Today, Apple is officially releasing watchOS 4.3.1 to the public, a small update to the watchOS 4 operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 4.3.1 comes more than a month after the release of watchOS 4.3, a major update that introduced Portrait Nightstand Mode and re-added iPhone music controls.
As far as what’s new in this software, there isn’t much. watchOS 4.3.1 is meant to be a minor upgrade, focusing on behind-the-scenes improvements and other enhancements. There weren’t any major forward facing features added to the mix during any of the beta seeds, and it is not likely that Apple will suddenly throw in any additional features with the public release.
There is a fix for a startup bug that was plaguing some Apple Watch owners, though. So if you were running into that issue, it should be fixed with this new release. Apple added new features to the Apple Watch experience not too long ago, with watchOS 4.3, including Portrait Mode for Nightstand and a few other tweaks.
watchOS 4.3.1 can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General –> Software Update. To install the new software, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it needs to be placed on a charger, and it needs to be in range of the iPhone.
This will be the last update for the Apple Watch before Apple introduces the next major version of the wearable platform, which may be watchOS 5. It isn’t known what new features Apple may be bringing to the table, but it’s probable that we’ll see quite a few.
What would you like to see Apple add to the Apple Watch with watchOS 5 at next week’s WWDC?