Apple Seeds Third Beta of watchOS 9.4 to Developers - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Apple Seeds Third Beta of watchOS 9.4 to Developers

by

Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming watchOS 9.4 update to developers for testing purposes, with the software update coming one week after launch of the second beta.

Apple watchOS 9 Feature
To install the watchOS 9.4 update, developers will need to download the configuration profile from the Apple Developer Center.

Once installed, ‌watchOS 9.4 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 has to be placed on the charger, and it will need to be in range of the ‌iPhone‌ it is paired with.

watchOS 9.4 gains support for new emoji characters that include donkey, goose, black bird, shaking head, hyacinth, pea pod, and more, with 31 new characters available in total.

Through iOS 16.4, the update adds support for Web Push notifications that are sent to an iPhone, with the notifications able to be set up for a website that is added to the iPhone's Home Screen.

watchOS 9.4 will go through several rounds of beta testing, and it is expected to see a launch in the spring alongside iOS 16.4.

Popular Stories

iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max Feature

'Apple Upgrade' Program Reportedly Launching Next Week

Tuesday July 21, 2026 8:30 am PDT by
Apple and Klarna are partnering on a new "Apple Upgrade" leasing program set to launch in the U.S. on Tuesday, July 28, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The program will allow you to finance most iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models, with a 24-month term for iPhones and Apple Watches and a 36-month term for iPads and Macs. Customers will be able to pay off the device early during...
Read Full Article • 203 comments
iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching in Two Months With These 12 New Features

Tuesday July 21, 2026 6:22 am PDT by
It is now mid-July, and that means the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are now just two months away. The devices are expected to look similar to the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, but there will still be many year-over-year changes, with rumored features including a smaller Dynamic Island, 5G via satellite, and more. Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, ...
Read Full Article
iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching in Two Months With These 12 New Features

Friday July 17, 2026 10:39 am PDT by
It is now mid-July, and that means the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are now just two months away. The devices are expected to look similar to the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, but there will still be many year-over-year changes, with rumored features including a smaller Dynamic Island, 5G via satellite, and more. Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, ...
Read Full Article • 58 comments

Top Rated Comments

floral Avatar
floral
44 months ago
More emoji is crucial for watch users... have no clue how they type on that thing for over a minute without going ballistic.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
surfzen21 Avatar
surfzen21
44 months ago

More emoji is crucial for watch users... have no clue how they type on that thing for over a minute without going ballistic.
Yep. Dictation is very helpful and more accurate than I expected. Ill swipe a few words to a sentence but if I want to communicate more on my AWU I just dictate it.

The one thing I wish for dictation was the ability to scroll through the dictation to see what it wrote. That doesnt seem to be a feature. Although I haven't tried to use the crown, just my fingers.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
surfzen21 Avatar
surfzen21
44 months ago
I hope this build is more stable for everyone who's using it!!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments