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watchOS 3.0 Public

Full article
Public release

Recorded context

About this appearance

watchOS 3.0 reached the public channel on September 13, 2016 with performance, navigation, faces, health, fitness, accessibility, communication, safety, home, app, payment, localization, and security changes.

Date
Sep 13, 2016
Availability
available
Revision
No

Release notes

What changed

Original editorial synthesis. Linked references appear with the claims they support and in the source ledger.

Public release

Apple's dedicated advisory dates watchOS 3 to September 13, 2016. The consumer history supplies detailed sections for the public release's user-facing scope.[1][2]

Documented scope

The structured entries use the detailed watchOS 3.0 subsections and the matching security advisory. They exclude the repeated 2.2-style introductory sentence, later watchOS 3 point-release fixes, and beta-only behavior.[3][4]

Source ledger

References

Sources are linked to the claims they support. Publication and access dates are shown when available.

  1. About the security content of watchOS 3

    Apple Support · Apple · 2016-09-13T00:00:00.000Z · Released September 13, 2016

    Back to text ↑
  2. About watchOS 3 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 3.0

    Back to text ↑
  3. About the security content of watchOS 3

    Apple Support · Apple · 2016-09-13T00:00:00.000Z · watchOS 3 security content

    Back to text ↑
  4. About watchOS 3 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 3.0 detailed subsections

    Back to text ↑
  5. About the security content of watchOS 3

    Apple Support · Apple · 2016-09-13T00:00:00.000Z · Audio through Wi-Fi Manager security content; Released September 13, 2016

  6. About watchOS 3 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 3.0 — Activity

  7. About watchOS 3 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 3.0 — Breathe

  8. About watchOS 3 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 3.0 — Communication — Expressive Messaging

  9. About watchOS 3 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 3.0 — Communication — Scribble and reply options

  10. About watchOS 3 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 3.0 — Emergency SOS

  11. About watchOS 3 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 3.0 — Home

  12. About watchOS 3 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 3.0 — Other improvements — Apple Pay

  13. About watchOS 3 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 3.0 — Other improvements — Siri

  14. About watchOS 3 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 3.0 — Other improvements

  15. About watchOS 3 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 3.0 — Performance and Navigation through Other improvements

  16. About watchOS 3 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 3.0 — Performance and Navigation

  17. About watchOS 3 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 3.0 — Watch faces

  18. About watchOS 3 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 3.0 — Wheelchair use

  19. About watchOS 3 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 3.0 — Workout

Release changes

Changed in this release

Features, fixes, removals, and regressions first observed in this release record.

enhancement · changed

Additional Siri language support

documentedconfirmed

The release expanded Siri's regional language coverage on Apple Watch.

  1. [1] About watchOS 3 Updates · watchOS 3.0 — Other improvements — Siri

feature · introduced

Expressive Messages

documentedconfirmed

The watch gained a broader set of visual and quick-reaction communication tools aligned with the 2016 Messages redesign.

  1. [1] About watchOS 3 Updates · watchOS 3.0 — Communication — Expressive Messaging

feature · introduced

New faces, complications, and Face Gallery

documentedconfirmed

Users gained new face designs, more placement options for complications, and a companion-app interface for discovering and customizing faces and third-party complications.

  1. [1] About watchOS 3 Updates · watchOS 3.0 — Watch faces

security · fixed

watchOS 3 security repairs

documentedconfirmed

Apple's advisory records memory-safety, information-disclosure, privilege, denial-of-service, validation, sandbox, and code-execution remediations.

  1. [1] About the security content of watchOS 3 · Audio through Wi-Fi Manager security content; Released September 13, 2016

feature · introduced

Emergency SOS

documentedconfirmed

watchOS 3 added an emergency workflow that adapted the service number to the current location and surfaced configured health and contact information.

  1. [1] About watchOS 3 Updates · watchOS 3.0 — Emergency SOS

enhancement · changed

Face switching and Control Center

documentedconfirmed

The release revised core navigation gestures for moving among faces and reaching common system controls.

  1. [1] About watchOS 3 Updates · watchOS 3.0 — Performance and Navigation

enhancement · changed

Calendar, FaceTime, Settings, and Camera controls

documentedconfirmed

The update broadened everyday system actions available from the watch or its iPhone companion, including calendar management and flash, Live Photos, HDR, zoom, burst, and camera selection.

  1. [1] About watchOS 3 Updates · watchOS 3.0 — Other improvements

feature · introduced

Reminders and Find My Friends apps

documentedconfirmed

The release added wrist-based access to scheduled lists and the shared locations of friends and family.

  1. [1] About watchOS 3 Updates · watchOS 3.0 — Other improvements

feature · introduced

Activity sharing and comparisons

documentedconfirmed

watchOS 3 added social comparison and notification workflows around rings, goals, workouts, and achievements.

  1. [1] About watchOS 3 Updates · watchOS 3.0 — Activity

feature · introduced

Scribble, notification replies, and expanded emoji

documentedconfirmed

Users could write short text on the display, choose predicted interpretations with the Digital Crown, respond through additional message types, and use newly added emoji.

  1. [1] About watchOS 3 Updates · watchOS 3.0 — Communication — Scribble and reply options

feature · introduced

Breathe app

documentedconfirmed

watchOS 3 introduced a dedicated guided-breathing experience with session controls, completion heart rate, reminders, and weekly reporting.

  1. [1] About watchOS 3 Updates · watchOS 3.0 — Breathe

feature · introduced

Apple Pay inside third-party apps

documentedconfirmed

watchOS 3 extended Apple Pay beyond Apple's own transaction surfaces into supported App Store experiences.

  1. [1] About watchOS 3 Updates · watchOS 3.0 — Other improvements — Apple Pay

feature · introduced

Home app and HomeKit controls

documentedconfirmed

Apple Watch became a direct interface for favorite HomeKit devices, grouped scenes, remote control through a home hub, and camera notifications.

  1. [1] About watchOS 3 Updates · watchOS 3.0 — Home

enhancement · changed

Expanded Workout controls, metrics, and routes

documentedconfirmed

The workout experience became faster to start, more configurable during exercise, and richer in its recorded outdoor context.

  1. [1] About watchOS 3 Updates · watchOS 3.0 — Workout

feature · introduced

Wheelchair-optimized Activity and workouts

documentedconfirmed

The release added wheelchair-specific ring logic, push accounting, Time to Roll, and outdoor pace workouts.

  1. [1] About watchOS 3 Updates · watchOS 3.0 — Wheelchair use

feature · introduced

Dock and faster favorite-app access

documentedconfirmed

watchOS 3 reorganized app switching around a persistent Dock intended to make selected apps available more quickly.

  1. [1] About watchOS 3 Updates · watchOS 3.0 — Performance and Navigation