watchOS
 | |
 watchOS 8 running on an Apple Watch SE | |
| Developer | Apple, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Initial release | watchOS 1 (24 April 2015) |
| Latest release | watchOS 9.0.1 (20R8380) (22 September 2022) |
| Latest preview | watchOS 9.1 (20S5055e) (27 September 2022) |
| Supported platforms | ARM64 (as of watchOS 5), ARM32 (prior to watchOS 9) |
| Kernel type | Hybrid (XNU) |
| User interface | Cocoa Touch |
| License | Proprietary (with open source components) |
watchOS is an operating system developed by Apple for the Apple Watch.
watchOS 1 through watchOS 8 was 32- and 64-bit compatible. However, watchOS 9 dropped support for 32-bit software. watchOS 9 is also the first version of watchOS to support only 64-bit software. watchOS 5 was the first version of watchOS to bring 64-bit support.
Timeline[edit | edit source]
| Name | Darwin version | Release date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| watchOS 1 | 14 | April 2015 | |
| watchOS 2 | 15 | September 2015 | |
| watchOS 3 | 16 | September 2016 | |
| watchOS 4 | 17 | September 2017 | |
| watchOS 5 | 18 | September 2018 | First version of watchOS to bring 64-bit support |
| watchOS 6 | 19 | September 2019 | |
| watchOS 7 | 20 | September 2020 | |
| watchOS 8 | 21 | September 2021 | Final version of watchOS with 32-bit support |
| watchOS 9 | 22 | September 2022 | First version of watchOS with only 64-bit support and to drop 32-bit support |