Apple with the introduction of the Apple Watch Ultra showed off a redesigned and more expansive Compass app, which, as it turns out, is available to existing Apple Watch models in watchOS 9.
Available today, watchOS 9 adds the redesigned Compass app to the Apple Watch Series 5 and later and the Apple Watch SE, though select features are limited to the Apple Watch SE and the Series 6 and later.
The redesigned Compass app features an analog compass that displays a digital view of your current bearing and direction. You can tap into a zoomed view that shows your bearing, elevation, incline, latitude, and longitude for more information.
If you have an Apple Watch Series 6 or later, you can mark points of interest in the Compass app using the Waypoints feature, which has customizable colors and symbols. The Waypoints app adds a little marker to your current coordinates, and all Waypoints show up on the main Compass view so you can find your way back to them.
You can also use a new "Backtrack" feature if you have a Series 6 or later. Backtrack uses GPS to record the path that you take, so if you get lost, you can find your way back later. watchOS 9 is available on the Apple Watch Series 4 and later and it can be downloaded now.
Friday December 12, 2025 10:56 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Macworld's Filipe Espósito today revealed a handful of features that Apple is allegedly planning for iOS 26.4, iOS 27, and even iOS 28.
The report said the features are referenced within the code for a leaked internal build of iOS 26 that is not meant to be seen by the public. However, it appears that Espósito and/or his sources managed to gain access to it, providing us with a sneak peek...
Monday December 15, 2025 3:05 pm PST by Juli Clover
Software from an iPhone prototype running an early build of iOS 26 leaked last week, giving us a glimpse at future Apple devices and iOS features. We recapped device codenames in our prior article, and now we have a list of some of the most notable feature flags that were found in the software code.
In some cases, it's obvious what the feature flags are referring to, while some are more...
Monday December 15, 2025 2:05 pm PST by Juli Clover
Last week, details about unreleased Apple devices and future iOS features were shared by Macworld. This week, we learned where the information came from, plus we have more findings from the leak.
As it turns out, an Apple prototype device running an early build of iOS 26 was sold, and the person who bought it shared the software. The OS has a version number of 23A5234w, and the first...
The first foldable iPhone will feature a series of design and hardware firsts for Apple, according to details shared by the Weibo leaker known as Digital Chat Station.
According to a new post, via machine translation, Apple is developing what the leaker describes as a "wide foldable" device, a term used to refer to a horizontally oriented, book-style foldable with a large internal display....
Monday December 15, 2025 4:23 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple is testing iOS 26.3, the next version of iOS 26 that will launch around January. Since iOS 26.3's testing is happening over the holidays, it is a smaller update with fewer features than we've seen in prior betas.
We've rounded up what's new so far, and we'll add to our list with subsequent betas if we come across any other features.
Transfer to Android
Apple is making it simpler...
Friday December 12, 2025 10:10 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released iOS 26.2, the second major update to the iOS 26 operating system that came out in September, iOS 26.2 comes a little over a month after iOS 26.1 launched. iOS 26.2 is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and later, as well as the second-generation iPhone SE.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones over-the-air by going to Settings >...
Thursday December 11, 2025 8:49 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple seeded the second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to developers earlier this week, meaning the update will be released to the general public very soon.
Apple confirmed iOS 26.2 would be released in December, but it did not provide a specific date. We expect the update to be released by early next week.
iOS 26.2 includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, such as a new...
Monday December 15, 2025 7:41 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple released the AirPods Max on December 15, 2020, meaning the over-ear headphones launched five years ago today. While the AirPods Max were updated with a USB-C port and new color options last year, followed by support for lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio this year, the headphones lack some of the features that have been introduced for newer generations of the regular AirPods and the ...
They know how many, which and what kind of watches are active currently and which one need to be forced to upgrade.
i don't think it is fair, Apple products last longer then most other products and Apple is working hard to support software upgrades to older devices in general. Apple does somethings that i don't like (repairability/upgradability) but not supporting products and forced upgrades in not one of them. We have to give them credit where it is due.
