it is suppose to be a smart watch, the feel of the product as a watch is incredible. It feel and fits better than my Tag Heuer which I still wear on my other wrist.
  • Yeah why? Sent from the iMore App
  • Hey! Did you ever get your watch? My Sport and Leather Loops are preparing for shipment as of this morning!
  • Yep I got it the 13th. Sent from the iMore App
  • Awesome! I hope you're loving it as much as I am!
  • But it's a big enough deal you have to post about it here???
  • Of course you did... Sent from the iMore App
  • Huh?
  • Yeah why? You are typically very negative from the amount of reading I do on imore so no surprise there.
  • Yeah, I always thought he was generally just trolling. /shrug
  • Your thoughts were right.
  • Assuming you weren't returning it for being defective, you could have made twice the money selling it on eBay. Doesn't make sense.
  • Makes sense if you are an honest person. But hey, I'm "negative," so I must be evil right? ;-)
  • You are negative.... Admitting is the first step. Good for you! Sent from the iMore App
  • Well, except that I don't think there is anything wrong with making negative comments. Neither did anyone else until about 40 years ago either. :-) It's really a pretty new thing.
  • Lol.... Sent from the iMore App
  • It's the nothing but negative comments that's a little bit offputting Sent from the iMore App
  • lol - ouch..
  • All that complaining before you got it and you returned it? Did you even have it very long?
  • I gave it 48 hours of continual use, which is enough time to tell IMO. And part of the reason I returned it is because the supply is limited and someone else could use the break. The "complaining" I was doing was both justified and only about the failure of the launch, not the product per se. I was actually completely sold on the idea and very "pro" Apple Watch before I actually got it and tested it out. Unlike many, for the most part I think for myself, and I make my own decisions based on logic and exigency, not hype.
  • wow.. Unlike Many... So the world at large is illogical and wrong, ... Narcissism isn't a issue with you at all. LOL /S
  • This sucks watch will not update unless I have it connected. I guess I will have to wait till I get home.
  • Oh, cry me a river.
  • Boo hoo. HEHEHE
  • I actually think that's a good thing, just in case the update would go wrong. I never do updates when I'm out and about. Only when I'm near my computer in case I need iTunes if something goes wrong.
  • You're right: This does suck! Come on quitting time.
  • My update is hung on "Downloading to Watch....."
  • Update downloaded and installed successfully. It took approx 20 minutes give or take.
  • Yep, me too.
  • Awesome. The speed of the watch is much snappier!
  • Hey Siri is definitely improved. I also used to have an issue where I would hold and let go of the crown and Siri would come up and then stop listening as if I was trying to hold the button until I finished talking. That seems fixed now as well. Sent from the iMore App
  • I use Siri a lot on the watch so i'm very happy with the improvements! Also, the watch in general seems much snappier.
  • Is it just me or is it WAY faster at turning the screen on when your lift your wrist?
  • It's definitely not just you.
  • Cool. I also used to have the problem where I would lift my wrist and the screen wouldn't come on. Now it comes on every time and a LOT faster. Very nice.
  • I'm still having Siri troubles after the update. Sometimes it takes ten tries (during which time the face turns off etc) to get it to respond *at all* (nevermind interpreting the query). And other times it responds immediately, no problems at all, many times in a row. The unpredictability is driving me loopy! :)
  • If it's having problems interpreting the query, make sure you have the correct Siri language region set on your iPhone (E.g. Should be English (UK) if you live in the UK) then just make sure you speak clearly. If it doesnt recognise your queries properly it won't recognise Hey Siri Sent from the iMore App
  • The region (UK in my case) is set correctly. The phone has very little trouble interpreting my queries when using Siri manually (i.e. holding down the home button) and is also better than the watch at catching "hey Siri" events when plugged in. It's weird – I keep seeing people saying how much better Siri is on the watch. But for me, it's notably worse :(
  • Hey Guys,
    if you want to try IOS 9 and OS X el Capitan contact me by email
    edouard94300@hotmail.fr ,
    i can add your UDID on my developer account.
    it's only 5 dollars